Where It Came From

Dalgona traces back to the years after the Korean War, when street vendors began selling an affordable sugar-and-baking-soda candy to kids outside schools, especially in cities like Busan through the 1960s and '70s. The name comes from the Korean word for honeycomb, describing the candy's light, porous texture once the baking soda causes it to puff up. Vendors would press a simple shape, a star, heart, circle, or umbrella, into the flattened disc before it hardened, and the real game began: pick the shape out cleanly with a needle, and you'd win a free second candy. It was a genuine childhood pastime for decades before Squid Game introduced it to a global audience in 2021 and sent home cooks everywhere scrambling for baking soda and ladles.

How It's Officially Played

The setup is simple and deeply analog. Sugar is melted in a small ladle over a flame until it turns golden, a pinch of baking soda is stirred in fast, and the molten mixture is quickly pressed flat, usually with the back of a spoon or a flat metal disc, before a shape-stamp is pushed into the center. As it cools, the candy hardens into a thin, brittle sheet with the shape outlined but not cut through.

That's when the real challenge starts. Using a needle, toothpick, or thin pick, players have to trace and pop out the stamped shape without cracking the surrounding candy or shattering the shape itself. Simple shapes like circles or triangles are forgiving; anything with sharp points, or the dreaded umbrella, is a minefield. On Run BTS!, the members made their own dalgona from scratch before attempting the extraction, meaning half the suspense comes from whether the candy even survives being pressed and stamped in the first place.

Fun Twists Idols Add

What makes dalgona such good idol content is that it's less about physical competition and more about slow, mounting dread, which is a perfect match for a cast of people who cannot sit still or stay quiet. Members hover over each other's candy narrating every crack and near-miss like it's a heist movie, occasionally "helpfully" startling someone mid-carve to sabotage their focus.

Some groups have leaned all the way into the Squid Game connection, treating a broken candy like elimination and adding a mock-dramatic loser's forfeit instead of the traditional "free candy" reward. Nostalgia talk is a built-in twist too, members comparing which regional name they grew up calling the candy, or discovering that a bandmate has literally never seen or tasted it before, turns a simple craft challenge into a genuine trip down memory lane on camera.

How to Play It at Home

This is one of the rare idol games that translates almost perfectly to a home kitchen, since the "official" version basically is a DIY craft activity.

What you need. Granulated sugar, baking soda, a small metal ladle or saucepan, a stove or portable burner, a flat spatula or the back of a spoon, parchment paper, and a needle, toothpick, or bamboo skewer per player. If you want stamped shapes, small cookie cutters work in a pinch, press them in gently rather than cutting all the way through.

How to make it. Melt 2-3 tablespoons of sugar in the ladle over medium-low heat until it's fully liquid and light gold, stir in a small pinch of baking soda until it foams and lightens in color, then immediately pour it onto parchment paper and flatten it with the back of a spoon into a thin disc. While it's still warm and pliable, press a cookie cutter or shape stamp partway into the center, then let it cool completely until brittle.

How to play. Everyone gets a needle and a set amount of time (2-3 minutes is plenty) to carve out their shape without breaking it. If it survives, they win the round; if it cracks, they're out. Since the candy is genuinely hot when melting, this game is best supervised for kids, and adults should handle the stovetop portion.

Stakes for a home game night. Keep it low-key and playful, the loser has to do a round of dramatic "elimination" narration for everyone else's turn, foot the bill for the next snack run, or wear a silly forfeit item (a green tracksuit or hoodie if anyone wants to lean into the reference) for the rest of the night.

Watch It In Action

  • [Eng Sub] Run BTS! Ep 95 The full episode where the BTS members make their own dalgona from scratch before carefully picking out the stamped shapes, trading childhood stories about the candy along the way (Jimin turns out to be the resident expert, while Suga admits he's never played before).
  • Stray Kids making Dalgona from Squid Game? (ENG) The members attempt the extraction challenge themselves, with plenty of groaning and gentle chaos as candies crack under pressure.

Dalgona is proof that the simplest games are often the most gripping, no teams, no props beyond a candy and a needle, just pure nerve-wracking patience. It's a game that rewards a steady hand over star power, which might be exactly why it's so satisfying to watch idols sweat over it.