This is the winner of Squid Game: The Challenge, who takes home US$4.56 million cash

Squid Game: The Challenge started with 456 contestants, all vying for the US$4.56 million (S$6.1 million) prize money.

Again, spoiler alert if you've yet to watch the final episode. 

In the end it came down to the final two players – Player287/Mai and Player 451/Phil – and a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors. The third remaining player Sam Lantz was eliminated in a random game of pressing buttons.

It wasn’t a straightforward game of Rock, Paper Scissors, though, as the contestant who wins each hand then has to pick a key from a box to try to open a safe.

After several rounds, Mai Whelan emerged victorious when she managed to open the box to retrieve her golden card containing the prize money.

In her winner’s speech, Whelan said: "Today just validates that everything is possible. Even when you feel down and afraid, you just have to pick yourself up, be a strong person, and focus. Whatever your fear is, fight it with everything you got, and you can accomplish anything. I proved it tonight."

Whelan revealed in an interview with Netflix that she had been content to lay low at home with her husband and their two dogs after the series ended. “It was a relief to go back to normal life and not worry about getting eliminated. I needed that after two and a half weeks of intense go, go, go and emotional ups and downs,” she said.

The 55-year-old Asian-American added: “But the person that came into (the competition) is me. I’m still Mai, and she hasn’t changed – except that I came out stronger.”

Whelan, a Vietnamese refugee to the United States, plans to use her winnings for a small home renovation, including building a small dock for a boat. She’ll also use her money on charitable causes. “My heart is with people, animals and climate change. If we continue what we’re doing, there won’t be a future for all the little kids growing up right now.” 

Squid Game: The Challenge is fashioned after the 2021 hit Korean Netflix series of the same name, with a major difference, of course – the contestants in the reality competition do not face death if they do not win the challenges.

However, the filming of the reality competition was not without controversy as two contestants are currently seeking damages for injuries they claim to have "suffered during the show’s filming in January of this year".

Netflix announced ahead of the Season 1 finale that there will be a second season of Squid Game: The Challenge. Casting is now open at SquidGameCasting.com.