>>720455039 (OP)
Genuinely yes. Kids fucking love Squid Game (although I think it's on the downward trend now).
"Seemingly banal thing that can actually kill you" has always been a fairly popular concept among teenagers because the death aspect makes the setting seem more mature/gritty than it actually is. If you look closely you'll see this in tons of books, anime, etc. in various forms.
See now how kids love mascot horror. That's basically the next iteration of the concept (goofy mascot thats actually deadly!?!?!?).