When Kouichi Sakakibara transfers from his Tokyo school to one in the countryside of Japan in Another, it’s clear from the very start something is off about his new class. For one, one of the girls in the class named Misaki Mei is treated like she doesn’t even exist. Kouichi finds himself drawing closer to her despite everyone’s warnings though - and that’s when the trouble begins. Classmates start dying in horrible ways. It seems that the class is cursed with a mysterious extra student, and the punishment is that one student or a member of their family will die every month. Ignoring someone from the class was the only way to keep the curse at bay, but when Kouichi befriended Misaki, it seemed like everything was kicked off once again!

Both Another and King’s Game are stories about a transfer male student going to a new school and shortly after triggering an awful calamity - and both by accident, of course. Both of the anime tell a horror story of classmates slowly dying in awful ways while the survivors fight to try to stop the events from happening. Because of the fear of death and the fight for survival, both Another and King’s Game show what happens when humans are pushed to the limit. Some band together to fight as friends - and others turn on one another, willing to kill to ensure their own survival and driven by bloodlust when the killing starts. Finally, King’s Game and Another have doomed, tragic romance stories in them, however small they may be, that help drive some of the character’s actions. Another may not be a death game anime, but it’s arguably one of the most similar anime to King’s Game out there right now.

In The Future Diary, high schooler Yukiteru Amano spends his time writing in a diary on his mobile phone. He often converses with the god of time and space, Deus Ex Machina, and his servant Murmur. Then one day, Deus gives Yukiteru a special diary, one with detailed descriptions of the future. But it’s not all fun and games because having that powerful diary enters Yukiteru into a battle royale of sorts with 11 other people who also hold the same kind of diary. Each person has to kill all the others to survive, and the last man standing will be the new god of time and space. Unable to go through it alone, Yukiteru pairs up with another girl who has the same kind of diary, his old stalker Yuno Gasai. But can she really help him in such a desperate situation?

Like King’s Game, The Future Diary is a death game anime. The stars of both are high school boys, and everyone else who is forced to play are high schoolers as well. Both anime feature a lot of gore and violence on the screen with horrifying deaths that are barely censored, leaving you feeling terrified and uncomfortable. As usual for death game stories, the main character in both The Future Diary and King’s Game has no initial desire to play but becomes driven to succeed and figure out what is happening to save his own life. Both anime also have a bit of romance on the side that sometimes drives the main character’s actions, so there is a bit of a love story amongst all the horror. If you loved King’s Game for its horror violence and tense story, try The Future Diary next.

Hope’s Peak Academy in Danganronpa is an elite high school that only accepts a few students a year, and only the most talented ones at that. Well, that is until Makoto Naegi gets in on pure luck. He soon learns he is anything but lucky though when the newest 15 students at the academy meet the principle Monokuma, who happens to be a bear. He also happens to lock them all inside the school! The deal is that to successfully graduate and survive their time at the academy, one of the students must murder another of their classmates - and not get caught. If they are found out, they will be executed and the game will continue until someone succeeds. Maybe Makoto should have applied for a regular school…

Danganronpa and King’s Game are both death game anime set in high schools, where the classmates are pitted against one another to survive. This makes a classmate turn against another classmate, and friends against friends, as they struggle with their own personal morals and their desire to live. Both anime are incredibly violent as well, though their animation styles are quite different. Get ready for Danganronpa’s infamous pink blood - and there is going to be a lot of it. Neither anime shy away from showing violent deaths and murders on the screen. Both King’s Game and Danganronpa will keep you at the edge of your seat with tension and suspense as the death game unfolds and you wait to see who will die next - and cheer for the main characters to find a way out of their seemingly hopeless situations.

Deadman Wonderland is set at a prison, where inmates perform dangerous acts for onlookers to watch and enjoy. Ganta Igarashi and his class visit the prison one day, but everyone in the class except for Ganta is massacred by a man in red. As the only survivor, Ganta becomes the chief suspect and is sentenced to serve in the very prison he and his classmates were meant to only be visiting. Inside the prison, the world is deadly. The only way to survive is to win the deadly games that the prison has established, all while wearing a lethal collar around his neck. And that doesn’t even mention the other sadistic inmates and corrupt powers at the prison. Ganta has to find the man in red and clear his name - or he will certainly die trying.

Deadman Wonderland takes the typical idea of a death game plot and twists it into something new. Like King’s Game though, it’s a race for the main character to find out a way to escape from the deadly games they are being forced to play while watching everyone around them slowly dying from it. And both Ganta and Nobuaki have to live in constant fear that they will be the next one to die in the merciless games. Both Deadman Wonderland and King’s Game feature sadistic characters that get caught up in the bloodlust of killing, and they both aren’t afraid of having gore and violence on the screen. Finally, they both centre on a high school boy who never asked to take part in the suffering he is forced to endure. If it’s the shock and violence, along with a mystery, that you liked in King’s Game, try Deadman Wonderland!

Juuni Taisen: Zodiac War is about 12 warriors, each named after a part of the Chinese zodiac. And not just their names match the zodiac - their traits match the respective animals as well!They are forced into a city where all the other inhabitants have been removed, and there, are pitted against one another in the 12 Zodiac Tournament which takes place, you guessed it, every 12 years. Keeping with that same theme, each person is forced to swallow a poisonous gem that will kill them after 12 hours. There is a plus side though; if any one of them is able to kill all the others and bring them gems together before the 12-hour time limit, he or she can have a wish of their choosing granted. It’s a fight for life and death against the clock, and against each other.

Juuni Taisen and King’s Game have a major thing in common; they both show how terrible humans can become when they’re under pressure and their lives are at stake. Both anime have characters that turn on one another and try to kill one another to stay alive rather than trying to work together to find a solution - some people will always put themselves first, no matter the cost. I’m Juuni Taisen and King’s Game, the characters are pitted against one another by an unknown and unseen force that they can do little to fight back against on their own, which pushes them to the extreme. And they both show just how dark human nature can become as people turn to murder. If you like that dark side of a death game story and we’re intrigued by it in King’s Game, make Juuni Taisen your next stop.

Btooom! is the story of Ryouta Sakamoto, a man with no great achievement other than being Japan’s top player in an online game also called Btooom!. His life is pretty easy and normal as he lives with his parents, but everything is turned upside down when he wakes up on an island one day. He has no memory of how he got there, and more worrying, a strange crystal embedded in his hand. It seems the events of his favourite game are about to become his reality. The aim of the game is to collect seven more crystals by killing the other players and winning means they can return home. Ryouta is forced into this life-or-death game alongside another Btooom! player named Himiko, and together they try their best to survive. The two try to find out the truth behind this lethal game, and to get back to their normal lives, well, alive.

Btooom! is another death game anime like King’s Game even though the premise and setting are different. Both anime still have a mysterious game that pits players against one another and causes even decent humans to turn dark as they fight to see another day. And both Btooom! and King’s Game harbour a dark secret about why the game exists, and who is pulling the strings, that the main characters are determined to discover and defeat. They both have a similar realistic animation style as well, not overdoing it on cuteness or colour but keeping the characters and environment believable and normal. Btooom! and King’s Game are full of action and suspense, and still manage to have a romance as well as Ryouta and Himiko draw closer. If you like the death game idea of King’s Game but are curious to see it played out in a different kind of setting with different people, give Btooom! a try.