Kanzaki Nao is the type of young girl who believes in living by the word that is honesty, it literally is a translation of her name thanks to her father. That’s where irony comes into play when Kanzaki is thrown into a world where being honest leads to utter defeat. Kanzaki is given a large amount of money and is told she is now a participant in a game called Liar Game. The objective: using your funds and wit, the player must make others go into debt. However as quickly as she enters the game Kanzaki Nao is tricked and loses her money. Word reaches Kanzaki that apparently a swindler by the name of Shinichi Akiyama has just forced an organization into bankruptcy leaving her to decide to ask his help in the Liar Game.

It’s no surprise that starting the list, we look at a manga like Doubt about a game that the key to winning is to deceive players. Liar Game by Mangaka Kaitani, Shinobu mirrors Doubt’s concept but does it with money and greed. Besides a gripping story, Kaitani Shinobu does a terrific job with strong art that allows for some great tension filled scenes and a very unique style. If you loved Doubt for its psychological elements and look at what it takes to lie to someone, you’ll fully enjoy Liar Game.

Some games shouldn’t exist, and what’s worse is when a player or players must participate in order to survive. In Battle Royale, Shiroiwa Junior High’s Class B is unfortunately chosen to be part of The Program or in other words a deadly survival game. Drugged when on a supposed field trip, the forty two students awaken with collars on their necks and are told that they must kill one another till only one student remains. Now students like Shuuya Nanahara must figure out a way to survive but will they abide by the rules of the game? Can these once fellow friends and classmates really kill each other in order to survive? Desperation and a human’s need for self-perseverance will make any man do incredibly dark things as Shuuya and his peers will soon learn in this deadly tale.

In many ways Battle Royale was one of the first true stories of horror in the form of a death game. Thus it’s a no brainer why it’s worthy of being on this list alongside titles such as Doubt. An adaptation from Takami Koushun’s novel published in 1999, teaming up with artist Taguchi Masayuki allowed for a great manga to be formed from the duo. A tale of survive or be killed, like Doubt, the characters of Battle Royale have to rely on their own instincts to deem if someone is worthy of trust or not, and being wrong in Battle Royale means one word, death. Boasting brilliant art that is both visually unique and very mature, Battle Royale’s story won’t be the only thing that keeps you hooked to each page.

Six friends enter the Birdcage Castle, a supposedly closed theme park in search of their missing friend. It is said that the park was a place that if two people entered in as a couple together they would be forever in love and stay together. Upon entering a mysterious voice greets the friends and before they know how to respond, they are gassed and knocked unconscious. Upon awakening, each of the six are now separated into pairs and chained together. A mysterious voice claiming to be called Blue Owl then tells them that the one to find him within Birdcage Castle gets the reward of leaving together alive. Now the friends are forced to survive in a game that could have deadly consequences upon failure. If you want answers then you must read Mangaka Minami Toutarou’s Torikago no Tsugai.

In Doubt, the characters are forced to find the wolf of the group in order to avoid being murdered. In Torikago no Tsugai main character Kurobe Gin and his friends find themselves in a similar scenario. What makes Torikago no Tsugai even more dark is the art style has a very light hearted feel at first. However, as the pages go on, this style seems to warp as the unwilling participating characters have their hearts waiver upon the choices they must make. Torikago no Tsugai is a darkly fun story to those who loved Doubt’s mystery elements first and foremost and you’ll be sure to not want to leave Birdcage Castle as the story goes on, unlike the six who wish for nothing more than a quick escape.

When a person receives a strange text, usually the response is to delete it or pretend it wasn’t anything worth noting. For Kanazawa Nobuaki a similar incident occurs to him and fellow class of thirty two students. The text claims that they are now participants in the Ousama Game or King’s Game and they must do random tasks before twenty four hours is up. While at first these tasks seem jokingly simple and awkward more than serious, Kanazawa and his peers begin to see darker tasks become a necessary action. To make matters worse, if a student fails to accomplish his or her given task the punishment is death. Kanazawa now must scramble with his surviving peers if they wish to survive and see if they can bring an end to this terrible game.

Seriously, if we’ve learned anything from this list it’s that most of these stories begin with being thrown into a game without much choice in the matter. Ousama Game by Mangaka Randa Hitori and Kanazawa Nobuaki is nothing but nonstop drama and horror as each volume is read. The greatest elements come from the actions that the participants must do especially as the story gets more twisted. Ousama Game literally feels like a rollercoaster ride that doesn’t end, even when the climax occurs, readers will feel the thrill of an engaging story meshed with a strong art style. We here at Honey’s Anime are now going to be just a bit more paranoid about those random texts.

Seven teenagers find themselves in a very peculiar situation. Sent to a school and placed in a locked room these students are told that if they wish to leave, they must pass an examination and must place in first. However, to make matters worse, each of these students have done a criminal action in the past. Interestingly enough the body part associated to said crime has been removed for some reason. For what purpose and what crimes did they commit are just some of the questions the reader will learn as they read on in this short two volume series. School has just gotten that much harder in Dolls Code.

Dolls Code by Mangaka Kinashi Runamu while the shortest in terms of length should not be seen as less impactful. Boasting a cool art style and a very unique premise, in many ways Dolls Code can be seen as a unique take on the survival game setting. We also won’t spoil the fact that a lot of the genres embed into Dolls Code have a unique purpose and that just adds to the thrill of taking a chance by reading this manga. By the end of Dolls Code the only disappointment you’ll have is that it’s over. Trust us if you loved Doubt and need a good quick read, you can’t go wrong with this great story.

Ever play or heard of something called the Werewolf game? Well if you have you’re about to read about a very twisted version of it. Nishina Airi is kidnapped and awakens in some unknown location. Nishina soon learns she isn’t the only one to have this happen as other students from her high school have ended up in the same predicament. Making matters worse, they are told that they must participate in the Jinrou Game or Werewolf Game. Players assume the role of villagers and Werewolves and learn that this game must be played exactly as the rules state. Deviance from said rules will lead to death meaning Nishina and her peers must play the deadly game to hopefully learn who is responsible and a way to escape.

Jinrou Game by Mangaka Akiguchi Giggle and Koudon is a twisted take on an incident game of who the wolf is and who is the innocent, echoing Tonogai Yoshiki’s Doubt. Jinrou Game is very brutal and doesn’t let up with page after page of dark themes and visually brutal moments. One thing that makes Jinrou Game stand out so much is the harsh rules set in its lore. Unlike most of these titles, players have some freedoms of how to act in manipulation and action, however here we see the rules need to be played by the letter and that in itself leads to a strong sense of manipulation occurring in the story. Read Jinrou Game is you want an exciting story that doesn’t hold back with blow after blow of excitement and psychological horror.