Queen of Hearts (Netflix)

Manga
OVA
Netflix
Netflix S1
Netflix S3

This article is about Queen of Hearts game, otherwise known as Croquet. Click here for the Queen of Hearts person, Mira Kano.

The Queen of Hearts (ハートのクイーン, Hāto no Kuīn), also known as "Croquet" (くろっけぇ, Kurokkee), is a game featured in Episode 7-8 of Alice in Borderland.

As a Hearts challenge, the game tests players' emotional resilience and psychological insight. Due to its higher difficulty level, the Queen of Hearts also requires the ability to read others.

Overview[]

Set-Up[]

Location:
Rooftop Garden
Player Limit:
None
Time Limit:
None
Additional Conditions:
Weapons are allowed.

Rules[]

Players have to finish the game.
Outside of standard croquet regulations, there are no rules.
It is GAME CLEAR if the players finish three sets according to basic croquet regulations.
It is GAME OVER if the players decide to stop mid-game.

Details[]

The game's concept is simple, as it only requires playing croquet and does not depend on winning or losing. The main challenge lies in how the players' emotions and resolve are tested throughout the game.

Mira introduces the game as "Queen of Hearts: Croquet" and explains that the only condition to clear it is to play three rounds with her without quitting. Arisu chooses to participate, while Usagi observes from the side. During the first set, Mira wins, and after a pause, they continue to the second, which Arisu wins. Mira purposely slows down the game by missing, prolonging the rounds while Usagi continues bleeding from her injuries. When Arisu notices this, Mira suggests they take a break and have tea.

They sit together at a table, and Mira pours the tea despite Arisu and Usagi declining to drink it. Arisu asks about the truth of the Borderland, and Mira begins telling a series of stories. First, she describes a far-future world where humanity has advanced technologically, conquered death, and lives in virtual reality, claiming that they have forgotten their real selves. She then laughs and reveals it to be a lie. Then she continues with another story involving aliens and genetically modified plants, followed by a story about wealthy humans creating androids with artificial memories to play games for entertainment. Each story ends with Mira admitting that it was another joke.

When Mira begins to taunt the players, she claims to have designed the Seven of Hearts game specifically for Arisu and his friends because the group was too close. Enraged, Arisu points a shotgun at her, but realizes that killing Mira would break the game rules and trap all remaining players in the Borderland until their visas expire, which is exactly what Mira wants. He stops himself and accuses her of trying to make everyone fall into despair.

Despite Usagi's warnings, Arisu continues questioning Mira, who then changes her approach and claims that the Borderland is an illusion created by Arisu's mind. According to her story, he lost his friends in an accident, lost his memory, and now lives in a mental hospital where Mira is his psychiatrist. The illusion overwhelms him, and he starts seeing himself as a patient while Mira convinces him that his friends' deaths were his fault and that taking the pills would make him feel better. Usagi intervenes, insisting that their bond is real, and to prove it she slits her wrist, begging Arisu to wake up. Her act breaks through the illusion, and the setting returns to the game arena.

Mira, now moved, offers a handkerchief to stop Usagi's bleeding and calls the scene beautiful. She finishes the last round and wins, but since Arisu has played all three sets without quitting, the game is cleared. Mira congratulates the players, tells them that they will soon understand the truth of the Borderland, and smiles as the laser shoots through her head, marking the end of the final game.

Game Result[]

Players[]

Arisu	GAME CLEAR Finished three rounds of croquet.	Usagi	GAME CLEAR Finished three rounds of croquet.

Citizens[]

Mira (Queen of Hearts)		GAME OVER Players finished three rounds of croquet.

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

Unlike the manga, the Netflix version of the game makes a point to show that Arisu does not drink the hallucinogenic tea, which raises the question of why he starts hallucinating the psych ward on his own.
The game venue takes place at the rooftop of Shibuya Scramble Square.^{[citation needed]}
The game venue is a rooftop garden as apposed to the manga where the venue is a rose garden.
The game and participants are a direct reference to Alice in Wonderland - The Queen of Hearts and Arisu "Alice" are playing croquet while Usagi "rabbit" is watching.
This is one of the only games that does not require players to equip any devices (wristbands, collars, etc.), and does not have a screen.