'What if Squid Game was set in Australia?' TikToks go viral

The South Korean Netflix series follows hundreds of desperate contestants playing a series of deadly children's games, risking their lives for a AU$52 million prize.

Sydney TikToker Alistair Fawcus, 24, has made a viral video series by adding an Australian twist to Squid Game - which is now the biggest series on Netflix.

In the "What if Squid Game was set in Australia?' series, Mr Fawcus adapted games on the show to Australian versions.

For example, in Squid Game one of the challenges required contestants to cut out a shape out of a piece of honeycomb or be shot in the head.

In his Australian version, Mr Fawcus changed the task to cutting a shape out of a piece of Fairy Bread.

The TikToker also added other Aussie schoolyard games into the mix such as handball, heads down thumbs up, egg and spoon race and bullrush.

Mr Fawcus has made seven videos in the series, which have collectively amassed more than 8.1 million views on TikTok and countless shares on other platforms.

"It kind of really came to me after I finished binging Squid Game. I'm here in Sydney so that's kind of all there really is to do is watch Netflix," Mr Fawcus told Australian Community Media (ACM).

"The idea just kind of spawned from me chatting back and forth just thinking about ideas about alternative games for Squid Game.

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"And I was like 'Man, if it's just like kids' games, there's just as fun games here in Australia you could do'."

Mr Fawcus said it was "super positive" that his videos have been such a big hit on TikTok.

"I think because people could relate to it, that was the biggest thing - the shared consensus of Aussies," he said.

The 24-year-old has more than 549,000 followers on TikTok and advised others to be consistent if they want to grow on the platform.

"Consistency and finding your niche are the two biggest things that the algorithm really looks for," he said.

"I guess from a deeper, personal view, if you really want to make it, you'll do it. You've just got to keep on pushing through."

But Mr Fawcus warned "the more you get invested in TikTok, the bigger impact it is on your mental health".

"I don't see that many people talking about this, especially creators, but if you have a bad month on TikTok it will wreck your mental health,' he said.

"It's obviously harder to construct a video than is just taking a photo on Instagram. People put all this work into a TikTok video that are 15 seconds long and they'll get like 1000 views, 2000 views.

"From someone whose not in the space, they'll be like '1000 views - that's still pretty good' but if you're actively creating content and you see these people getting huge views, it really messes with your mental health.

"A lot of friends of mine just quit TikTok when they were ahead with 600k, 700k followers but they just couldn't deal with it. So, I guess be prepared if you want to be in the long game - that's a big thing."

Despite his huge TikTok following, Mr Fawcus said he would "100 per cent" compete in Squid Game if it came to Australia.

"I spent my high school career on handball, so if anyone wants to go, I'm 100 per cent down!" he said.