What Is the Seven of Hearts Game in Alice in Borderland?

One of the things that we know about the world of Alice In Borderland is that the games have different types that correspond to the suit of cards they belong to. The most notorious of all of the games played in the storyline was the Seven of Hearts game, which was what ultimately killed Arisu’s friends during the early part of the series. Up to now, the game is still being talked about by fans due to how notorious it is. So, what is the Seven of Hearts game in Alice In Borderland?

Called Hide and Seek, the Seven of Hearts game made the players wear goggles and explosive collars. The goal was for the players to make eye contact with the designated wolf to become the wolf as well. At the end of the time limit, all of the other players will explode while only the wolf survives.

The fact that the Seven of Hearts game is so tricky when it comes to its possible solutions is what makes it so notorious among fans of the series. Arisu theorized that all Hearts games have solutions that don’t lead to anyone dying, but even that is something that we aren’t sure of due to the nature of this game. That said, let’s look at what the Seven of Hearts game is.

What Is The Seven Of Heart Game In Alice In Borderland?

We’ve seen a lot of different games in Alice In Borderland, and all of these games seem to have solutions that allow the players to clear them without any deaths. While that may be true, the most notorious out of all of the games in the series is the Seven of Hearts game, which was what led to the deaths of Chōta and Karube.

As a Hearts game, the Seven of Hearts was meant to mess with the mental state and emotions of the players involved. In that regard, this game was meant to test the friendship and mental states of the players, which were all of Arisu’s friends, except for Saori, who they only met after arriving in the Borderlands. So, what is the Seven of Hearts game?

The Seven of Hearts game takes place in a botanical garden. It has four players, which were Arisu, Chōta, Karube, and Saori. There was also a 15-minute time limit given to them to finish the game.

All players have to wear the goggles that are provided. The goggles include microphones and an eye-tracking system that allows the explosive collar around their neck to know whether or not they made eye contact with another player. The players are also given a wide variety of tools that they can use in the game.

The rules state that one of the players will be the wolf, while all of the others are the lambs or sheep. Whenever a wolf makes eye contact with a lamb, that lamb will be the next wolf. Once the time limit is up, all of the lambs would explode. Meanwhile, the wolf will be the only one to survive the game.

It was the fact that the Seven of Hearts game only allowed one player to survive if they strictly followed the rules that forced Arisu and his friends to enter a tough situation. They all became selfish enough to try to survive the game, as this was a test of friendship that forced the trio of Arisu, Chōta, and Karube to see just how important their friendship was.

Near the end of the game, Arisu was the wolf as he tried to find a way to remove his collar so that he could save the others. However, he failed to do so no matter how hard he worked to remove his collar. While Chōta, Karube, and Saori had their own fair share of selfish moments throughout the game, they all had to accept their own deaths because they understood that the one who had to live was Arisu due to the fact that he had the brains and the heart to clear all of the games in the Borderlands.

In the Queen of Hearts game, the Queen of Hearts (Mira) revealed to Arisu that she was the one who designed the Seven of Hearts game after seeing how close he was to his friends. She wanted to test the limits of their friendship, only for her to see that both Chōta and Karube were willing enough to sacrifice their lives for Arisu after initially betraying one another.

What Was The Solution For The Seven Of Hearts Game?

In the series and the manga, there was never a solution that was given for the Seven of Hearts game. Even Haro Aso, the author of the manga, never mentioned a solution, although he did say that the solution was up to the imagination of the fans. In that regard, the Seven of Hearts game seems to be a bit open-ended in terms of its solution.

But Arisu theorized that all Hearts games have solutions that don’t involve death. That was one of the lasting impressions left to him by the Seven of Hearts game. So, while there was never a solution given for this game, there are some internet theories regarding the possible solutions for this game.

Reflection

First off, the reflection theory indicates that all of the players should have used a reflective surface and then looked at it at the same time so that they could trick the goggles into making all of them wolves at the same time. That way, they could all survive the game at the end of the time limit. However, the fact that the rules state that the players need to lock eye contact means that this solution would never work, considering that you can’t lock eyes with multiple people at the same time.

Cutting The Lamb’s Collars

The second possible solution involves cutting the collars of the lambs, considering that there were tools given to the players at the start of the game. Those tools must be there for a purpose, as they were probably there to allow the players to remove the collars instead of fighting each other. Or if Mira was a sadist, she might have placed those tools there to give the players hope.

This theory states that the sheep should cut off their collars with the tools. However, there are risks involved here because it is possible that removing the collar of a sheep would make the collar explode, thereby killing the player.

Cutting The Wolf’s Collar

The most popular theory is making use of the wolf as the person whose collar should be cut. The fact that the wolf’s collar was wired to never explode as long as that person remains the wolf makes this a safer solution. And it can be quite simple yet a bit too time-consuming at the same time.

It is possible that all four of the players should have worked together to remove the collar of the wolf without making eye contact with the designated wolf. After removing the collar of the wolf, the wolf should make eye contact with one of the sheep to make him the new wolf, considering that the goggles and not the collars are the ones that determine whether or not the person is a wolf.

After removing the collar of the new wolf, that wolf should now pass the wolf title to another player. This should go on and on until three of the collars have been removed from three players. The final player should be the wolf, and that means that there is no need to cut their collar because the collar of the wolf would never explode. 

The trick here is whether or not the collars could be dismantled with whatever tools the players have at their disposal. As mentioned, it is possible that these tools were merely there to give the players hope, and that means that there is a good chance that the tools didn’t have the capacity to remove the collars. But it is also possible that they were placed there for a good reason, and that is to make the players work together to remove their collars within the time limit.