General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20266 min read

Kidnapping Game (十日游戏)

Kidnapping Game (十日游戏) is a 2020 Chinese crime-mystery web series produced for the streaming platform iQIYI, adapted from the Japanese mystery novelist Keigo Higashino's novel The Name of the Game is a Kidnapping (ゲームの名は誘拐, known in Chinese as 绑架游戏). It was the first title released under iQIYI's Light On (迷雾剧场) suspense theater and, according to the platform, the first Chinese web drama adapted from a Higashino work.¹^•²

Key fact	Detail
Original title	十日游戏 (Shi Ri You Xi); also listed as 绑架游戏 (Bang Jia You Xi) and Light On Series: Kidnapping Game²
Source	The Name of the Game is a Kidnapping by Keigo Higashino, published in 2002³^•⁴
Broadcast	iQIYI, June 2 to June 11, 2020; 12 episodes of roughly 40 to 43 minutes, released Tuesday through Thursday¹^•²^•⁵
Main cast	Zhu Yawen as Yu Hai, Jin Chen as Lu Jie, Liu Yijun as Shen Hui, Geng Le as Wu Yuke, Xu Keer as Miao Jia, Ni Dahong in a special appearance as Tian Peng⁵
Director / supervisor	Directed by Zang Xichuan; supervised by Wu Bai (五百)⁵^•⁴
Reception	Douban opening score reported as 8.0 by iQIYI and 8.1 by other outlets, settling around 7.8 after the run⁶^•⁷

Spoilers

Premise

The story is set in the fictional Chinese city of Luteng (绿藤市). Yu Hai, the owner of a game studio, is coldly dropped by his investor Shen Hui, who withdraws his funding. Yu Hai then meets Lu Jie, Shen Hui's estranged daughter, and the two conspire to stage a fake kidnapping of her in order to extort 4 million yuan in ransom from Shen Hui as revenge. During the scheme the two fall in love. Days after the "kidnapping" ends, Lu Jie is found dead, and the detectives Wu Yuke and Miao Jia are assigned to the murder case, an investigation that exposes a larger danger behind the game.²^•⁸

The series keeps the novel's central device, the fake kidnapping in which kidnapper and captive trade roles in a contest of wits, and adds a murder investigation that the novel does not have.⁹^•⁷

Narrative structure

Dual timelines. The adaptation's most discussed feature is its two interleaved story lines: one follows the kidnapping plot from ten days before, the other follows the police investigation beginning ten days later, when a woman's body is found with a butterfly tattoo like Lu Jie's. The same locations appear at different times, and editing cuts between the scheming and the sleuthing so that viewers can reason alongside the police about where the plan went wrong.¹⁰^•¹¹

Director Zang Xichuan explained the choice as a response to the novel's pacing. The book unfolds chronologically, building the fake kidnapping in detail before revealing doubts, a rhythm he judged too slow for drama viewers, who might abandon the show or simply look up the ending. Restructuring the material put the question of "what happened" on screen from the start, alongside the novel's question of "why".¹¹ The police line was also added because Chinese adaptations were expected to include an investigation thread; the production team decided that if police were to be added, their storyline should be equal in weight to the kidnapping plot rather than a token device.⁷

Adaptation and localization

The source novel, written by Higashino in 2002 after magazine serialization, is unusual within his catalog for its premise: a slighted advertising planner joins the runaway daughter of a corporate boss in a staged abduction, with the true mastermind revealed only at the end. Reviewers noted its multiple twists, role reversals between kidnapper and hostage, and themes of love and deception, but also its flat characters and dark tone.⁴^•⁹

Japan had already filmed the novel as the 2003 movie g@me (诱拐g@me), directed by Sakai Satoshi and starring Fujiki Naohito and Nakama Yukie; the film received middling attention, though Fujiki won a Japan Academy Prize for Newcomer for it.⁴^•⁹

The Chinese version localized the story by expanding Shen Hui's backstory to motivate his ruthless protection of his daughter, and by giving the detectives a full investigative arc. Zang Xichuan summarized the reworking by saying that Higashino supplied the answer to the mystery while the adaptation rebuilt the puzzle around it.¹¹ A review in People's Daily praised the localization for enriching the story and characters and for fitting the 12-episode short-drama format, while noting that tighter detail and logic would have improved it.¹²

Production

Zang Xichuan, a longtime first assistant director to Zhang Yimou who had directed features including The Donor (winner of the New Currents prize at the 21st Busan International Film Festival), made his series directing debut with this show.¹¹^•⁷ Filming ran about 60 days at roughly five days per episode, with a large shot count per scene; the director reported that footage equivalent to 14 to 16 episodes was cut down to 12.⁷

Place in the Light On series

Light On (迷雾剧场) was launched by iQIYI in the second quarter of 2020 as an upgrade of its earlier suspense theater brand, presenting a slate of 12-episode suspense dramas modeled on premium serialized television. Kidnapping Game opened the slate on June 2, 2020, followed by The Bad Kids (隐秘的角落), Very Perilous (非常目击), Day Breaker (在劫难逃), and The Long Night (沉默的真相).¹^•⁶

By the slate's close on October 1, 2020, iQIYI reported that more than 68 million VIP members had watched Light On content, that the five dramas had generated over 460 trending topics on Chinese social platforms, and that the theater's titles averaged above 8 on Douban. Kidnapping Game had also been sold to Singapore's pay-TV operator Singtel.⁶ Commentators noted that the show itself drew a modest audience at first, with its reputation growing after The Bad Kids became a breakout hit and drew attention back to the theater's first title.¹³

Reception

Criticism of the series centered on its structure and its blend of genres. Reviewers credited the dual-timeline editing with concentrating suspense and praised the performances of Zhu Yawen, playing a kidnapper who shifts between menace and desperation, and Liu Yijun as the investor Shen Hui. The romance, a deliberate addition unusual for a suspense drama, divided opinion: many viewers enjoyed the pairing, while some critics found the love story the weaker element of an otherwise well-constructed plot.⁴^•⁹^•¹⁴

Douban scores reported during the run varied by date and outlet: 7.9 in a Yangcheng Evening News review published June 10, 2020, an opening of 8.0 per iQIYI's own retrospective and 8.1 per other accounts, and a settled score around 7.8 according to the director's post-finale interview.⁴^•⁶^•⁷

References

Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › International serial drama and telenovelas › East Asian drama series › East Asian web and streaming serials › Titles Iv to My

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026

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