I see a lot of fun theories on the Seven of Hearts game, such as that it was possible for everyone to survive.
I like them and all but i'm going to explain below why this isn't the case, supported by the manga!
Also just a quick note: In the manga, Shibuki wasn't forced to keep quiet, she was fully ready to take the wolf role from Arisu, but she decided she couldn't live with the guilt. I think this is important to mention because it changes how the game is supposed to be percieved.
Let's get one thing out of the way. The games in the borderlands are as straight forward as they say. And I'll explain some game rules below from the side chapters (a.k.a, these chapters don't feature the main characters nor the main plotline but are nonetheless, fun chapters)
Game One: Endure the trails. This is the game the show took for episode four. The game, everyine believed they had to run to the opposite side and get to the exit. The main guy of this game that we are following, doesn't realise until the very end that the rules were to endure the trials, not run from them. The last trial is a bomb, in which the bus would have protected him from and therefore, he would have endured the trial. No catch here, they just missed that small little detail until the last second.
Game Two: escape the game venue before it's destroyed. Practically everyone died here except one, where she was wandering around the venue beforehand and managed to get out. Everyine could have survived, they just didn't because they were right in the center of where the venue would be destroyed.
Now let's look at the Seven of Hearts game. The sheep will hide from the wolf. And this is the game that people think everyone could have survived. And today I'm ruining your hearts by telling you that no, Karube, Chota and Shibuki would have died no matter what. Because the game directly tells the four of them "yes, three of you will die."
The game masters will hide little trick questions in their games, or surprises (like the tagger game) but they don't outright lie ever.
A group of four friends. The text reads "As you understand, out of the four of you, only one will survive."]
The point of this Seven of Hearts game was to basically ask the question "Can you live with the guilt of indirectly killing these innocent people?"
During when Arisu tries to find the others, Shibuki is ready, she's behind Arisu and is fully prepared to let them all die to survive until she hides berself and decides she can't live with the guilt. She'd rather die than do that.
Panel one, a woman stands behind a man in a botanical garden. Text reads "The one who would takea single step forward, the one who should survive this game, was supposed to be me!"
Panel two is a shot of the plants.
Panel three is blank with the text "up until just a moment ago, that's what I thought."
Panel four is the woman crying with the text "But I can't do that anymore!! I just can't shouldee the burden of all your lives!!"]
Fun fact though, clubs is the ONLY game type where everyone can survive. Some games you'll lose people whether it be for sacrifice, or how the game is designed, with Clubs you don't need to do any of that, there's always a way around it for your team.
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