mothy-guy

Survivor is a Reality TV show in which the contestants are taken to a remote location (usually on a deserted island) for 30-40 days and compete to win a million dollars. Contestants are initially split into 'tribes' which compete in challenges against one another. The tribes typically live apart in a survival scenario. They are given very few supplies (typically a machete, a pot, and sometimes a bag of rice) and forced to battle the elements on their own. They must build a shelter with materials at their camp, hunt for food, and build their own fires (though they often win rewards at challenges to make these survival aspects easier).

There are a variety of challenges that appear in the game. Most are physical in some way, like obstacle courses or something that involves a lot of strength or balance. There are often a lot of puzzles as well.

At the end of each episode, the tribe who lost a recent challenge must vote off someone from their tribe, which is where the social aspect of the game comes up. The show typically starts with about 16-20 contestants, divided into 2-3 tribes. People get voted out of their tribes for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it can be because they're bad at challenges, they're annoying and lazy, or because they're perceived as a threat to someone else's position in the game. Physically weak people do not necessarily get voted out as long as they have alliances with other people in the tribe.

Once there are about 10 people left in the game, the tribes 'merge', meaning that all the remaining contestants live together at the same camp and compete in individual challenges instead of team challenges for advantages in the game.

After the tribes are merged, the 'jury' begins. Typically after the merge, when people get voted out, they don't go home. Instead, they get added to the jury. The jury will observe who gets voted off each episode but not interact with the contestants still in the game until the last episode. During the finale, the Final Two or Final Three contestants will explain to the jury why they feel like they should they should win the million dollars. The jury at this point can ask questions of the contestants to help them understand what happened over the season better. Afterwards, the jury votes on who will win the game and the million dollar cash prize.

There are many strategies involved in winning the game. If someone is physically very strong, they'll typically be very good in challenges, which will cause them to win a lot of challenges, and therefore advantages that can help get them to the end. Sometimes, people take notice that someone is good at challenges and target them because of this. Other contestants play a good social game, where they are friendly enough (or manipulative enough) with the other contestants to convince them that they shouldn't be voted out. Sometimes people are weary of people that play such a good social game or view them as disloyal because they have relationships with everyone.

To explain the voting options: Quits: Contestants are not forced into these circumstances. It is a physically demanding game, and people are allowed to quit for any reason (though, this is discouraged).

First out: They are the first person voted out of their tribe. This can be due to a lot of reasons, though it is typically because they couldn't make friends with other people in their tribe, they did something viewed as untrustworthy, or they were really bad at challenges.

Taken out pre-merge: This is for the people who weren't the first out, but didn't make it far in the game. This is typically people who don't get along with others very well or do poorly at challenges, but it can also be people who are perceived as threats to do really well in individual challenges, meaning they'll be difficult to vote out later.

Taken out post-merge for being a threat: After the merge, typically people start planning for who they want to take to the end. To win the game, you need the jury to vote for you to win the game. To get to the end of the game, you typically need to lie and blindside and manipulate people to get ahead. This means that people that are liked by a majority of the jury typically get voted out at this point in the game because they would be very likely to win if they get to the end. Threats can also be people who are good at challenges, since if they keep winning, they can't be voted out.

Loses at fire-making/tie-breaker: once there are only a few people left in the game, if there is a tie on who got the most votes, the contestants who were voted enter a duel to decide who gets to stay. This is a fire-making challenge to see who can build a fire the fastest. In later seasons, the show always has two people at the Final Four compete in this challenge to decide who gets to earn their Final Three spot regardless of the wishes of the contestants.

Taken to the end as a sacrificial goat: A strategy many winners implement is bringing someone that is liked by no one to the end of the game as an easy vote-out. This person typically gets no votes at the end. They are the 'sacrificial goat' in that they are eliminated at the very end of the game to make the winner look better in comparison to the jury.

Makes it to the Final Two/Three: This is for people who are skilled enough to make it to the end, but just couldn't get enough people on the jury to vote for them. Maybe they upset a lot of people by lying to them about who they would vote for, or they didn't make a lot of friends over the game, or maybe they just aren't particularly good at speaking persuasively in their final speeches.