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(Glee) Survivor: A Primer
Setup
Two tribes of 8 people apiece are "marooned" in a tropical location with a minimum of supplies. In this "season," those starting supplies include a machete, a knife, a few metal pots, plastic water jugs, a small supply of rice, and then each person's individual bags. (Which contain a few other pieces of clothing, e.g. swimming clothes, a jacket, etc., but nothing like a compass or flint that might help them progress in the game.)
They are responsible for finding additional food to supplement their rice, which is not enough to sustain them over the span of the game. Trees, bushes, the ocean: anything around them can provide food. Examples of food sources used in previous seasons include: plantains, fish, coconuts, rats, wild fowl, shellfish. A covered source of water is available roughly a quarter-mile walk from each tribe's beach but it is unsafe until it has been boiled. Because of this requirement, keeping a fire going is essential. Without the ability to boil unlimited amounts of water, tribes must rely on catching rainwater in their pots.
Tribes are responsible for keeping themselves sheltered from the rain. Typically, tribes chop down small trees with their machete, use vines to lash them together, and cover the roof with several layers of palm fronds. It is up to each individual tribe as to how thoughtful they are on additional construction elements beyond the obvious need to block the rain. For example, it's smart to raise the shelter off the ground (to avoid insect bites during the night), to slope the roof and face the opening away from the wind (to help with rainfall), and to take the time to lay down a very even floor (to make sleep more comfortable), but tribes may not think of such things or may not have the technical capacity to implement anything but the most basic shelter.
Timeline, Challenges, and Tribal Council
Every three days (in show time, not this actual survey time), a Tribal Council is held. This is where every person in attendance casts a vote for one other person. (They cannot vote for themselves.) In all but the very final Tribal, the votes are made to eject one player from the game. In the final Tribal, the votes are instead made to determine who wins the game.
Who attends Tribal Council depends on which part of the game you're in. In the early part of the game there are two separate tribes. They compete in "Immunity Challenges." The winning tribe is safe from having to attend Tribal. The losing tribe knows they will have lost a member by the end of the night. However, in the middle section of the game the two groups merge into a single tribe. Immunity Challenges still occur, but they are now for individual immunity. The sole winner cannot be voted for, but everyone else still in the game is at risk of ejection.
Also, at this stage, players who are voted out return as members of the jury. They silently watch all Tribal Councils and keep up with any discussions that happen there. It's these players who decide who wins the game. Players who are voted out before the merge leave the game and are not seen again.
There are also "Reward Challenges." These grant tribes benefits that would make their camp life easier. A tarp to improve their shelter, fishing or cooking gear to help with their food, or a large feast are all common rewards. When the merge occurs, the rewards also become individual.
Strategy
If you've been skimming, START PAYING ATTENTION NOW.
The ultimate goal is to be the person in the final Tribal Council who gets the most votes. End of story.
But there are a lot of steps leading up to that.
In the early stages of the game, you want your tribe to win immunity every time. Then you never have to lose any of the people at your camp. Alliances are at the heart of this game, because it's all about having the numbers to vote out that other person you want to see gone instead of you. And while you will eventually merge with them, the people on the other tribe are natural enemies, not allies. They've had a lot of days to scheme and plot as to how they'll take out people who aren't them, meaning: you.
What does this mean? In the early stages of the game you do not want to lose strong people. Most challenges have a physical component of strength and/or speed, and many also have some sort of mental aspect. Anyone who is weak in challenges is dead weight, and they're likely to be considered for the boot unless someone is so obnoxious or so blatantly scheming that they're seen as too irritating to ignore.
But! After the merge hits, people who can win immunity challenges all on their own are now huge, huge threats. Someone who makes a run for immunity every challenge will never be up for elimination, meaning everyone else is at risk while they stay safe. Someone who would be unlikely to be considered for elimination before the merge may be very much at risk right before the merge or soon after.
Also, when you hit the final Tribal Council, the only way you will be able to win is if you're sitting next to someone less appealing than you. If you backstab an ejected player, lie to them, etc., then you may have lost their vote to the other person. This means you don't want to sit next to a saint. But on the other hand, if you're the person who tries to get rid of someone well-liked? You might become that hated person that has no chance of winning the majority of votes. Everything is a balancing act.
And FYI, for considering people's strategies: as this is oldschool Survivor, the final Tribal Council is between two players, not three.
A Few Final Notes
There is no one way to win. Physically dominant players or those who are constantly making big political moves are often pointed to as the "best players." However, there is exactly one person who's won twice, and in her two attempts at playing, her strategy was to give people the additional vote they needed to get someone else out, let other people set the tone, and then slide right in to the finals because she was so overlooked.
Alliances will often have some shared characteristics among them. E.g., women allying is very common for a variety of reasons: they want to knock out men who will be bigger immunity threats, they know that some jurors would respect backstabbing from a male player but may be unwilling to recognize a female player's similar agency to manipulate the game, etc. But we've seen alliances based on home geography, romance, religion, race, age, and basic personalities. That said, we've also seen alliances based on nothing more than a collection of players realizing they would do better together than apart.
There is no model of what a winner looks like. The last All-Stars season had several previous winners on it, and they included a middle-aged NYC alpha male fireman who was the camp leader and physical/social star of his season, a country youngster who was a good athlete and very charming, a very attractive female athlete who was famously manipulative of everyone around her, and a middle-aged, snarky, hilariously unathletic woman who was the aforementioned person who largely played passive right up until the moment when she won her second million dollar prize.
Two tribes of 8 people apiece are "marooned" in a tropical location with a minimum of supplies. In this "season," those starting supplies include a machete, a knife, a few metal pots, plastic water jugs, a small supply of rice, and then each person's individual bags. (Which contain a few other pieces of clothing, e.g. swimming clothes, a jacket, etc., but nothing like a compass or flint that might help them progress in the game.)
They are responsible for finding additional food to supplement their rice, which is not enough to sustain them over the span of the game. Trees, bushes, the ocean: anything around them can provide food. Examples of food sources used in previous seasons include: plantains, fish, coconuts, rats, wild fowl, shellfish. A covered source of water is available roughly a quarter-mile walk from each tribe's beach but it is unsafe until it has been boiled. Because of this requirement, keeping a fire going is essential. Without the ability to boil unlimited amounts of water, tribes must rely on catching rainwater in their pots.
Tribes are responsible for keeping themselves sheltered from the rain. Typically, tribes chop down small trees with their machete, use vines to lash them together, and cover the roof with several layers of palm fronds. It is up to each individual tribe as to how thoughtful they are on additional construction elements beyond the obvious need to block the rain. For example, it's smart to raise the shelter off the ground (to avoid insect bites during the night), to slope the roof and face the opening away from the wind (to help with rainfall), and to take the time to lay down a very even floor (to make sleep more comfortable), but tribes may not think of such things or may not have the technical capacity to implement anything but the most basic shelter.
Timeline, Challenges, and Tribal Council
Every three days (in show time, not this actual survey time), a Tribal Council is held. This is where every person in attendance casts a vote for one other person. (They cannot vote for themselves.) In all but the very final Tribal, the votes are made to eject one player from the game. In the final Tribal, the votes are instead made to determine who wins the game.
Who attends Tribal Council depends on which part of the game you're in. In the early part of the game there are two separate tribes. They compete in "Immunity Challenges." The winning tribe is safe from having to attend Tribal. The losing tribe knows they will have lost a member by the end of the night. However, in the middle section of the game the two groups merge into a single tribe. Immunity Challenges still occur, but they are now for individual immunity. The sole winner cannot be voted for, but everyone else still in the game is at risk of ejection.
Also, at this stage, players who are voted out return as members of the jury. They silently watch all Tribal Councils and keep up with any discussions that happen there. It's these players who decide who wins the game. Players who are voted out before the merge leave the game and are not seen again.
There are also "Reward Challenges." These grant tribes benefits that would make their camp life easier. A tarp to improve their shelter, fishing or cooking gear to help with their food, or a large feast are all common rewards. When the merge occurs, the rewards also become individual.
Strategy
If you've been skimming, START PAYING ATTENTION NOW.
The ultimate goal is to be the person in the final Tribal Council who gets the most votes. End of story.
But there are a lot of steps leading up to that.
In the early stages of the game, you want your tribe to win immunity every time. Then you never have to lose any of the people at your camp. Alliances are at the heart of this game, because it's all about having the numbers to vote out that other person you want to see gone instead of you. And while you will eventually merge with them, the people on the other tribe are natural enemies, not allies. They've had a lot of days to scheme and plot as to how they'll take out people who aren't them, meaning: you.
What does this mean? In the early stages of the game you do not want to lose strong people. Most challenges have a physical component of strength and/or speed, and many also have some sort of mental aspect. Anyone who is weak in challenges is dead weight, and they're likely to be considered for the boot unless someone is so obnoxious or so blatantly scheming that they're seen as too irritating to ignore.
But! After the merge hits, people who can win immunity challenges all on their own are now huge, huge threats. Someone who makes a run for immunity every challenge will never be up for elimination, meaning everyone else is at risk while they stay safe. Someone who would be unlikely to be considered for elimination before the merge may be very much at risk right before the merge or soon after.
Also, when you hit the final Tribal Council, the only way you will be able to win is if you're sitting next to someone less appealing than you. If you backstab an ejected player, lie to them, etc., then you may have lost their vote to the other person. This means you don't want to sit next to a saint. But on the other hand, if you're the person who tries to get rid of someone well-liked? You might become that hated person that has no chance of winning the majority of votes. Everything is a balancing act.
And FYI, for considering people's strategies: as this is oldschool Survivor, the final Tribal Council is between two players, not three.
A Few Final Notes
There is no one way to win. Physically dominant players or those who are constantly making big political moves are often pointed to as the "best players." However, there is exactly one person who's won twice, and in her two attempts at playing, her strategy was to give people the additional vote they needed to get someone else out, let other people set the tone, and then slide right in to the finals because she was so overlooked.
Alliances will often have some shared characteristics among them. E.g., women allying is very common for a variety of reasons: they want to knock out men who will be bigger immunity threats, they know that some jurors would respect backstabbing from a male player but may be unwilling to recognize a female player's similar agency to manipulate the game, etc. But we've seen alliances based on home geography, romance, religion, race, age, and basic personalities. That said, we've also seen alliances based on nothing more than a collection of players realizing they would do better together than apart.
There is no model of what a winner looks like. The last All-Stars season had several previous winners on it, and they included a middle-aged NYC alpha male fireman who was the camp leader and physical/social star of his season, a country youngster who was a good athlete and very charming, a very attractive female athlete who was famously manipulative of everyone around her, and a middle-aged, snarky, hilariously unathletic woman who was the aforementioned person who largely played passive right up until the moment when she won her second million dollar prize.