Ep. 3: Game Within the Game
It’s time again for another blog post about the new feature of Survivor 41, “Game Within the Game”. After 3 episodes we have learned a couple more things.
The Game Within the Game is the one stop shop for having some fun with Rebus puzzles, riddles, and thinking about strategy.
GWtG is definitely for young, junior, future Survivors. The Rebus puzzle could be from 8 or 9 years old but add some pressure and competition and you have yourself a high school and older level activity.
The riddle is meant for kids. Young kids. Kids learning about Survivor or the word vote for the first time. Too easy for adults. But, this week was a bit more challenging. (more on this later)
It’s fun! Remember, Tribal Council Blog is trying to have some fun with all things Survivor and Amazing Race, so the GWtG is no exception. Have fun with it!
EPISODE 3 - REBUS PUZZLE
CLUE 1 - 🚫 = DON’T
CLUE 2 - ROCK = ROCK
CLUE 3 -🛶 = BOAT
DON’T + ROCK + BOAT
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🎶DON’T ROCK THE BOAT BABY 🎶
🎶 DON’T TIP THE BOAT OVER 🎶
The Hues Corporation made not rocking the boat something America could always remember, and the same message is true in Survivor. Not rocking the boat can get you far in the game and even to the final Tribal Council. Maybe what’s most important to consider in this Rebus puzzle lesson/message is sometimes it’s what you don’t do that helps your game the most. People won’t always think this way and will rock the boat and it will cost them. The key is recognizing when someone is rocking the boat, target it, and use it against them. LOL I guess I’m getting somewhere with all this GWtG coaching.
As far as the Rebus puzzles, 3 for 3 and feeling good! I am trying to create more pressure like Jeff proposes in the videos but it’s easier to pretend to be Jeff and show someone else the puzzle. Aka, find the nearest person who you know would have an interest in solving the puzzles and create a mock Survivor Immunity Challenge type atmosphere for them and watch how they respond. It’s fun for everyone! Or, you could always switch roles and have them play Jeff for you.
EPISODE 3 - WORD PUZZLE
Moving on from the Rebus puzzle. Next up in the GWtG is the WORD SCRAMBLE.
www.survivorgwg.com
www.survivorgwg.com
Easy word puzzle 3rd time in a row, right?
www.survivorgwg.com
WRONG!
Those tricky, tricky GWtG producers! They got me and I have to think many people to find their first red font error indicating a wrong answer. Was it an impossible fix to make? Absolutely not. However, the idea of being on the show and seeing a word scramble and one of the words is URN could be a tough one to figure out in a Survivor InstaPot.
You got me GWtG. I underestimated you, or maybe I just didn’t overestimate you. Either way, URN was hard, nobody got it on the first try, if you say you did then you are a liar!
www.survivorgwg.com
www.survivorgwg.com
Through 3 episodes we now have three pieces of the final Survivor riddle.
VOTE
SEE
URN
URN is a big word to throw into the riddle. Combine it with VOTE and It makes you think about the urn that the votes go into. Take a look at the symbol on the voting urn. This symbol also appeared on the Beware Advantage that Brad, Tiffany, and Sydney all found.
Do you see it? It’s the same symbol. What does it mean? Who knows. It looks like a sunset over clouds or rocks. Lot of questions here but the 2 biggest are…
Does this symbol only apply for GWtG?
Is this a clue to something in the actual 41 game?
Time will tell, but I’m feeling proud of myself for making this connection after 3 episodes. WOOO!!!
EPISODE 3 - STRATEGY TEST
Reminder. This strategy test is designed to give the viewers (especially young fans or budding strategists) a situation directly connected to the next episode for you to ponder and then make a theoretical decision on heading into episode 4.
What is most valuable about this feature of GWtG is directly asking you “What you would do?” Even if people have watched the show for 20 years and thought about how they would act in a situation, the strategy test provides a new experience because we have this information before it happens. Now, we know what is coming, we get to see who is put in the situation, and most fun of all, how they respond.
www.survivorgwg.com
This question is always lurking in any Survivor season but rarely is it carried out to fruition. There are many sides to this argument for why to do it or not to do it. Personally, I don’t believe I would ever throw an immunity challenge.
I get Danny’s upcoming “I’m a professional athlete so therefore purposefully losing is not in my DNA” argument and subscribe to it. As a competitor it is difficult to willingly lose at anything be it checkers, Go Fish with Grandma, or an immunity challenge on Survivor. It’s tough to do it, but not the main reason to forego throwing a challenge.
Then there is the complications of involving other people. To throw a challenge solo is WAY TOO RISKY so in more cases the person throwing a challenge is working with others to throw it for a greater purpose. This means either getting other people on board with the plan, not easy, or jumping on board with someone else’s plan, also not easy! Ultimately, in these scenarios you better have a boat load of trust in others and the plan being concocted.
Finally, is the reason that I think would win out in the tournament of reasons to never throw a challenge that would play out in my head…
GOING TO TRIBAL COUNCIL MEANS YOU COULD BE VOTED OUT!
It’s a fairly obvious stance on why to never throw a challenge, but some things just need to be said out loud. Think about it. Let’s say you trust someone and go to them with the Survivor fanboy plan of throwing a challenge and they make you believe that it’s all good. Then, you throw the challenge and end up at Tribal Council. But, what you didn’t foresee is your plan aka info/power being used as the exact reason as to why you should be voted out.
Or
Let’s say you successfully throw the challenge and have the trust of enough people to feel secure in your decision to intentionally go to Tribal Council, but then at Tribal, the plan falls apart and you find yourself with a pit in your stomach the size of a coconut because the little bits of power and control you thought you had has now gone right out the window.
Point is, going to Tribal Council, ON PURPOSE, is risky and dangerous as hell. Point blank. The only guarantee in Tribal Council is that if you aren’t partaking in it, you can’t be the next person to see your torch snuffed out by Jeff. For that simple reason, I opt to never throw the challenge. Everyone wants to make a big move and help build their case for why they deserve the million bucks, but throwing a challenge isn’t that move. Call me a wimp, but I’d rather take my chances and risk being voted out in other ways than throwing a challenge and risk seeing it blow up in my face.
But, let’s have some fun shall we?
Like Jeff proposes, if the answer to throwing an immunity challenge is yes, is it to strengthen your alliance or because of personality?
Strengthen your alliance - If you feel a strong sense of trust between other members of your tribe and collectively you feel an outsider to your sect is at all a threat to your alliance’s chances to advance as far as possible, throwing a challenge could be a (seemingly) simple solution to removing the thorn in your side.
Personality - If you feel that someone on the tribe is such a strong personality (ex: leader, type A, annoying, too emotional, sneaky, or a loose cannon) than banning together with the other members of the tribe to get rid of the cancer of the tribe can be worth considering.
Between the two arguments for throwing a challenge I think strengthening your alliance is the better argument. In the end, someone is going to be a bad fit for personality, but that person could be the easy vote if you find your tribe at Tribal Council without intentionally getting there. Having that one scapegoat to point to after a loss could be enough to avoid yourself going home, so intentionally ridding yourself of that person seems too risky or foolish. Instead, throwing a challenge as proof of trust within the alliance is more valid a reason than to vote out a personality misfit. Better to try and be on the side of strengthening trust in an alliance that can serve you going forward in the game, especially one that is only 26 days. Plus, you don’t want to rock the boat.
Thanks for reading. Be sure to outlike, outcomment, and outshare the rest all season long. Enjoy episode 4 everybody.
The blog has spoken!
