Ep. 5: Game Within the Game
It’s time again for another blog post about the new feature of Survivor 41, “Game Within the Game”. For the 5th installment I thought I would tighten up the blog post and mess around with the website capabilities, picture formats, and like the previous GWtG posts, have some fun. After all, 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 5 - REBUS PUZZLE
www.survivorgwg.com
CLUE 1 - LEARNING = LEARNING
CLUE 2 - SHAPE OF HOW LEARNING IS WRITTEN = CURVE
LEARNING + CURVE =
www.survivorgwg.com
The easiest Rebus puzzle so far. Only 2 clues and one of them was the full word. For a younger kid the word curve and associating it with “learning curve” would definitely be a challenge, but a true student of the game and the Game Within the Game like me is past the learning curve at this point.
There was one part of this week’s puzzle that was coolest. The puzzle was revealed before the Immunity Challenge began, but what stood out was during the challenge how the puzzle connected to Jeff’s motivation to the tribes saying as he has before “there’s a learning curve to this” blah blah blah. There is something to be said about keeping the GWtG simple and relevant. This week’s puzzle hit that right on the head. To the producers of GWtG, we are watching and good job by you.
EPISODE 5 - WORD PUZZLE
Moving on from the Rebus puzzle. Next up in the GWtG is the WORD SCRAMBLE.
Solving the word scramble was easy, but being reminded by Jeff each week to imagine yourself having to solve these puzzles and word scrambles under the elements of no food, no sleep, and days and days of rain put it in the proper perspective. Fittingly, the message to consider this week (see quotes from Jeff above) was as close to WAR as you can get on reality TV.
Through 5 episodes we now have five pieces of the final Survivor riddle.
VOTE
SEE
URN
TOY
WAR
WAR is the first clue that is really throwing me off the scent of where I was previously following. I will keep what I wrote for last week below but the addition of WAR makes me think maybe the it’s not a full sentence riddle and more of a Rebus puzzle. WAR + URN = WARN
Maybe I’m way off but here is my take from last week.
I’m still leaning toward the riddle having to do with the symbol on the front of the voting urn. Feels like the riddle could add up to somebody having some power over the votes in the urn. The other thought I had with the addition of “TOY” to the mix is that the Shot in the Dark die is a toy and the Shot in the Dark die jar (I guess) was pictured next to a bag with the symbol on the voting urn and Beware Advantage found by Brad, Sydney, and Tiffany. The combination of the symbols was also on the targets of the Immunity Challenge slingshot portion at the end.
EPISODE 5 - 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 6.
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.
Here’s this week’s strategy test question:
“If you found yourself in a situation in which you had to send somebody to an exile island sort of scenario, would you be more likely to send an ally, or more likely to send an adversary? - Jeff Probst via www.survivorgwg.com
If we are talking in the context of Survivor 41 the answer to this strategy test is simple, you send an ally. First, your ally can retrieve any information about the exile island type scenario and report it back to you. From that, you both can build trust and know when someone else comes back if they are telling the truth or not. Gathering information about the exile island is a crucial component. Secondly, you send an ally on the journey in season 41 because the Prisoner’s Dilemma is the choice between protecting your vote or risking your vote and what’s at stake is a potential advantage in the game. Sending an ally can allow your alliance to win an advantage and keep that potential reward away from adversaries. Lastly, you send an ally so your alliance has a chance to extend the olive branch to a player on another tribe. The opportunity to expand your alliance or at least break bread with other tribes gives you at least an opportunity to get a leg up heading into the next phase of the game.
However, the question was asked from a philosophical approach what you would do, not specific to season 41. Let’s look at both sides.
Philosophy - SEND AN ALLY
Many of the season 41 specific reasons apply to the philosophy of sending an ally to exile over sending an adversary. To add onto it, taking the approach of sending an ally regardless of situation is a chance to build trust with another player, have that trust returned to you, acquire information for your alliance, and keep information or exile type opportunities out of the hands of an adversary. Sending the ally helps build an alliance and increase the chances of earning the rewards that the exile scenario has to offer.
Philosophy - SEND AN ADVERSARY
On the other hand, there is the opposite approach of sending an adversary, enemy, target, or resident tribe goat to the exile scenario. There are benefits for sure. First, not putting a target on your back or the back of an ally, aka not giving other people a chance to say that you have an advantage is helpful. Sometimes not having the light shined on you and being under the radar can help you advance in the game. Another benefit is being able to read the person who comes back from exile to see what their story is and determine how trustworthy they are. Do they tell you everything, something, or nothing about their exile experience? Do they sound full or crap or sincere/genuine? Either way it’s information for you to learn about exile or about the player who was there. Sending the adversary also helps you take the reported experience and use it against the person who went. (Something that has become quite common in 41) People who go to exile expose themselves to being talked about by the people who don’t go. Talking strategy or talking smack about that person or what to do about that person is to the non-exile people’s benefit.
www.survivorgwg.com
Both are solid philosophies with a case to be made. Could even say that both share the possibility of having one person, ally or adversary, be the target of every exile opportunity and effectively eliminate that part of the game as much as possible. Anyway…
It’s decision time. If I’m coming into season 43/44 and learn that there’s an exile scenario my philosophy is to send an ally. I like the idea of using the exile to build and test an alliance, have and share information about the exile scenario to have for myself, and the potential to win an advantage or idol for yourself or an ally is the most important aspect of the exile and I would want to control that piece of the game, and not hand that opportunity to an adversary.
You never know how many times the exile will be in play and be stuck in a position where you are powerless or in the dark about what went on in that portion of the game outside of camp. A wrong decision on sending an adversary over an ally could end up with your torch getting snuffed or your #1 ally. Knowledge is power and exile scenarios are power. If nothing else, we can learn from JD to never give up power in Survivor.
Thanks again for reading. Hope you are enjoying the Game Within the Game as much as I am. Be sure to outlike, outcomment, and outshare the rest all season long. See you next week.
The blog has spoken!
