Survivor

 

 

A Gamer’s View of Survivor

by Donald J. Bingle

I didn’t catch the original run of Survivor last year on CBS, but they did re-run the whole thing 15 days in a row during the Olympics in September, so I caught the whole thing in sequence (rather than watch boxing or water polo). The remarkable thing about it from a gaming perspective (aside from the fact that the fat guy won) was how many of the contestants did not pay any attention to the game aspects of the contest—concentrating instead on survival skills, making friends, or whatever. Two moments stand out in particular: First, when the tribe received notice of an upcoming immunity challenge in the form of a notice that looked like a Trivial Pursuit card, Colleen rightly predicted "we’re going to be asked trivia questions about each other," then continued with glee "it’s like we’re going to be on a game show." Duh, Colleen, you have been on a game show for weeks already. No wonder you are bound to be voted off. Similarly, in another immunity challenge, Jeff Probst had everyone sit around the campfire while he told them legends about the island and the show, then sent them off in a Blair Witch spoof with video cameras. They were to find masks, read the questions on the back, then point the cameras at themselves and give the answer (which he had just told them). Rudy goes off into the woods finds a mask, reads the questions, the points the camera at himself and says "I have no idea", then repeats this for each subsequent question. Later, he indicated that, since he had an alliance and knew he was not going to be voted off, he hadn’t paid attention or tried to win immunity. Gosh, Rudy, do you think keeping someone else from getting immunity might have helped you and your alliance’s chances?

Richard, the eventual winner, on the other hand, always seemed to have the game in mind. He admitted to the camera that he only caught enough fish to keep his fish catching ability appreciated ("I’ll catch some today, but I won’t catch more til after the next immunity challenge."). When asked if Susan was going to vote against him late in the game, his response was "No, but if she does, good for her. It means she played me very well." In true Diplomacy style, it was Richard who indicated near the end, "You don’t know me at all. You only know what I chose to present to you for purposes of winning the game." Some of the others could have used some Diplomacy experience. Shortly before the two tribes joined a group of 4 (the eventual final 4) went to a fifth from their tribe and suggested that she join their alliance, so they could vote the other tribe off without trouble. Her reply, "No, I don’t believe in alliances." Gee, lady, any decent gamer could tell you to always says that you’ll join the alliance in that situation. Even if you are not smart enough to stick with it tactically, tell them you’ll join or you just make yourself the next target. She was the first to go from the group of 5. Imagine that!

After watching the first run, my conclusion was that a good role-player and gamer who wasn’t too out of shape or crabby would have a good chance of taking the whole thing. And imagine the audition tape you could put together about how you were a world class gamer (shot of PM Player trophies in the background or somesuch). How about it Todd or Vic or Mary K or somebody?

After two episodes of Survivor II: The Australian Outback, I think it is fair to say that this group is somewhat more game savvy than the last. Two actually brought games as their luxury item (a backgammon set and a Scrabble set), even though the most game-savvy luxury item was the Texas flag one fellow brought. The flag is huge and he admitted to the camera, "I always meant it to be a part of our shelter." On the other hand, several people brought cosmetics.

In another example of game savvy, Roger, who did not know how to swim when he applied to be on the show, learned the basics the week before he left, so he was not entirely helpless when he had to jump off a cliff into the river and swim to a crate for a reward challenge. Game savvy could still be higher, however. While it was clear that a number of people had read up on how to make fire without matches (particularly first to go, Deb), nobody had actually done it before the competition, meaning that neither group, including the group that had a pair of eyeglasses, managed to start a fire in the first three days. Gee, if I was headed out to the wilderness and a million bucks was at stake, I would practice before I went.

Game maneuvering is definitely occurring more often on the new show, however. Geri accused Kel of secretly eating a stash of beef jerky. True or no (there was no indication given on the show that he had), it definitely influenced votes. But the most amusing incidence of gaming instinct to date has been Jeff. Queasy Jeff was vulnerable to be voted off the island, as he was sick and somewhat weak. In the second immunity challenge, the contestants got to eat a bunch of stuff (ranging from candy bars and apples if they were lucky, to bugs, cow brains (I would have passed there, has no one on the show heard of Mad Cow Disease?), worms, cow intestines, and other nasty looking stuff). The Kucha tribe fell behind early on, when Kimmi refused to even try her dish (she doesn’t eat animals that dwell on land and would not compromise her principles). Down to the last persons, Kucha desperately needed Ogakor’s person to fail, so things would move to a tie breaker. When the contestant was having obvious difficulty downing the cow’s intestine, Jeff stepped forward and started making retching sounds. Maybe it was just the taste, but maybe it was the aural suggestion, ‘cause the intestine that had started to go down came right back up, moving the game to a tie-breaker, which Kimmi won by eating a river worm. "I can eat worms" she squealed with delight, bouncing a bit to exploit her cleavage gaming tactic.

Is Survivor an accurate reflection of society, a scathing commentary of bad taste in television, or a great spectacle? Who knows? It is an interesting concept for a game, including survival skills and challenges that your average gamer is better equipped to meet than your average citizen. As such, it is good TV for gamers and I recommend it to you all.

Copyright 2001 Donald J. Bingle