Survivor is primarily a game of social and strategic prowess, but with the chance to earn immunity — as well as food rewards to fuel you up — by winning challenges, the physical aspect of the game is equally as important if you want to take home the title of “Sole Survivor” and the million-dollar cash prize.
The hit competition show has seen the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to its challenges — with some challenges causing the producers to shake their heads and say “never again” and some being repeated for years and years — resulting in an archive of iconic Survivor challenges that will cause any superfan to jump out of their seat when they see it repeated.
In no particular order, here are seven of said iconic Survivor challenges, coming from a self-proclaimed superfan herself.
1. Simmotion
Debuting in Survivor: Tocantins and reappearing in South Pacific, Cambodia, David vs Goliath, Winners at War, Survivor 42, and Survivor 44, as well as some Australian and South African seasons, Simmotion — also known as Always on the Run or High Rollers — is arguably one of the most engaging Individual Immunity Challenges to watch as a Survivor superfan, taking place near the end of the beloved competition series when the castaways have hardly any brain power left.
Serving as the Final Immunity Challenge in all seasons except for South Pacific, producer John Kirhoffer believes that “this is maybe the most perfect immunity challenge we have ever done,” telling Entertainment Weekly in an interview that “this is the challenge where the players drop billiard balls into a downward spiraling series of tracks and catch them at the bottom, named after its creator, our art director, Simon Ross.”
As mentioned by Kirhoffer, castaways must drop a ball into a metal chute while having one hand tied behind their back, catching the ball and dropping it back into the chute repeatedly. At regular time intervals, an additional ball will be added to the track, making the rhythm much more difficult to keep up with. As one can assume, the castaway is eliminated from the challenge if their ball falls to the floor, and the last castaway standing wins immunity.
Since its debut, J.T. Thomas, Christine Shields Markoski, Jeremy Collins, Nick Wilson, Natalie Anderson, Romeo Escobar, and Heidi Lagares-Greenblatt are the only individuals to have won immunity in the Simmotion challenge.
2. Bermuda Triangles
Bermuda Triangles — also known as Sea Legs, Set Adrift, or Balance of Power — is an Individual Immunity Challenge that debuted in Survivor: Marquesas and has since reappeared in Pearl Islands, Panama, Caramoan, Cagayan, Cambodia, Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers, Winners at War, and Survivor 42, as well as Survivor seasons in Australia, France, Quebec, South Africa, and more.
As for how the challenge works, castaways are required to balance on a triangular floating platform with narrow footholds on either side of the structure in the middle of the ocean. At regular time intervals, the castaways will move up the footholds, ultimately increasing the difficulty, until they are balancing surfboard style on the top. The last person left standing wins immunity, making them safe at the Tribal Council to follow.
Jeremy Collins, Sarah Lacina, Spencer Bledsoe, Tasha Fox, and Tony Vlachos are the only castaways to compete in this challenge twice, however, none of them have ever won. Instead, 10 other castaways have won the Bermuda Triangles challenge within the United States: Kathy Vavrick-O’Brien, Lillian Morris, Danielle DiLorenzo, Andrea Boehlke, Woo Hwang, Joe Anglim, Ashley Nolan, Kim Spradlin-Wolfe, Hai Giang, and Jonathan Young.
With the Bermuda Triangles challenge returning for Survivor 46, who will be the next champion added to this list? We will just have to wait and see…
3. House of the Holey
Serving as the challenge that determines who returns from the Edge of Extinction on both Survivor: Edge of Extinction and Survivor: Winners at War, the stakes are always at an all time high when castaways compete in House of the Holey — also known as A Bridge You Must Cross or Back in the Saddle — also being run in Worlds Apart, David vs Goliath, and Survivor 44, as well as Australian, French, and South African iterations of Survivor.
After going through an obstacle course and retrieving bags with balls, one person from each tribe must balance on a beam and maneuver said balls through a maze to the top. While the maze used to be a board with a throng of holes, the maze is now shaped like a snake, with some Survivor superfans arguing that this new shape makes the challenge even more difficult. As one can assume, he first tribe to get their balls to the top wins either Tribal Reward or Immunity.
On both Survivor: Edge of Extinction and Survivor: Winners at War, the House of the Holey challenge was run individually, with the winner returning to the game. The only two castaways to win the individual iteration of House of the Holey to date are Rick Devens and Tyson Apostol, however, it is unclear what the future holds…
4. Kicking and Screaming
Survivor superfans love seeing things get physical on the hit competition show, and Kicking and Screaming is as physical as it comes, being played in Survivor: Cook Islands, Survivor: Gabon, and Survivor: Cagayan, as well as seasons in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.
In the Kicking and Screaming challenge, a castaway from each tribe will hold onto a pole for as long as they can, while two members of the opposing tribe will try to pry the castaway off of the pole and drag them to a mat. Whichever tribe is able to get more castaways to the mat wins Tribal Reward or Immunity, simultaneously walking away battered and bruised.
Producer John Kirhoffer admitted that he will “never forget the morning of this challenge’s inception,” delving into the details in the same interview with Entertainment Weekly. “I was out surfing with Dan Munday, and he paddled up next to me and said, ‘Hey, mate, what if we had poles buried in the ground, and one player from each team has to hug onto it for dear life, as two players from the other tribe battle to pull them off the pole, and drag them across a finish line?’ Just then a wave came through, Dan caught it and surfed away… I sat there thinking, ‘Genius! He’s done it again!’ I loved it,” he spilled.
“We knew it was a future classic while we were testing it with the Dream Team,” Kirhoffer concluded, and indeed it was!
5. Buggin’ Out
Whether you love it or you hate it, Buggin’ Out — more commonly referred to as the “Gross-Food Eating Challenge” — is one of the most iconic challenges in Survivor history, debuting in Survivor: Borneo and recurring in The Australian Outback, Africa, Marquesas, Thailand, The Amazon, Pearl Islands, All-Stars, Palau, Fiji, China, Samoa, Caramoan, Blood vs Water, Cambodia, and Ghost Island. It has even made its way into Australian, French, Russian, South African, and British seasons of Survivor as well.
As one can assume from its name, the “Gross-Food Eating Challenge” requires castaways to eat, you guessed it, gross food to win Individual or Tribal Reward or Individual or Tribal Immunity. As a tribal challenge, castaways go head to head eating bugs, scorpions, sea slugs, and more, with whoever finishes the dish first winning a point for their tribe. As an individual challenge — after a few rounds where the last person to finish is eliminated — whoever finishes the dish first in the final round is crowned the champion.
Helen Glover, Matthew von Ertfelda, Tom Buchanan, John Cochran, Monica Culpepper, and Angela Perkins are only castaways who have individually won the “Gross-Food Eating Challenge” to date.
6. Quest for Fire
Of course we needed to include the first Survivor challenge ever, Quest for Fire — also known as Bridging the Gap, Trail Blazer, Outrigger Fire Quest, or Fire Spirits — on our list of the most iconic Survivor challenges! Variations of this challenge have been played either on land or in the sea in Borneo, The Australian Outback, Africa, Marquesas, All-Stars, and Cambodia, as well as some French, Mexican, Russian, and British seasons.
In the Quest for Fire challenge, tribes have a vehicle fitted with a fire cauldron and two torches, using the torches to light even more torches or woks along the course. The first tribe to reach the finish and light up a “Burning Man” wins either Tribal Reward or Tribal Immunity, making the challenge exciting and jam-packed with action from start to finish.
Producer John Kirhoffer gushed about this challenge in the same interview with Entertainment Weekly as well: “The original, first Survivor challenge ever! Tribes work together carrying one lit torch, and race from the ocean to the land, lighting, I believe, 20 fires, and finish by lighting a wok high up on a ‘Burning Man.'”
He then reflected on the first time this challenge was run in the year 2000, admitting that he was “soooooo nervous, as our pyrotechnic prowess had not yet been perfected” and there was a storm brewing that day as well. Kirhoffer continued, “My extra prayers that day paid off, the challenge went on to be a classic, and we learned a valuable lesson: Always have a backup challenge ready on days scheduled for fire challenges!”
7. Last Gasp
Last but certainly not least is Last Gasp, an Individual Immunity Challenge that debuted in Survivor: Palau and has been repeated in Micronesia, Caramoan, Survivor 43, and Survivor 44, as well as some seasons in Australia, France, Quebec, Russia, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.
In this challenge, which leaves each and every viewer on the edge of their seat, castaways float underneath a steel grate trying to stay above the water as the tide rises. Running out of breathing room, castaways can bail out if the fear of drowning becomes insufferable, but the last person standing — or should we say swimming? — will win immunity nonetheless.
The Last Gasp challenge has been won by Tom Westman, Jason Siska, Brenda Lowe, Yam Yam Arocho, Karla Cruz Godoy, and Owen Knight, with the latter two beating the challenge and outlasting the tide in Survivor 43. How impressive is that?
Despite being a personal favorite from Survivor superfans all across the globe, myself included, not everyone is a fan of the Last Gasp challenge, with Moriah Gaynor from Survivor 46 arguing that “Last Gasp is not a good challenge.” She shared with Survivor writer and reporter Mike Bloom, I don’t think it teaches you a ton about players that you couldn’t do inland. I don’t think it makes for good television. As a viewer, I’m sitting there being like, ‘Ooh, that sounds interesting,’ but ultimately, when you see this so many times, you know what’s gonna happen. The tide is gonna come, and people are gonna go out, so to me, not a good challenge.”
Now that Moriah is eliminated from the hit competition show, it looks like she will not endure the bore that is the Last Gasp challenge, should it reappear in Survivor 46. Nonetheless, to find out for yourself whether or not Last Gasp or any of the above challenges make it onto our television screens anytime soon, catch brand new episodes of Survivor each and every evening on CBS. With the “Murgatory” portion of Survivor 46 coming to a close, the competition is finally heating up…