Survivor Ghost Island: The first twist is immediate, complicated

“One bad decision can haunt you forever” seems to be the theme of Survivor Ghost Island, but for some players, a crucial decision will happen very early.

This season has been set up to pay homage to the errors of past players, as Survivor Ghost Island will offer up the relics of past seasons as a tribute to the ongoing gameplay of this season. However, before any of the players have the opportunity to make amends for players’ past mistakes, Jeff Probst will propose a challenge to select players that will set the course for the rest of the season.

Jeff Probst has provided The Hollywood Reporter a teaser about the upcoming season, revealing that the game starts piling tough decisions right at the marooning. Malolo and Naviti tribes will select their leader, who will then pick one player to complete an athletic obstacle course and another to solve a table puzzle. The winning tribe gets a huge shelter-building kit, while the losing tribe has their fishing gear removed.

Here’s the twist; at the table puzzle, an hourglass will be poured, counting down grains of sand until it is emptied at the top. The tribe leader can decide to pull a lever, forfeit the challenge and still keep their fishing gear, but only while that hourglass is pouring sand. The losers would still be able to fish, but the winners would get a bonus flint and a “healthy supply of eggs” due to the other tribe leader’s decision.

Effectively, this Survivor Ghost Island early twist paints a huge target on both tribe leaders beyond being simply designated tribe leader. The winning tribe leader may have a strong foothold into the early season, but they definitely obtain a threat level due to early success. The losing tribe leader has to make a Sophie’s Choice-tier decision, and an unknown number of people are bound to be unhappy.

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It’s unwieldy, complicated and throws more gameplay twists into a game of social politics. And that’s before anyone gets sent to Ghost Island, where they may have to make a calculated gamble! Who knows; it sounds like it could make for great television, but we’ll have to see if there are unintended consequences from this twist.