Do you ever sit on your couch, watching a Survivor challenge, yelling at the TV because the players are so off base? Do you find yourself wondering why some people are terrible at putting together puzzles at the end of the challenge? Do you tell yourself you could totally do it better/faster/smarter than the people competing on the latest season?
Well, as long as you don’t factor in the hunger and exhaustion, there are so many different Survivor challenge elements that you can perfect at home so if you end up on the next season of Survivor, you won’t be worried that people are watching and thinking all the same things you once did while watching challenges.
There are three things all players can—and should—do before going on Survivor: learn to swim, sleep on the hard ground, and puzzles, puzzles, puzzles! I’ve put together a few of the easiest challenge elements you can practice at home so the next time you watch and say, “I could do that better/faster/smarter” you might actually be right.
Slide Puzzles
The easiest way to practice slide puzzles is by doing slide puzzles, so I recommend searching “Online Slide Puzzles” to find an option at your level that you can start practicing on. But I’m going to let you in on a little secret… there’s actually a strategy to assembling slide puzzles!
While it may feel really random, and sometimes impossible, the best way to defeat a slide puzzle is by imagining it’s a bunch of little slide puzzles. A 2x2 puzzle is a lot easier to solve than a 5x5 and usually, Survivor slide puzzles are a variation of a 3x4 season logo. Start in an upper corner and work your way down. Use a combination of clockwise and counter clockwise rotations to land the pieces where you need them to go.
Word Scrambles
At the end of the day, word scrambles are just about letter recognition. You don’t need to know all the spellings of every word in the dictionary in order to be good at these, but it is helpful to know the general rules of grammar (like “i” before “e” except after “c” which helps spell words like “INCONCEIVABLE”).
Word searches are great because they help train your brain to pick all the letters apart and seek out patterns. But, of course, word scrambles themselves are the best way to practice looking for letters that work together. And considering the word scrambles almost always have something to do with that season, pay attention to what Jeff Probst says a lot. That’s usually going to have something to do with the final word/phrase.
Roller Ball
This is a classic challenge that we’ve seen in 10 different seasons and that has been adapted for even more. Balancing balls on a flat surface requires intense concentration and physical awareness. You need to know what position is the least strenuous for your arm as well as how slightly you need to adjust in order to course correct if a ball starts moving.
Grab a couple of ping pong balls and a flat serving plate. Start with one ball, set a 10 minute timer and see if you can make it through. Then add more balls with each phase. For added difficulty—which challenges usually have—balance on something narrow and stand outside so the elements can impact the challenge as well.
Untying Knots
While knots often appear as an obstacle in Survivor challenges, practicing this element also comes with a bonus: learning how to tie knots to create better shelters at camp. Grab a long piece of thin rope and tie a bunch of alternating square knots. Start by holding each end of the rope and tying the right side over the left side, pull, then the left side over the right side, pull. Repeat until you have a long chain of knots.
Now the fun part! Set a stop watch and start untying. See how quickly you can push through the string of knots. With each attempt, you’ll discover how your hands best work to most efficiently untie a series of knots.
We know that practicing challenges at home helped our latest winner, Aubry Bracco, secure a spot at Final Tribal Council on Survivor 50. So if you've been auditioning for Survivor, don't wait for the call. Start practicing now!
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