Squared Off

Squared Off is an abstract strategy board game that was featured four times in the reality television series Survivor. The game is played on a floor board consisting of several tiles. Each time the game was featured, a different variant was showcased utilizing either different tile geometry, a different floor board design, or different rules, but they are all fundamentally played the same way. In the beginning of the game, players are either already standing on a tile, or enter onto a tile on their first turn. The game proceeds with each player stepping onto an adjacent tile flipping over the previous tile they were standing which makes it unavailable to be stepped onto in the future. In some variants, the tile they stepped onto is flipped over instead. As the game progresses, less tiles are available to be stepped upon thus causing some players to eventually not have any tiles available for them to step onto, thus eliminating them from the game. The last player remaining wins. In all four appearances of the game, there were only 6 contestants left in Survivor.

History

Season 1 Survivor Borneo: Episode 9 "Old and New Bonds" The floor board was a square consisting of 10 x 10 red square tiles which when flipped over were either yellow and/or part of the Survivor logo design. An extra 6 tiles were set aside from the floor board, and in the beginning, each player had one of these in front of them, and flipped them over to reveal a number which designated their order of play. Each player was then asked (in no particular order) to stand onto one of six tiles on the floorboard which had a flower design, and these six flower tiles had a predetermined position on the floorboard. When the game commenced, players could move onto any adjacent tile either orthogonally or diagonally on their turn. This was an Individual Immunity challenge.

Season 4 Survivor Marquesas: Episode 12 "Marquesan Vacation" The game assumed the name of “Turtle Roll”. The floor board was a hexagon consisting of 7 x 7 x 7 smaller hexagon tiles (a total of 127 hexagon tiles).The tiles were of varying light colors which when flipped over revealed a green backside. Six of the tiles near the center were visibly marked with a phrase "Skip a Turn", and when stepped upon would allow that player to skip their next turn thus preventing the player from having to exhaust an adjacent tile on their next turn. One other tile which when flipped over was referred to as a wild card revealing the phrase "Vote Someone Out", and the player who discovered the tile was forced to vote another player out of the game on that same turn. Players could move onto any adjacent hexagon tile (which gave them a maximum of six options) flipping over the previous tile they were standing on. Players began the game on a hexagon tile at one of the six corners of the hexagon floor board. Six Survivor contestants were left in the game, but instead of the contestants playing, their invited loved one (family member, spouse, or friend) would play for them instead. Verbal communication between contestant and loved one was prohibited, but non-verbal communication was allowed. The order of turns was determined by drawing numbers. This was an Individual Reward challenge, and the reward was for the winning loved one to spend one day and night with the corresponding contestant.

Season 11 Survivor Guatemala: Episode 12 "Price for Immunity" The game was this time called "Watch Your Step". The floor board was multi-level and resembled that of a six-pointed star or snowflake. The tiles composing the floor board were mostly squares but with a few pentagons, triangles, and trapezoids. The tiles were yellowish with some black. Players started on a tile at one of the six points of the floor board. A player could move to any adjacent tile in an orthogonal direction (diagonal movements were not allowed), and would flip the tile they were moving onto revealing a red backside. The highest level of the floor board was a hexagonal platform which was in the middle of the board. It was composed of six trapezoid tiles each with the word "Spin" and a central hexagon tile with a wheel on it. When a player stepped on that platform it allowed a player to spin the platform to a new position of their liking. One player purchased an advantage at an auction. Before the game began she opened up the envelope to reveal the advantage which read "Switch positions with any player", and she could use that advantage anytime in the game which she did to eventually win the game. This was an Individual Immunity challenge.

Season 23 Survivor South Pacific: Episode 13 "Ticking Time Bomb" The game was referred to as "Flip Out". The floor board was a multi-level hexagon composed of smaller hexagon tiles. The tiles were yellowish-orange, and when flipped over revealed a purple underside. Players began the game outside the hexagon floor board next to one of the six corners. They would step onto a tile for their first turn flipping it over. Players could move onto any adjacent tile flipping it over. This was an Individual Immunity challenge.

Variants

An online implementation of the game is called Watch Your Step, which is the same name used in Season 11 Survivor Guatemala. But unlike the television verison, this software version is a solitaire game. There are various challenges each of which may have some rule modifications. As an example, a player may have to go through all the tiles exactly once; or must go through them exactly twice; or must go through some tiles twice and go through the other tiles once.

External Links

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLXnrT0liz8
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TsK57A62RM
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XccixbzmHts
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILiYgsjzYeg

This article "Squared Off" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Squared Off. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

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