The Maze

The Maze (also known as Obstacle Puzzle Maze, Snakes and Ladders, Maya Maze, A-Mazing Gabon, Meso Maze, Balance Beam Maze, Roundabout, Maybe I'm a Maze, Vin Skully, and Dragon's Breath) is a recurring Immunity Challenge that tests both physical and mental prowess. It premiered in and multiple variations of the challenge have appeared in different stages of the game.
==Rules==
The contestants (sometimes in tribes, but usually individually) head into a labyrinth of passages, corridors, and turns. They have to reach a certain number of checkpoints either in order or any order they wish, collecting an item at each one. After they collect all their items, contestants must find their way out of the maze. Mazes have also been done where the castaways are blindfolded, called Braille Maze.
==History==
=== United States ===
The challenge made its debut in . The tribes had to collect five pendants in the correct numerical order. Because there was no apparent unfairness due to having a maze for each tribe, everyone in the competition competed. Ogakor maintained the lead early and Kucha was unable to catch up due to having gotten lost. Ogakor won immunity for the first time in days, sending Kucha to Tribal Council.
The challenge returned in . The format was similar to The Australian Outback. Rob Mariano led Rotu to victory, once again sending the Maraamu tribe to Tribal Council.
The challenge's next appearance, called Obstacle Puzzle Maze, was in as the final four Immunity Challenge. Unlike its previous two appearances, it was an individual challenge. The castaways had to collect eight ladder rungs in any order. After the castaways had obtained them all, they must arrange them in the correct order to reach the top of the platform. The first person to do so wins. Everyone was relatively even, although Rob Mariano had a slight lead. In the end, Rob went in circles allowing Amber Brkich to catch up and pass him. Amber won immunity for the first time in the game.
The challenge was also used in  as the final four Immunity Challenge, where it was known as Snakes and Ladders. This time, the maze was vertical. The castaway had to collect eight bags of puzzle pieces. After collecting all of the bags, they must arrange them to spell out "Final Three". The first person to do so wins. Scout Cloud Lee was quickly out of the challenge due to her age and her knee implants. In a close race, Chris Daugherty was the first to complete the puzzle, winning himself immunity.
The challenge reappeared in  as the final four Immunity Challenge, known as Maya Maze. The castaways had to collect pieces and arrange them to form a Mayan deity. Everyone was somewhat even, with the exception of Lydia Morales who was lagging. Rafe Judkins was the first to complete the puzzle, winning immunity.
In , the challenge, called A-Mazing Gabon, was used as the final five Immunity Challenge. The castaways had to dig a hole under a wall, cross a maze made out of planks, and untie a series of knots that would open a gate that led to a maze with 25 Gabonese huts. They must find three bags of puzzle pieces in the huts and take them one at a time to a platform. Bob Crowley got the three bags and finished the puzzle first, winning immunity.
The challenge reappeared in  as the Final Immunity Challenge. Called Meso Maze, it once again saw the castaways collecting puzzle pieces to ultimately spell out a phase. It was neck and neck between Rob Mariano and Ashley Underwood, who even helped each other out on the puzzle. Rob was the one who completed his puzzle first and won immunity.
In , it was used as the final five Immunity Challenge, where the castaways had to open a gate stuck by knots, cross a maze, and pick up bags of puzzle pieces strung on a net. After assembling the puzzle, they must decipher clues that would give them three numbers. They must then climb up a platform, use the three numbers to unlock a key and raise the flag. In a tight race, Kim Spradlin raised her flag before Alicia Rosa and Chelsea Meissner to win immunity.
In , the challenge was once again used as the Final Immunity Challenge. In this version, called Roundabout, the final three had to race out into a maze with turnstiles where they had to collect four medallions. Once they had all four medallions, they then had to use them to open a chest, inside of which were puzzle pieces in the form of wooden cogs. Once the puzzle is put together, they then had to turn the cogs raising a flag. The first player to raise the flag would win immunity. Kass McQuillen was initially leading, however, she became stuck looking for her last piece. This allowed Woo Hwang and Tony Vlachos to catch up and start on the puzzle. Despite Kass coming from behind, Woo beat her by half a second for the final immunity.
In , the challenge, Maybe I'm a Maze, was used as the final six reward and Immunity Challenge. The castaways had to run through the large maze and up a net to retrieve bags of puzzle pieces. When all three bags of puzzle pieces were retrieved, the castaways would come back and assemble a compass rose puzzle. It came down to Sarah Lacina and Brad Culpepper. After Brad realized he was missing a piece, he quickly looked in his bags and found it and placed it in the compass puzzle, winning immunity.
In , the challenge, Vin Skully, was used as the final six reward and Immunity Challenge. The final six castaways had to race through an enormous, skull-shaped maze, collecting three bags of puzzle pieces. Once all the bags were retrieved, they were to race back to their station and solve a vertical puzzle. Sebastian Noel and Wendell Holland seized the early lead, though they were quickly caught up to by Domenick Abbate. In the end, Wendell managed to complete his puzzle first, winning immunity and reward.
=== South Africa ===
In , the final four had to run through a dragon-shaped maze and complete four separate obstacles to get to four puzzle bags. They would then use the puzzle pieces to solve a hanging layered dragon puzzle. Jeanne Michel was held back by her physical limitations and was slow to retrieve her puzzle pieces. However, the rest of the Araw tribe were stumped by the puzzle, opening the door for Jeanne to speed through the puzzle, make a massive comeback, and win her first individual Immunity Challenge.
A simplified version of the Roundabout maze from Survivor: Cagayan was used as the final five Immunity Challenge of . After retrieving all their bags of puzzle pieces, the castaways had to complete a three-tiered tower puzzle. Rob Bentele held the lead throughout the challenge and finished his puzzle first to win his fourth individual Immunity Challenge, thwarting the Manumalo women's plans to blindside him.
==Winners==
<tabber>United States=
Episode	Challenge Type 	Winners
 	Tribal Immunity 	
 	Tribal Immunity 	
 	Individual Immunity 	
 	Individual Immunity 	
 	Individual Immunity 	
 	Individual Immunity 	
 	Individual Immunity(Final Immunity)	
 	Individual Immunity 	
 	Individual Immunity(Final Immunity)	
 	Individual Reward/Immunity 	
 	Individual Reward/Immunity 	
|-|South Africa=
Episode 	Challenge Type 	Winners
Episode 15	Individual Immunity	
 	Individual Immunity	colspan="2"
</tabber>
==Gallery==
s2Maze.jpg|The mazes in .
File:Austrailia_Maze.gif|The Australian Outback maze diagram.
MarquesasMaze.jpeg|The maze in .
File:Marquesas_Maze.gif|Marquesas maze diagram.
all-stars maze.jpg|The maze in .
File:All_Star_Maze.gif|All-Stars maze diagram.
VanuatuMaze.jpg|The maze in .
File:Vanatau.gif|Vanuatu maze diagram.
Maze Guatemala.jpg|The maze in .
File:Guatamala_Maze.gif|Guatemala maze diagram.
The maze gabon.jpg|The mazes in .
Maze_redemption_island.jpg|The maze in .
File:Redemption_Island_Maze.png|Redemption Island maze diagram.
S28 press images ep13 0008.JPG|The maze in .
S34 Ep14 010.jpg|The maze in .
S36_Ep14_SG_001b.jpg|The maze in .
==Trivia==
* This challenge has only been used as an Immunity Challenge.
* Every time the individual version of the challenge has been used, it was used in the season finale.
* With the exception of Rafe Judkins, every castaway that won the challenge as an individual challenge has become a finalist on their season.
** Excluding Woo Hwang and Brad Culpepper, all of the said finalists have become the Sole Survivor.
*** Additionally, when it was used as a tribal challenge, both winning tribes had the eventual Sole Survivor on the tribe (Tina Wesson in  and Vecepia Towery in ).
* The cog puzzle at the end of this challenge in was similar to the puzzle used in the Immunity Challenge in in 
* Amber Brkich and Rob Mariano are the only contestants to compete in this challenge multiple times. Both have won the challenge twice, once as part of a tribe and once for individual immunity.
** Amber has competed twice, in The Australian Outback and .
** Rob has competed three times, in Marquesas, All-Stars, and .
==References==
Category:Survivor (U.S.)
Category:Survivor South Africa
Category:Challenges
Category:Recurring Challenges
Category:Survivor: The Australian Outback
Category:The Australian Outback Challenges
Category:Survivor: Marquesas
Category:Marquesas Challenges
Category:Survivor: All-Stars
Category:All-Stars Challenges
Category:Survivor: Vanuatu
Category:Vanuatu Challenges
Category:Survivor: Guatemala
Category:Guatemala Challenges
Category:Survivor: Redemption Island
Category:Redemption Island Challenges
Category:Survivor: One World
Category:One World Challenges
Category:Survivor: Cagayan
Category:Cagayan Challenges
Category:Survivor: Game Changers
Category:Game Changers Challenges
Category:Survivor: Ghost Island
Category:Ghost Island Challenges
Category:Survivor South Africa: Philippines
Category:Philippines Challenges (South Africa)
Category:Survivor South Africa: Island of Secrets
Category:Island of Secrets Challenges