Simvivor: Glimmerbrook

***Simvivor: Glimmerbrook*** is the twelfth season of *Simvivor*. Unlike its predecessor, *Glimmerbrook* received positive feedback from its viewers, but it was criticized for its storytelling focusing too harshly on "power players". Overall, critics called *Glimmerbrook* "a departure from a tired formula that looks too far forward to make a noticeable impact".

In the end, Kirby Sinclair managed to win the season in a close 4-3 vote against villainess Monique Bennington.

## Production

Progress on *Simvivor'*s twelfth season started shortly after the conclusion of *Yukimatsu*, but did not actually face principal production until over a month later. There were no significant differences in cast or theme for the season, however an early concept included a possible "battle of the sexes" twist. This was scrapped in favor of a co-ed season.

## Twists/Changes

* **First Impressions:** On Day 1, Merissa Horvath instructed the newly marooned castaways to make their first vote-off. Relying only from first impressions, the tribes must select which of their tribemates will be the biggest liability to their team, and these two players will "not make it to the journey." The contestants assumed that the two would be eliminated, but the "journey" was revealed to be a four-hour trek to their camps. The two people who were singled out (Leonor from Cauldron and Hasan from Elixir) will be airlifted to their camps, while their tribemates underwent a treacherous walk to their respective encampments.
* **One-Time Use Hidden Immunity Idol:** After being whisked away to their camps, the two left out players were given a choice between creating a shelter (to possibly change their perceptions of them) or search for a one-time use Hidden Immunity Idol that can only be good at their first visiting Tribal Council. Unfortunately, both idols were never found and wasted away in the process.
* **Hidden Immunity Idol:** Hidden Immunity Idols return this season, with one being hidden at each tribe and clues for the idol being found on Exile.
* **Exile:** Exile returns this season, with new twists. After a Reward Challenge, the winning tribe must send one person from the losing tribe to Exile, and in return, the said person must pick one member from the winning tribe to join him/her on Exile. Another twist is that, upon reaching Exile, the two banished players will get to chose between two unmarked bottles; one bottle contained a clue to a Hidden Immunity Idol, hidden somewhere at their camps. The player who gets the clue will also have the option to switch tribes at will (hypothetically, if an exiled player already found his/her tribe's idol, the player in question may switch tribes to potentially find the other tribe's idol). The person who gets the second bottle will get nothing.

## Season Summary

At the season’s opener, the two tribes were told they must vote one member of their tribe out, based completely off of first impression who they felt was the weakest. The Cauldron tribe voted out Leonor Simonson, while the Elixir tribe voted out Hasan Lombardo. However, these two castaways were not eliminated, but rather given a choice to get a head start on their tribe’s shelter or have an early search at their tribe idol. Leonor chose to get started on shelter-making, while Hasan began to hunt for the idol.

The Cauldron tribe excelled in the first Immunity Challenge of the season, but drama was brewing underneath the surface between Leonor and multiple tribemates. When the Elixir tribe chose to eliminate someone based off of challenge strength, they seemed to recover their confidence, but an Exile Island twist threw everything into disarray. Monique Bennington, who had developed multiple relationships with her entire tribe as well as possessing a Hidden Immunity Idol, decided to mutiny after receiving the opportunity while on Exile. This act set off a chain reaction of mutinies shortly thereafter.

Monique’s control on her new Cauldron tribe was continuously questioned by those around her, but it was undeniable that she had a sense of leadership unmatched by the rest. Julius Anderson attempted to oust their leader to no avail, but not before developing a rivalry of his own with Sylvester Tasse. Flavio Beck became the third and final person to mutiny, joining Cauldron due to a fear of being on the outside of his previously tight alliance.

At the merge, everyone suffered a personality clash with at least one other individual, but the first merge Tribal Council was hijacked by Leonor deciding to quit and canceling the night's Tribal Council. Kirby Sinclair soon rose from the ashes as a strategic force, aligning herself with the duplicitous Monique as her shield. After stabbing Paula Prichard in the back, Kirby became the season’s kingpin behind a lot of the critical decisions nearing the conclusion, but only Flavio attempted to turn the tides against her.

The Final Immunity Challenge concluded with Monique winning her spot at the Final Tribal Council. She decided to honor her goal of taking the biggest threat along with her, feeling overly confident in her gameplay and wanting to earn everyone’s respect with the hardest mission ahead of her. Kirby’s gameplay and poor social skills vilified her to the Jury, but her openness and apologetic nature was viewed better than Monique’s arrogance. In a nail-biting conclusion, Kirby just barely managed to beat Monique in a 4-3 vote.