Survivor: Game Changers — Mamanuca Islands (commonly referred to as Survivor: Game Changers) is the 34th season of the American CBS competitive reality television series Survivor, featuring 20 returning castaways. The season premiered on March 8, 2017, with a two-hour airing, marking the series' 500th episode, and ended on May 24, 2017. Sarah Lacina was named the Sole Survivor in the season finale, defeating Brad Culpepper and Troy "Troyzan" Robertson in a 7-3-0 vote. Lacina became the second winner from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, following Survivor: Philippines winner Denise Stapley.
Format
Survivor is a reality television show based on the Swedish show Expedition Robinson, created by Mark Burnett and Charlie Parsons. The series follows a number of participants isolated in a remote location, where they must provide food, fire, and shelter. One by one, a participant is removed from the series by majority vote, with challenges held to give a reward (ranging from living- and food-related prizes to a car) and immunity from being voted out of the series. The last remaining player receives a prize of $1,000,000.
Contestants Twenty former contestants returned for this season. Due to this season and Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X filming back to back, nobody on the cast had a chance to watch Zeke and Michaela play in the former season.
+List of Survivor: Game Changers - Mamanuca Islands contestantsContestantAgeFrom Tribe Finish Original Firstswitch Secondswitch Merged Placement Day Blood vs. Water & Cambodia27Salem,Oregon rowspan="4" 1st voted outDay 3 Cagayan42Jersey City,New Jersey2nd voted outDay 6 Kaôh Rōng28Hopkinsville,Kentucky3rd voted outDay 9 Philippines & Caramoan29 rowspan="4" 4th voted outDay 11 James "J.T." Thomas Jr.Tocantins & Heroes vs. Villains31Mobile,Alabama5th voted outDay 13 41Fayetteville,North Carolina rowspan="3" rowspan="2" 6th voted outDay 16 50High Point,North CarolinaSuspended Day 18 Worlds Apart26Knoxville,Tennesseerowspan="13" 8th voted out1st jury memberDay 21 34Venice,California rowspan="5" rowspan="3" 9th voted out2nd jury memberDay 24 Kaôh Rōng51Reading,Pennsylvania10th voted out3rd jury memberDay 26 Millennials vs. Gen X28Brooklyn,New York11th voted out4th jury memberDay 29 Worlds Apart29Roy,Utah12th voted out5th jury memberDay 32 Redemption Island & Caramoan27New York City,New York13th voted out6th jury memberDay 33 Millennials vs. Gen X25Fort Worth,Texas rowspan="3" 14th voted out7th jury memberDay 35 45Norwalk,ConnecticutEliminated8th jury memberDay 36 Kaôh Rōng30Cambridge,Massachusetts15th voted out9th jury memberDay 37 Kaôh Rōng52San Francisco,CaliforniaDay 38 One World54Miami,Florida rowspan="2" 2nd runner-upDay 39 Blood vs. Water47Tampa,Florida rowspan="2" Runner-up Cagayan32Marion,IowaSole Survivor
Future appearances Aubry Bracco returned for Survivor: Edge of Extinction. Sandra Diaz-Twine returned in Survivor: Island of the Idols to serve as a mentor alongside Rob Mariano. Sarah Lacina, Tony Vlachos, and Diaz-Twine returned to compete on Survivor: Winners at War. Diaz-Twine also competed on Australian Survivor: Blood V Water with her daughter Nina. Fields and Vlachos represented the USA on Australian Survivor: Australia V The World. Bracco, Fields, and Lusth returned to compete on Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans.
Outside of Survivor, Caleb Reynolds competed on the premiere of Candy Crush. Reynolds and Sierra Dawn Thomas competed on separate teams on a Survivor vs Big Brother episode of Fear Factor. Michaela Bradshaw competed on the thirty-seventh season of The Challenge and the second season of The Challenge: USA. In 2022, Lacina competed on The Challenge: USA. Malcolm Freberg and Fields competed on the 2022 USA Network reality competition series Snake in the Grass. Fields also competed on the first season of the Peacock reality TV series The Traitors and Big Brother 25. In 2023, Lacina competed on The Challenge: World Championship. In 2024, Diaz-Twine competed on the second season of The Traitors. In 2025, Vlachos competed on the third season of the Peacock reality TV series The Traitors. Diaz-Twine also competed on 99 to Beat.
Season summary
The 20 returning players were initially divided into two tribes: Mana and Nuku. Nuku fared much better in challenges; throughout two tribe switches, original tribal lines held strong and the Nuku members were able to eliminate most of the Mana tribe.
When the tribes merged, two main factions emerged: an alliance led by Sierra and Brad and one led by Andrea and Cirie, with Sarah navigating between the two groups to eliminate threats on both sides. She used her social connections and game advantages to protect herself from betrayal by Andrea and Cirie's alliance. Meanwhile, Brad won the final four consecutive immunity challenges, and Sarah ultimately aligned with him and Troyzan to reach the end of the game together.
At the Final Tribal Council, Troyzan was overlooked by the jury for being Brad's follower throughout the game, and went on to receive no votes to win. Sarah was commended for her strategic control and social flexibility but criticized for manipulating personal relations for strategic gain, while Brad was lauded for his challenge prowess but condemned for his condescending attitude. Ultimately, the jury awarded Sarah the title of Sole Survivor with seven votes to Brad's three.
+Challenge winners and eliminations by episodesEpisodeChallenge winner(s)Eliminated No. Title Original air date Reward Immunity Tribe Player1"The Stakes Have Been Raised"March 8, 2017 rowspan="2" Cieracolspan="2" colspan="2" Tony2"Survivor Jackpot"March 15, 2017colspan="2" rowspan="2" Calebcolspan=2 3"The Tables Have Turned"March 22, 2017rowspan="2" rowspan="2" Malcolm4"Dirty Deed"March 29, 2017 rowspan="2" J.T.5"Vote Early, Vote Often"April 5, 2017 rowspan="2" rowspan="2" Sandra6"What Happened on Exile, Stays on Exile"April 12, 2017Jeff7"There's a New Sheriff in Town"April 19, 2017 Andrea rowspan="10" HaliAndrea, Debbie,Ozzy, Tai,Troyzan, ZekeTaiOzzy8"A Line Drawn in Concrete"April 26, 2017Andrea,Aubry, Brad,Debbie, SierraTroyzanDebbie9"Reinventing How This Game Is Played"May 3, 2017Andrea,Aubry, Brad,Sarah, ZekeAndreaZeke10"It Is Not a High Without a Low"May 10, 2017Andrea,Aubry, Brad[Cirie, Sarah]BradSierra11"Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow"May 17, 2017rowspan="2" AubryAndreaBradMichaela12"No Good Deed Goes Unpunished"May 24, 2017Brad[Sarah, Troyzan]BradCirierowspan="2" BradAubryBradTai13"Reunion"
Episodes
Voting history Original tribesFirst switchSecond switchMerged tribeEpisode123456789101112Day3691113161821242629323335363738 Tribe colspan=2 colspan=2 colspan=2 Eliminated Ciera Tony Caleb Malcolm J.T. Sandra Jeff Hali Ozzy Debbie Zeke Sierra Andrea Michaela Cirie Aubry TaiVotes 9–1 7–2 5–1 5–0 3–2 5–2 Consensus 7–4–2 7–4–1–1 6–5 6–3 6–2 4–2–1 Default 4–1 3–1VoterVoteSarah Sandra Jeff Michaela Ozzy Debbie Zeke Sierra Andrea Michaela Michaela Tai Aubry TaiBrad CalebMalcolm Hali Ozzy Andrea Tai Andrea Andrea Michaela Aubry Aubry TaiTroyzan Ciera Tony Hali Ozzy Andrea Tai Andrea Andrea Michaela Tai Aubry TaiTai CalebMalcolm Sandra Jeff Hali Ozzy Andrea Sierra Sierra Andreacolspan="2" Sarah Aubry TroyzanAubry Ciera TonySierra Michaela Hali Zeke Debbie Zeke Sierra Brad Tai Sarah TroyzanCirie Michaela Sierra Debbie Zeke Sierra Andrea Aubry SarahMichaela Ciera TonySierra J.T. Zeke Zeke Debbie Zeke Sierra Andrea TaiAndrea Sandra Jeff Michaela Zeke Debbie Zeke Sierra BradSierra CalebMalcolm Hali Ozzy Andrea Tai AndreaZeke Sandra Jeff Michaela Aubry Debbie SierraDebbie CalebMalcolm Jeff Hali Ozzy Ozzy AndreaOzzy Sandra Jeff Hali ZekeHali Ciera Tony CalebMalcolm ZekeJeff Ciera TonySierra J.T. TaiSandra Ciera AubrySierra J.T. TaiJ.T.Sierra MichaelaMalcolm Ciera TonySierraCaleb Ciera Tony HaliTony Ciera AubryCiera Michaela
Jury voteEpisode13Day39FinalistSarahBradTroyzanVotes7–3–0JurorVoteTaiAubryCirieMichaelaAndreaSierraZekeDebbieOzzyHali Notes
Production Filming This season was the third to film in Fiji after Survivor: Fiji and Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X. It was the fourth season to feature entirely returning players, following Survivor: All-Stars, Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, and Survivor: Cambodia and was the 11th season overall to feature returning players.
This season introduced several alterations to the game format. The process for resolving a tied vote was changed for this season, removing the second ballot where only non-tied castaways were allowed to vote between the tied castaways and proceeding directly to the procedure to resolve a deadlocked tie: an open deliberation between non-tied voters. The rest of the process remained the same (however, there turned out to be no such scenario in the season). This format twist was retired in the following seasons, with the revote being reintroduced. The format of the Final Tribal Council, in which jurors individually addressed the finalists by delivering a statement or asking questions, was changed to a moderated discussion between the finalists and jurors.
Casting According to host Jeff Probst, this season featured former contestants from the show that were considered "game changers"—those whose strategies and risky moves either affected or would have significantly affected, how their season played out. Probst stated that in preceding seasons, "we’ve had so many new players that were good players, and the game has continued to escalate in terms of the level of gameplay that it suddenly became apparent that we actually have a lot of great game players." Producers also sought out applicable contestants from earlier seasons in order to ensure a balanced representation of players from throughout the program's history.
Probst also pointed out that Game Changers was being cast while the 33rd season, Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X, was still filming. Because of this, two of the 20 slots for Game Changers were reserved for Season 33 players, in case producers wanted to ask any of them back; should either spot have gone unfilled, producers had two earlier players in mind. Fiji winner Earl Cole was asked, but he dropped out due to injury. Worlds Apart co-runner-up Carolyn Rivera was considered for this season's cast, but she was cut by producers late into the casting process. Ultimately, Millennials vs. Gen X castaways Zeke Smith and Michaela Bradshaw were cast.
Ethan Zohn from Africa and All-Stars, Joe Anglim from Worlds Apart and Cambodia, Kelley Wentworth from San Juan Del Sur and Cambodia, Danni Boatwright from Guatemala, Sabrina Thompson from One World, and Corinne Kaplan from Gabon and Caramoan were asked, but they declined. Anglim and Wentworth would both eventually return for Edge of Extinction and Zohn and Boatwright would return for Winners at War. Marty Piombo from Nicaragua, Jon Misch and Josh Canfield from San Juan Del Sur, John Cody from Blood vs. Water, Worlds Apart winner Mike Holloway, Alexis Maxwell and LJ McKanas from Cagayan, Sophie Clarke from South Pacific, Jonathan Penner from Cook Islands, Micronesia, and Philippines were also contacted, but ultimately cut. Clarke would eventually return for Winners at War.
San Juan Del Sur winner Natalie Anderson was originally cast on the season as well, but she ultimately had to back out shortly before filming began for medical reasons. Her spot was filled on short notice by Worlds Apart contestant Sierra Dawn Thomas. Anderson later returned for Winners at War.
Reception Critical response