Survivor is entering its 40th season. The brings us 20 past winners to compete in the first 2020 season dubbed Winners at War. So after 40 seasons, Survivor producers thought the game needed a bit of freshening up. So this season, along with the return of Edge of Extinction, Survivor 40 will include “fire tokens.”
What the heck are fire tokens? Producer and host Jeff Probst talked to Entertainment Weekly about that and revealed that the new tokens are essential Survivor currency.
“One of the things we wanted to accomplish with 40 was to try to find some ground that might give us room to play going forward,” Probst told Entertainment Weekly. “So we went back to the basic idea: Survivor is about a society that forms, and they form their own rules. And they decide who stays and who goes home. And over time, every society ends up having a currency. So we’re looking to add another layer to the society with a Survivor currency in the form of fire tokens.”
But who do you get these tokens?
“Think of tokens as money,” Probst said. “And the way it works is, everyone starts with one. And when you are voted out you have to will it or bequeath it to somebody still in the game as you head to the Edge of Extinction. Now players in the game have tokens. People on the Edge have nothing. But what the Edge does have are advantages — that are of no value on the Edge of Extinction but are very valuable in the game. So it becomes supply and demand. I have what you want in terms of an advantage. I’m going to sell it to somebody in the game for your fire token. Your fire token gives me what I need because it allows me to buy an advantage in that return challenge to get back into the game. So now we have a true economy in which you have what I need, and I have what you want. And here’s the price and I’m offering to sell it to you.”
I’m not sure who I feel about fire tokens or how they will effect the game. We will have to wait and see. But I will say it’s a good idea to bring something fresh to the game after 40 seasons, especially considering all 20 players have played the game before, several multiple times. So it’s noice to see them put into a new situation as well.
Survivor 2020 premieres Feb. 12 on CBS.
>>>RELATED: Check out the Survivor 40 cast photos
