Domino Effect (also known as Backed Up and High Step and Stack) is a recurring challenge from Survivor. It debuted in Survivor: Gabon and has since re-appeared in Redemption Island, Blood vs. Water, Kaôh Rōng, and Game Changers.
Rules
Players must stack all of their pieces like a line of domino tiles while avoiding tripwires that would topple the tiles that were already stacked. Once all of the blocks have been properly stacked, the castaway would start a chain reaction which would be enough to trigger a mechanism which will release a ball rolling to a bowl, releasing a flag. The first castaway to raise their flag would win.
The same rules apply in the Redemption Island version of the challenge, but instead of raising a flag, the goal is drop the ball on a tile at the end of the contraption. The first to do so wins.
In Survivor: Kaôh Rōng, the goal was to topple a wooden block onto a gong at the end of a platform.
History
This challenge debuted in Survivor: Gabon with an additional first round where the castaways would race across a series of balance beams carrying a bag of puzzle blocks. The first two castaways to bring all three of their bags would go to the final round, along with Corinne Kaplan, who had received an advantage of a free pass from the first round. In the final round, players stacked their blocks like domino tiles across a bridge which, when set off, would raise a flag. The castaways also had to move through tripwires. Ken Hoang defeated Corinne and Matty Whitmore to win immunity.
This challenge reappeared in Survivor: Redemption Island, where Matthew Elrod beat Russell Hantz in the second Redemption Island duel, permanently eliminating Russell. Russell left the game in tears.
In Survivor: Blood vs. Water, the challenge returned as the second Redemption Island duel, between Candice Cody, Marissa Peterson, and Rachel Foulger. Candice easily won the duel, keeping herself alive. After over 45 minutes of failed attempts, Marissa finally beat Rachel, eliminating Rachel for good.
In Survivor: Kaôh Rōng, the challenge appeared as the final nine Immunity Challenge. After a tight battle between all of the contestants, Julia Sokolowski managed to topple all of her blocks first, winning immunity.
In Survivor: Game Changers, it came down to Andrea Boehlke, Sarah Lacina, Michaela Bradshaw, and Sierra Dawn Thomas. After quickly re-stacking her blocks, Andrea managed to topple all of her blocks first, winning immunity.
Winners
| Episode | Challenge Type | Winner |
|---|---|---|
| Gabon "I Was Put on the Planet for This Show" |
Individual Immunity | File:S17 ken t.jpg Ken Hoang |
| Redemption Island "Don't You Work for Me?" |
Duel | File:S22 matthew t.jpg Matthew Elrod |
| Blood vs. Water "Opening Pandora's Box" |
Duel | File:S27 candice t.jpgFile:S27 marissa t.jpg Candice & Marissa |
| Kaôh Rōng "It's Psychological Warfare" |
Individual Immunity |  Julia Sokolowski |
| Game Changers "Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow" |
Individual Immunity |  Andrea Boehlke |
Gallery
Trivia
- Every first time player to win this challenge was the youngest person of their gender (Ken Hoang and Matthew Elrod were the youngest males, while Marissa Peterson and Julia Sokolowski were the youngest females).
- Aubry Bracco and Tai Trang are the only contestants to have competed in this challenge twice. They lost both times.