As in all versions of the show, it features group of strangers who are marooned in an isolated location, where they must provide food, water, fire and shelter for themselves.
To begin, the players are split into two or three tribes, are taken to a remote isolated location and are forced to live off the land with meagre supplies for a period of several weeks.
Frequent physical and mental challenges are used to pit the tribes against each other for rewards, such as food or luxuries, or for immunity, forcing the other tribe to attend Tribal Council, where they must vote one of their tribemates out of the game by secret ballot.
Other twists include the non-playing Captains in Champions, kidnappings, tribe expansions and shuffles.
There may also be twists that affect the game format for a particular round (such as the Tied Destinies twist included on Immunity Island) Voting advantages and disadvantages, and in the first season, Panama included Deadman's Island where contestants voted out after the merge was isolated from the game until an opportunity to return arose.