Suggested Draft Rules

Recommendations for how to run your team selection. Pick the format that best fits your group size, or adapt it to taste.

When to Draft

Wait until after the first episode airs before holding your draft. The premiere is when you actually get to see the cast in action — who is leading their tribe, who looks like an early target, who is forming alliances, and how the tribe dynamics are shaping up.

Drafting blind from cast photos and bios is mostly luck. Drafting after episode one rewards players who watch closely and read the game well — it turns Tribe Fantasy into a game of skill, not just chance.

Smaller Groups (2–8 Players)

Use a snake draft so every player ends up with an equal-sized team. Each player drafts 2–3 survivors depending on group size:

2–4 players: draft 3 survivors each
5–8 players: draft 2 survivors each

How a snake draft works: randomize the player order for round one. In round two, the order reverses (last picker goes first). It keeps reversing each round, which balances out the advantage of an early first-round pick.

Every survivor selected is locked — no two players can have the same survivor. With a smaller group, some survivors will go undrafted, and that is fine. Those castaways simply do not score for anyone.

Example: Four-Player Snake Draft

Players: Alex, Blake, Casey, Drew. Each drafts 3 survivors. Random round-one order: Alex, Blake, Casey, Drew.

Round 1: Alex picks Ben, Blake picks Kenzie, Casey picks Maria, Drew picks Teeny.

Round 2 (reverse): Drew picks Charlie, Casey picks Tiffany, Blake picks Kyle, Alex picks Jem.

Round 3 (reverse again): Alex picks Moriah, Blake picks Liz, Casey picks Tim, Drew picks Soda.

Final teams are locked. Every survivor belongs to exactly one player. Some castaways go undrafted.

Tip: Use a wheel randomizer or another method to set the draft order.

Larger Groups (9+ Players)

With 9 or more players there are not enough survivors to give everyone unique teams of 2–3. Use a hybrid lock + open draft:

Round 1 — Locked picks. Randomize the player order. Each player drafts 1 survivor. That survivor is locked to them — no one else may select that person for the rest of the draft.
Rounds 2 (and 3). Each player drafts 1 or 2 more survivors from the remaining pool. These later-round picks can be duplicates across players — two or more teams may share the same survivor.

The one exception: a survivor that was somebody's round-one locked pick is off-limits to everyone else for the entire draft. Only survivors that went unpicked in round one are eligible to be shared in later rounds.

Decide up front whether players draft 1 or 2 additional survivors based on the size of your group — aim for teams of about 3 total.

Example: Six-Player Lock + Open Draft

Players: Alex, Blake, Casey, Drew, Eva, Frank. Round one is locked; round two is open (duplicates allowed). Random round-one order: Alex, Blake, Casey, Drew, Eva, Frank.

Round 1 — Locked picks: Alex picks Ben, Blake picks Kenzie, Casey picks Maria, Drew picks Teeny, Eva picks Charlie, Frank picks Kyle. These six survivors are now off the board for everyone else.

Round 2 — Open picks (any remaining survivor, duplicates OK): Alex picks Jem, Blake picks Tiffany, Casey picks Jem, Drew picks Moriah, Eva picks Ben (but Ben is locked by Alex — not allowed), so Eva switches to Liz, Frank picks Jem.

Round 3 — Open picks (continue): Alex picks Tim, Blake picks Soda, Casey picks Tim, Drew picks Liz, Eva picks Moriah, Frank picks Soda.

Notice Jem, Tim, Soda, Liz, and Moriah appear on multiple teams. That is fine — only round-one locked picks are exclusive.

Why allow duplicates? In a bigger league, their may only be enough castaways to have one per team with equal size teams, allowing duplicates with this method still allows individualized teams but also keeps you interested for longer into the season with more castaways per team.

General Guidelines

Hold the draft live (in person or on a video call) whenever possible.
Randomize the round-one order with a visible roll so nobody can argue it later.
Lock rosters the moment the draft ends. No trades or swaps after the second episode begins.
Post the final teams somewhere everyone can see them before scoring starts.