Survivor is known for having tough challenges, but which ones featured the most difficult puzzles in the reality TV show's history?

For more than 40 seasons, Survivor has entertained with twists and turns that leave viewers on the edge of their seats. From blindside eliminations to intense challenges, the show continues to one-up itself season after season. One of the most notably entertaining aspects of the game are the mind-boggling puzzles that crop up in various challenges.

Puzzles have been a dominant force throughout the history of Survivor as well as a fan-favorite game element. Not only is it pure entertainment to watch the Survivor players show how smart they are, but fans can join in on the fun as well. With hundreds of puzzles over the course of 41 seasons and counting, some stand out as the most difficult to solve. These challenges were brain-benders that frustrated all but the most talented puzzle solvers.

Survivor: Cagayan - Vertigo Immunity Challenge

During the 28th season, the final four Survivor players' loved ones cheered them on as they competed in an extreme challenge. Each person started on top of a pole in the ocean and had to retrieve a key by pouring water down into a chute. Once they retrieved a key and were back on the shore, they had to unlock puzzle pieces and solve a giant block puzzle.

This was a complicated puzzle because one side could be correct, but the players had to make sure that the revers side of the puzzle was accurate as well, so it was as if they were solving two puzzles at once. This challenge was so difficult that Kass McQuillen, who lost a tremendous amount of time  during the water-based portion, ended up winning because Spencer, Woo, and Tony could not solve the puzzle.

Survivor: Heroes Vs. Villians - Blind Cube Crisis

For this puzzle challenge, one player was a "caller" who directed the rest of the team as they gathered 10 large puzzle pieces while blindfolded. The heroes had a good head start, and it looked at first as if they were going to win, but the villains caught up in the end to claim victory.

This challenge was especially tough because not only was the puzzle tricky, but the pieces were also enormous and difficult to handle. The pieces looked quite heavy, and each team needed everyone on board to shift them into the right place. They were so big that Rob Mariano had to literally climb the puzzle itself to fit the final piece in.

Survivor: Ghost Island - Pyramid Scheme Immunity Challenge

This was one of the simplest yet most difficult-to-solve puzzles. The players had to swim to a platform, cross a series of obstacles, and collect two sets of puzzle pieces. There were only four pieces in total, yet it wasn't an easy one for the players until Wendell Holland finally solved the puzzle seemingly out of nowhere, winning immunity.

Even though there were only four pieces, the players had to figure out which direction each piece needed to face. It was as if they were dealing with a Rubik's Cube, but instead of making it into a single colored square, they had to place the pieces into a perfect pyramid. On top of that, the puzzle segment of the challenge featured a physical endurance aspect as well, which made it that much harder to figure out.

Survivor: Tocantins - Spider Immunity Challenge

This endurance puzzle challenge involved the players negotiating a variety of nets that led them to different bags filled with puzzle pieces. Once they collected all the bags, they had to solve the puzzle, forming a spider's web.

This was a tough one because there were so many pieces the players had to deal with, and there was also a little bit of math involved where they had to figure out how many puzzle pieces went into one section. The size of the puzzle pieces also played a big part. Each players had to deal with a variety of sizes and figure out which piece went well together with the rest.

Survivor: Redemption Island - Cube Crisis Challenge

This puzzle challenge took place in the Redemption Island arena where Matt Elrod and Kristina Kell went head to head to stay in the game. Both had to race to collect Tetris-like puzzle blocks, then use the blocks to assemble the shape of a cube.

The puzzle was a 3-by-3 cube, and the blocks were heavy to move around. There were so many different ways the pieces could have been placed. What made this even more difficult was the fact that the puzzle could look complete, but one piece could be off, required the whole the be rebuilt almost from scratch. This happened to Matt on his first try, but on his second attempt, he was able to figure it out.

Survivor: San Juan Del Sur - More Than A Feeling Challenge

One person from each tribe had to race through a series of obstacles blindfolded. At the end of the course, there was a mask the players had to use their hands to study. They then untied bags filled with puzzle pieces that they brought to the next station to recreate the mask they had felt but not seen.

Blindfolds are common and effective devices that make any Survivor challenge tough to beat. On top of that, memory played a big part during this challenge because each person had to remember the shapes they'd felt. There was even another wrinkle making the already difficult puzzle a true brain-melter: There were extra pieces in the bags that resembled the right shapes but were not part of the finished puzzle.

Survivor: Kaôh Rōng - Gimme Three Steps Immunity Challenge

This massive challenge had multiple challenges within it. Each player had to race into the ocean and climb a stool to obtain a key. They then had to race back to the beach and use the key to unlock a set of stairs that led to another key on top of the stairs. In total, there were three keys the players had to obtain even before they reached to the final puzzle.

By the time each player got to their puzzle station, they were out of breath and exhausted. Mix that with their having to focus on building a difficult puzzle, and the already hard task proved nearly impossible.

Survivor: Millennials Vs. Gen X - Angry Chair Immunity Challenge

This was a classic word puzzle challenge in which tribemates had to retrieve 30 puzzle pieces from a structure, then use those pieces to spell out a message, "Somebody loses their flame tonight." Of course, the contestants didn't know what the final message would say until they figured it out.

There were a couple of strategies the player could have used to solve this one, but 30 letters can spell almost anything, and that's what made this challenge so tough. It was so difficult it that took 20 minutes for both teams to even begin to figure out what the words spelled out.

Survivor: Micronesia - A Stone's Throw Challenge

For this challenge, four members from each tribe had to throw rocks at hanging tiles that would reveal puzzle pieces when broken. After all the prices were collected, the tribemates were tasked with assembling them in a color-coded puzzle.

This challenge was a mind-bender because, for one thing, the puzzle itself was huge. The twist to the puzzle was that the edges of each piece had to match the color of the edges of the adjacent pieces. The puzzle pieces could have fit perfectly, but if the colors did not match, it was wrong.

Survivor: Heroes Vs. Healers Vs. Hustlers - The Crossroads Challenge

This puzzle challenge put the player's minds to the test. First, the tribemates had to retrieve puzzle pieces from underneath the ocean. Once they obtained all the pieces, they had to use them to solve a signpost puzzle.

This was a puzzle that required a lot of trial and error, which is what made it so difficult. It was pretty easy for a tribe to think they solved the puzzle correctly because the pieces could fit anywhere, but if one of the pieces blocked the entire puzzle from spinning in a complete circle, the tribe knew they had gotten something wrong, and it was back to square one.

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