Season 10 began with 16 players who were randomly assigned to four 4-person teams and were told that the first Head of Household competition would be played in teams with two winning teams and two losing teams. The two winning teams would be safe from nomination while the two losing teams would not. After each player was assigned all the HGs were then required to vote for one person they wanted to see become the first HoH. The results of which would be revealed later. The second twist of the game was also revealed that there would be one player voted by the audience to play as the Audience's Secret Player (ASP) whose sole job was to target a player, voted on by the audience, to get nominated and or evicted. Adrie was selected as the ASP and through the course of the game she would use her social strategy to great effect. Once the HoH was concluded and the two top winning teams were determined, the player from either of the two winning teams with the most votes from the previous day would become the first Head of Househould of the season. It was a tie-vote between Aina and Mike with both receiving the most with two votes apiece. To break the tie, the remaining houseguests then secretly cast their votes for who they wanted to see become the first HoH and by a vote of 9 to 5, Aina became the first head of household of the season and was to make her nominations the following day. Crosstalking began immediately as many players started trying to form connections in hopes of securing their safety during this HoH. Matt and Erica made a connection with Mike forming a southerners alliance; Malorie, Hans and Aina instantly bonded over a shared connection through being mutual supporters of a YouTube channel. Adrie, Curt, Kyle and Zach all recognized one another from having played in other online games. Due to bad blood from a previous game, Kyle and Zach decided bury the hatchet and let bygones be bygones and work together, and along with Curt and Adrie, however Kyle also had a level of mistrust toward Adrie having seen her style of play in a different game and secretly perceived her as an unreliable threat in the game that needed to be removed as quickly as possible. Jennifer and Tina connected and JoAnn greeting several players but was drawn to Hans while Chris formed a quick connection with Malorie and Adrie feeling they were of the same mindset to go far into the game. Even though they were all on tha same losing team during HoH competition, Chris, Adrie and Malorie felt secure in suggesting Jennifer for nomination and collectively set that into motion. Aina decided to nominate Jennifer and Curt, who was barely around in many people's view, for eviction who despite his plea, the house was united in deciding that Curt would be the first player evicted from the game. When the eviction votes were read everyone expected it to be unanimous however Erica and Robin both decided to send "hinky" votes causing mass suspicion and paranoia to spread through the house. Logically, suspicion fell onto the ASP for at least one hinky vote but who threw the other vote? Suspicions and accusations were pointed at numerous HGs for a variety of reasons. Following Curt's eviction, Jennifer would become the new HoH. JoAnn & Tina suspected Kyle because he hinted that their team throw the game during the HoH team competition, people suspected Robin because she was one of the players least present during this early part of the game, Tina hinted that it could have been Erica because "she's so quiet" but no one pursued that angle. Aina and Malorie shared their thoughts on Adrie however major suspicion began to shift towards Malorie herself and Peter. Peter because there were many players who simply were not sure just where his loyalty and what kind of game he was playing, and Malorie because it was slowly becoming evident to several players that she may be playing all sides of the house. On day 4 this suspicion would culminate into a very explosive house meeting where Malorie was confronted by Adrie, Aina, Hans, Chris and Peter for making side deals with several players all at the same time while simultaneously throwing those same players under the bus to others.
It also came out that Malorie had previously hinted to Chris that Peter might be intending to target him after "suggesting" he (Chris) intentionally threw the first HoH competition which Peter vehemently denied. Prior to the house meeting Aina, Hans and Malorie had devised a plan of work all sides of the house and Malorie in her eagerness forged an alliance with Matt, Erica, Chris and Adrie, suggesting they consider this 5 an alliance of their own, without informing Aina or Hans of her plan so this also came to light. Malorie then decided to let the entire house in on that they (Hans, Aina & Malorie) had a prior-existing connection, further complicating matters. The fallout from the house meeting was that Malorie was now on the outs with the entire house and seen as a huge liability by Hans and Aina who were scrambling to try and pick up the pieces. With Jennifer as the new HoH she decided to nominate Tina and Malorie but assured Tina that she was safe and was just the pawn. In light of the revelations that came out regarding Aina, Hans and Malorie's game strategy, the previous group of them plus Chris, Matt, Erica and Adrie literally frayed apart with the latter unsure of Aina and Hans, feeling that Malorie was on her way out of the game. They solidified their own 4-person allliance trying to maintain a fledgling connection with Aina and Hans. Aina and Hans could feel the distancing happening and knew they were in trouble. Adrie would win the veto competition and during the veto ceremony decided it was best to keep nominations the same with everyone assuring Tina she was safe. Malorie would become the second player evicted from the game in an 11-1 vote. The house once again expecting a unanimous vote was facing paranoia feeling that the ASP must have cast that vote and since suspicions were previously placed on Malorie as being the ASP, it then shifted to Peter for many in the game, for some they began to suspect that either Aina or Hans may be the ASP. The one hinky vote was again cast by Erica. Following Malorie's eviction a mystery power was revealed to the house where a set of clues would lead to a hidden webpage that would give the discoverer of this power a secret veto power that could be used over the next several eviction ceremonies. Players were working individually or in pairs to try and solve the clues but Hans was the first to correctly inerpret the clues and discover the hidden power. In his excitement Hans told Aina about their new golden opportunity to make a big move but overlooked the rule of the power which said that if he were to tell any other player he would be immediately evicted...and he was. Hans would become the third player evicted leaving Aina alone in the game. Following Hans eviction Zach would become the new HoH, who had also began to get closer with Aina. Aina's game still reeling from the aftermath of the house meeting and Hans sudden departure was feeling defeated and without any friends suddenly found herself with a new set of allies in the game in Zach and Peter and she also began to make a slight connection with Jennifer and Tina feeling they were loyal people to have in the game that she might work with and seeing her former allegiances with Adrie and Chris as adversaries. Zach as HoH decided to nominate Robin and Erica, unknowingly the two people responsible for the hinky votes. Adrie defeated Zach in a head-to-head puzzle battle winning the power of veto and contemplated using it to backdoor Aina but decided that it was best for her game not to use the veto. Erica's alliance with Matt, Chris and Adrie plus that of Mike assured her she had the votes to remain in the game. Robin would become the fourth evicted player.
Following Robin's eviction Mike outlasted everyone else and won a head-to-head battle against JoAnn in a game of Define and Dismiss to become the new HoH. During that time Chris had been voted on by the audience to receive a secret mission given to him by Marsha the Moose, he was instructed that he must succeed in his mission or a serious punishment would be visited on the entire house. The punishment was fake. His mission was to relay a cryptic message to a player of his choosing and that player could respond with anything EXCEPT "What are you talking?" If they responded with that or anything similar the mission was a failure. Unknown to Chris the rest of the house was also informed of his "secret" mission and were told that he has to fail his mission no matter what. Chris chose Matt as they were celebrating Mike's victory at HoH and right on cue, Chris relayed his cryptic message and Matt responded with "What are you talking about?" Chris had failed his mission and was informed that a major punishment was coming on the house. The rest of the players were then informed about Chris' mission failure and it was also revealed to Chris that the entire house was in on the gag and that there was no punishment but instead a reward. The reward was the Round Trip Ticket would be unlocked for the remaining players in the game with the holder of the sole lucky ticket would get a "return trip" back into the game should they find themselves evicted. This presented a wrinkle for the group looking to oust Aina because now they were faced with the possibility that she might actually come back into the game. This new twist added a level of risk to every eviction that would follow. Mike's focus was getting Aina out of the game but would settle for Peter if that didn't work out which made his decision to nominate them both which ignited a fire in Aina to fight even harder for the power to save her game and make some moves which she would do by winning the power of veto and using it to remove herself from the block. Mike chose to nominate Tina as his replacement nominee who was once again being used a pawn and was again constantly assured of her safety. At this point in the game, the former relationship between Aina and Adrie had soured to the point where they were now full adversaries and Aina removed herself from the alliance. Adrie, Matt, Eric and Chris resolved to vote out Peter and with the rest of the players in agreement that the duo of Peter and Aina should be broken up, Peter was evicted in the first unanimous vote of the season. Peter did not have the return trip ticket.
Following his eviction and unknown to the other players, Peter was tasked with answering a set of questions with a rating anywhere from 1 to 100. These questions along with Peter's ratings were going to be used in the next HoH competition and the twist was that should there be a tie at the end of the questions, Peter would break the tie and announce who he would choose to become the next HoH! This competition was a closely contested battle which would come down to being between Aina and Adrie, who at this point let it be known that they were openly after one another. Peter broke the tie in Aina's favor granting her HoH. Adrie fearing she was on Aina's hit list realized her only chance at remaining in the game would be to win the POV, even though she had allies, she felt the numbers would be against her. She knew she could rely on Matt, Erica and Chris however Kyle was no longer an option for her as he was deadset on her leaving the game and threw his allegiance to Aina in full support of her making a move against Adrie, Zach was also aligned with Aina and also secretly with Kyle and while he had no personal animosity toward Adrie, felt it was in his best interest to vote her out. Jennifer and Tina were in agreement also that this was the best time to take Adrie out as she was seen as a "comp" beast and very formidable social player as well. Mike and JoAnn were also consigned to voting Adrie out with the rest of the house. Aina nominated Adrie and Matt for eviction. The veto competition was Knight Moves, a game of strategy where players had to move like knights on a chessboard, the die was cast and the only chance Adrie would have was to win, but she didn't win the POV, instead her alliance member Erica won and now Erica was faced with the decision of which of her alliance members to save. Erica chose to remove Matt from the block, Aina replaced Matt with Adrie's closest ally in the game, Chris. Kyle was elated seeing Adrie finally nominated and was very adamant that this was the right move for the entire house. He spoke to Tina who took his interrogative conversation as aggressive and she then abruptly announced to the house in the living room that she would not be bullied into voting how others felt she should vote. Kyle, thinking she was referring to Adrie, but unbeknownst to him, she was talking about him, ramped up his campaigning to other players to ensure they all voted Adrie out. Adrie and Matt were discussing options and Adrie suggested Matt talk to Tina about possibly considering keeping Adrie. Within a span of 30 minutes, after talking with Matt, Tina who was deadset on voting Adrie out, switched gears and along with Jennifer felt that they were now in control of the game if they saved Adrie. Tina then talked with JoAnn who was also feeling that Adrie was getting a bad deal in the game and decided that she deserved to stay in the game and would have her full support believing they could work together and go further into the game. When it came time for eviction Chris was voted out by a vote of 5-3. Mike, Zach and Kyle were the only ones to vote for Adrie. Chris did not have the round trip ticket and would become the first juror. This was a pivotal turning point in the game as no one could believe how the tide had changed in Adrie's favor, least of all Aina who along with Kyle was upset over the turn of events.
Following Chris' departure Aina felt her only chance at surviving was to have one of her remaining allies, Zach or Kyle win HoH to stay safe. Zach would become the new HoH for the second time this season and instead of targeting Adrie, he nominated Matt and Erica for eviction. Although Aina preferred to see Adrie nominated, she chose to respect Zach's nominations. JoAnn would win the power of veto and decided not to use it leaving close allies Matt and Erica together on the block forcing Mike to decide between his two closest allies. Erica was evicted in a 4-3 vote. She did not have the round trip ticket and became the second member of the jury. Following Erica's eviction Matt snatched victory from Kyle by just a second difference to become the new HoH and when it came time to make his nominations, what was no great surprise to anyone, he nominated Zach and Aina for eviction. Zach and Aina both knew their backs were against the wall and the only way to stay in the game was to win. Zach would win the power of veto and saved himself from the block and was now being seen as a true competition beast. Matt replaced Zach with Kyle assuring him that he was only the pawn and would not leave the game, and that everyone wanted Aina out. Zach let it be known that he would not vote against his friend in the game and cast the only vote for Kyle while the remaining players voted Aina out of the game. Aina did not have the round trip ticket and would be next jury member. Following Aina's eviction the players went into a True or False competition which Kyle aced and would become the new HoH. Having called a truce with Adrie, Kyle assured her she was not his target, he instead targeted who he felt were floaters in the game and nominated Tina and JoAnn for eviction. During the power of veto competition Tina proved to be the most accurate art critic in Vincent Van Veto and won the power of veto saving herself from the block. Kyle replaced her with Jennifer. Also during the POV competition, Kyle won the ability to deflect one eviction vote during the next HoH cycle. Even though they were seen for the majority of the game as a duo, Tina turned on her ally and voted her out of the house in the second unanimous vote of the season. Jennifer did not have the round trip ticket and went to jury. Mike would become the next HoH afer defeating JoAnn in a tie-breaker. Mike nominated JoAnn and Tina but decided to make a play at backdooring Kyle even though he had assured him that was not his plan.
Kyle's paranoia at this point in the game had reached an all-time high. Christmas would come early for Mike during the veto competition and he would come away with another victory. At the veto ceremony Mike reversed his own nomination, took JoAnn off the block and nominated Kyle in her place citing that since Kyle had won the ability to deflect a vote it was the best move for him to get that power out of the game sooner rather than later. At eviction three votes went to Kyle while one vote went to Tina. Kyle decided to deflect one vote to Tina making it a tie-vote forcing Mike to get more blood on his hands by breaking the tie-vote. Mike voted Kyle out of the game but with a reversal of fortune, Kyle wound up having the winning round-trip ticket and not only returned to the game but got to compete in the next HoH competition which JoAnn won. Feeling that Mike was presenting a very strong case for being nominated by having won several competitions, and proving to be an even stronger social threat on top of having nominated her for eviction, JoAnn decided she would return the favor and nominated Mike next to Kyle proving that you should never underestimate a "floater". Kyle, feeling that his back was once again up against the wall with very few allies remaining in the game, turned to Zach for his support and also hoped to have Adrie's vote but unfortunately for Kyle, he had also begun to burn bridges with other players, Kyle knew his only chance was to win veto and save himself from the chopping block. However it would be Mike who would bluff his way to winning the veto and saving himself from the block. Upon Aina's eviction Zach drifted toward JoAnn and together they began to form a secret two-person alliance trying to navigate their way to the end of the game, Zach, partly influenced by Kyle, tried to point JoAnn's focus on Adrie as a player to possibly backdoor, and unbeknownst to Zach, JoAnn had also gotten closer to Adrie and since Mike won the veto and saved himself, JoAnn made the difficult decision of nominating Zach to his shock and surprise. In the end Zach would be voted out by a unanimous decision but the night was not done.
The houseguests went into a new HoH where Matt would snatch a razor-thin victory over Kyle winning his second head of household. Matt and the rest of the players were informed that this HoH was not a double, but a triple eviction so he would have to name three people for eviction. Matt nominated Kyle, JoAnn and Tina for eviction leaving only Mike and Adrie to cast votes. The HGs then competed in the veto competition, Check Mate, and Mike would come away again with another comp victory but decided that it was best to not use the veto leaving Matt's nominations the same. Mike and Adrie both cast their vote to save Tina sending Kyle and JoAnn to the jury and leaving Mike, Tina, Adrie & Matt as the final four remaining players of the game. The new HoH competition had the players solving mathematical equations for X. Adrie showing her powers of recall was able to win her first Head of Household competition and decided to stay loyal to her alliance with Matt and nominate Mike and Tina. During veto Mike would win yet again, removing himself from the block leaving Matt as the only choice for replacement. During eviction Matt's strong connection to both Mike and Adrie paid off. Tina was voted out of the house and sent to jury leaving the final three players of the game. Kyle chose to leave the game for personal reasons leaving the jury at an even number. So the final three players were also given one additional task which was to come to a decision on which player they would agree on voting out of the jury. The final three decided on Zach being the player and Zach was removed from jury. The final three then began the final 3-part HoH of the game. The first part was a grueling game to see who had the most staying power and who could hold a button the longest. Matt was the first to drop afer four hours into the competition leaving Adrie and Mike to who would battle it out for an impressive 6 and a half hours more but in the end, Mike's finger slipped off the button leaving Adrie the last woman standing and winner of the first part. Mike and Matt meet in part two. Mike completed the competition in 11 minutes but Matt crushed the competition in just over 2 minutes making him the winner and he and Adrie would battle for the final time for HoH in the part 3. Adrie would come away with the victory making her the final Head of Household of the season and staying true to her word to Matt, evicted Mike leaving her and Matt the final two players to face the jury. After facing the jury's questions and delivering their pleas on why they deserved to win the game. Matt would win the game in a very close 4-3 vote.