On the subject of the game of The Amazing Race being better than that of Survivor...
While allowing that what makes a "better" game is entirely subjective, I think what people really mean by this comparison is that in The Amazing Race, you're elminated solely based on your own performance and not by some seemingly arbitary vote. But that stance overlooks many things:
1. In TAR, players can-- and have-- been eliminated not because of their inferior performance, but because of their horrendously bad luck. I direct your attention to the infamous haybales challenge. Those kinds of (pardon the pun) needle-in-a-haystack challenges are, in my opinion, absolutely terrible. As a player, I can understand being eliminated because of bad luck outside the producer's control-- a flat tire, a washed-out road, a delayed flight. But for the producers to introduce additional such elements into the game makes little sense to me. They have no playalong factor and aren't fun to watch at all, and when players get screwed by them it's not satisfying to me as a viewer in any way.
2. TAR is actually a series of races where winning is irrelevant until the final leg. The game is simply about not being last. Blech. I realize that a closer competition makes for better television-- in season 1, before they became more aggressive about grouping teams at the start of each leg, they wound up with a final in which the third-place team was far, far behind the other two, and it wasn't nearly as interesting. In recent seasons they've added prizes for the winners of every leg (instead of just one or two legs), which has been a very positive addition.
3. Getting voted out in Survivor is not arbitrary. The challenges in Survivor are only part of the game. The real game is about forging alliances and diverting attention away from yourself. Being a strong competitor in challenges is not necessarily the best approach. If you look at Survivor that way-- that the game is one of politics, negotiation, psychology, and timing-- the depth of the game makes The Amazing Race pale in comparison.
Don't get me wrong, I like The Amazing Race. But I love Survivor. I can understand people preferring a game where backstabbing and politics aren't involved. And if that's what they mean when they say The Amazing Race is a better game, that's perfectly valid. But looking at the game designs themselves, I'd say that Survivor's game is far more interesting. And for me, that makes it better.
