New twists and turns are guaranteed to test the contestants' endurance and lead them to the brink of psychological and physical collapse. Nine all new contestants and one returning player will push their mind and body to its limit, while obeying every whim of Val, their omnipresent digital taskmaster. As with the first three seasons, the premise of Solitary v4.0 is simple: the last person to leave their pod small, barren and completely isolated wins bragging rights and $50,000. There are no councils, no alliances, and no votes. No one goes home until they themselves choose to push the red button and quit. All contestants willingly place themselves in their assigned "pods" to undergo grueling tests and treatments assigned by their sarcastic, omniscient digital taskmaster, Val. These individuals are subjected to sleep deprivation, extreme temperatures and other forms of environmental stress meant to "break" them, thus causing them to leave their pod and lose. Perhaps the most challenging part about Solitary is that contestants have no idea what the other contestants are doing or how much longer they must endure the competition.