The Hunger Games universe is a dystopia set in Panem, a North American country consisting of the wealthy Capitol and 13 districts in varying states of poverty.

Every year, two children, one boy and one girl, from the first 12 districts are selected via lottery to participate in a compulsory televised subjugation, disguised as a battle royale death match called "The Hunger Games", a spectacle of brutality and survival orchestrated by the powerful to maintain their grip on the weak.

[2][3] By the time the film adaptation of The Hunger Games was released in 2012, over 26 million copies of the trilogy were in print, including movie tie-in books.

[4] As of 2023, the series has sold over 100 million copies worldwide and continues to be a significant influence in young adult literature and popular culture.

[7] On August 17, 2012, Amazon announced the Hunger Games trilogy as its top seller, surpassing the record previously held by the Harry Potter series.

[9] A prequel novel, titled The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, about the early days of the Hunger Games, featuring a young Coriolanus Snow as the protagonist, was released on May 19, 2020.

[11] The Hunger Games trilogy takes place in an unspecified future time, in the dystopian, post-apocalyptic nation of Panem, located in North America.

[13] The Capitol embodies oppression at its peak and thrives in decadence, lavishly rich and technologically advanced, but the districts toil in deprivation, being in varying states of poverty.

The trilogy's narrator and protagonist, Katniss Everdeen, lives in District 12, the poorest region of Panem, located in Appalachia,[13] where people regularly die of starvation.

Collins has said this format comes from her playwriting background, which taught her to write in a three-act structure; her previous series, The Underland Chronicles, was written in the same way.

This revelation stuns Katniss, who usually does not allow herself to think of romantic attraction due to her traumatic childhood and her fear of losing future children to the Hunger Games.

Haymitch advises her to feign feelings for Peeta in order to gain wealthy sponsors who can provide crucial supplies to the "star-crossed lovers" during the Games.

The capitol is furious toward them due to their act of defiance, and the only way to try to allay its anger is to continue to pretend that her actions were solely because she was madly in love with Peeta.

In Catching Fire, which begins six months after the conclusion of The Hunger Games, Katniss learns that her defiance in the previous novel has started a chain reaction that has inspired rebellion in the districts.

Snow announces a special 75th edition of the Hunger Games—known as the Quarter Quell—in which Katniss and Peeta are forced to compete with other past victors, effectively canceling the wedding.

Katniss ultimately learns—to her surprise—that she had inadvertently been an integral part of the rebellion all along; her rescue had been jointly planned by Haymitch, Head Gamemaker Plutarch Heavensbee, and District 4 victor Finnick Odair, among others.

In return, she demands immunity for Peeta, Johanna Mason, Annie Cresta, and Enobaria, fellow Games victors captured by the Capitol.

When Katniss realizes that the Capitol will keep torturing Peeta as long as she fuels the rebellion, she has a panic attack and loses the ability to function as the Mockingjay.

Coin then asks the surviving victors to vote on a final Hunger Games, involving the children of high-ranking Capitol officials (including Snow's granddaughter).

Snow shows great commitment in mentoring his tribute Lucy Gray Baird from the impoverished District 12 because her winning means he will be awarded a monetary prize that will cover his university tuition.

[19] Though skeptical at first, Snow believes he can turn the odds of the Games in his favor after seeing Lucy Gray defiantly sing during her reaping ceremony.

[18] Collins credits her character Lucy Gray as having introduced the concept of entertainment into the Hunger Games with her performative and musical talent.

[23] Major themes of the novels include distrust of authority (of adults and the government), class discrimination and caste, resistance, the ethics of entertainment, and most notably, the origins and effects of war.

"Although it’s... aimed at young adults, it presents potentially quite subversive ideas of mass revolution, economic sabotage and the populist fight against oligarchy.

[30] Young adult fiction author John Green, writing for The New York Times, compared The Hunger Games with Scott Westerfeld's The Uglies series.

[39] J.C. Maçek III of PopMatters stated, "While the film saga does capture the action of The Hunger Games, the novels are most assuredly the heart of the story.

[43] Lionsgate Entertainment acquired worldwide distribution rights to a film adaptation of The Hunger Games, produced by Nina Jacobson's Color Force production company.

Immediately following the release of the first Hunger Games film, many archery vendors experienced a significant upsurge in business, with their lessons fully booked and recurve bows on long periods of back-order.

The class was offered for the school's American Studies Program and covered topics of oppression, feminism, food deserts, rebellion, the publishing industry, and social media marketing.

The course's professor, Stef Woods, believes that using the fictional world of Panem to discuss real word problems helps students better understand sociopolitical issues in American society.