Life used to be different. At least you assume it was. But there's nothing and no one left that remembers the time before the Dark Days. You heard that there used to be another country here, something known as the "United States." But that was destroyed long ago, and out of its ashes rose the country known as Panem, which was broken up into the capitol and the districts. But about one hundred years ago, there was a great war in which the districts rebelled against the Capitol. These times were known as the Dark Days. The districts were soundly defeated, and as punishment for their insubordination, the districts were stripped of rights and resources. To remind the districts how powerless they are, the Capiol set a special system. Each year, two teenage representatives from each district must compete in an arena. How well they do determines what supplies their district receives for the year. These are the Hunger Games. And if you lose, you will be hungry.