About the Author & the Project

Why I built another simulator

BrantSteele’s original is great — more customization than anything else, and the fan community around it kept the format alive for years. I’m not trying to replace that.

The thing that bugged me was the phone experience. I’d try to set one up before a trip and give up halfway because adding tributes one at a time on a small screen is miserable. So I built the version I wanted: loads fast, works on a phone, lets you drop in 24 tributes at once.

First version went up in August 2025. I’ve been tweaking it on and off since, mostly based on what people complain about in the feedback box at the end of a game.

What you can do here

• Run a quick game with our preset tribute packs in seconds
• Build a fully custom roster — your friends, OCs, anime/film/book characters, your D&D party
• Tune Strength / Speed / Intelligence / Survival per tribute so attributes actually change outcomes
• Follow each day as alliances form, traps spring, the cornucopia thins the field
• Share the final result as a poster image or short link
• Read in-depth fan guides in the Guides hub — book/movie order, district rankings, read-alikes, and the upcoming Sunrise on the Reaping film

How the simulation engine works

The engine pulls from roughly 450 narrative events — alliances, betrayals, traps, feasts, environmental hazards — and weights each draw by the surviving tribute pool and per-tribute attributes. Fatal events get heavier weight as the game wears on, so the arena actually narrows toward a single victor instead of stalling out. When the day cap is hit with more than one tribute alive, a guaranteed sudden-death finale runs until exactly one remains. I rewrote that last part in late May 2026 after a real user pointed out the “winner” was effectively a coin flip among eighteen survivors — embarrassing once you see it, obvious in hindsight.

Everything runs in your browser via TypeScript + React on top of Next.js. There is no backend simulation step. That’s why it’s fast and why your tribute names and photos never leave your device.

A note on privacy

Names, avatars and match results stay on your device. I use GA4 and Microsoft Clarity for aggregate behaviour (which buttons get clicked, where people stop scrolling) — never to identify individuals. Full details, including the exact cookies set and how to opt out, are in the Privacy Policy.

A fan project, not an official site

Unofficial fan project. This simulator is an independent fan tool inspired by Suzanne Collins’ novels and the Lionsgate film adaptations. I am not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to Suzanne Collins, Scholastic, Lionsgate Entertainment, or BrantSteele. All trademarks and copyrights belong to their respective owners.

Support, feedback, contact

If you want to report a bug, suggest an event, request a feature, or just say what your roster was — email me at support@hungergamesimulator.org. I read every message. The fastest path is usually the in-app feedback box at the end of a game — those messages land in a Feishu channel I check daily.

If the tool has saved you time or made a road-trip funnier, you can optionally buy me a coffee on Ko-fi. The simulator itself will always stay free.