One week ago, on the 20th, my friends and I were participating in our own Hunger Games competition! In total there was eight of us who participated. There were others who were supposed to show, but of course there's always a couple people who say they're coming and never show up. Anyway, we met at Harold's house to watch the Hunger Games movie before heading over to McDonald's for our last meal.
We then went to a nearby camping ground in the middle of a forest. The campsite (as well as the bathrooms) were temporary safe zones during the game. One could only stay at the campsite for five minutes at a time before being required to head out into the fray again. Out of the two tents we set up, one was easy to do, but the other was complicated and took much more time to assemble. When that was finished we all headed over to the Cornucopia to start the game.
Previous to arriving we each had filled a pack with various supplies. A couple prepackaged things of food, band-aids, flashlights, spare change of clothes, and other various little tools that one could make use of in such a competition. These were placed at the Cornucopia along with the weapons. The weapons were things like bows and arrows (with the arrows having large Styrofoam balls over the tips), fake swords, a croquet mallet turned into a large war hammer (again using Styrofoam), ninja stars (plastic circle toy things), a slingshot with berries as ammo (which only could kill if victim was hit in the head), and a couple other small toy weapons. There was also things like shields.
The eight of us placed these things down at the Cornucopia (which was a picnic table in a cleared out space in the woods a couple minutes walk away from our campsite), and prepared to start. Since there were so few of us we changed up the rules a bit. We each had two lives and there was a ten second grace period at the very beginning so we didn't all die right away. As we stood around in a circle around the picnic table, we had plans running through our minds. The alliances were already formed. My brother, Connor, and Dunning were teamed up. Then there was Harold and Katrena in a pair, and I was in a trio with Harold's sister Gwen and her friend Kennedy. You might notice that's only seven people. Bobby had come to watch the movie, but had to go to football practice, and came back to participate later.
The signal was given to start, and we all rushed forward. My main role as decided by our alliance was to grab weapons. Either Kennedy or Gwen had the same task (I can't remember which >< ), and the other was to grab our packs. I managed to grab a bow and half of the arrows, as well as a sword. The other two managed to grab the other bow and rest of the arrows, another smaller sword, and a chest plate. We managed to get our packs as well. One of the bows was actually my own, and since I had some of the most experience with shooting out of our entire group, I kind of became the Katniss of the game.
We found a safe spot to gear up properly, and then for some time we walked around. We found a couple good hiding spots and ambush areas. In the first ten minutes we spotted Harold and Katrena in the distance, but we didn't feel we had enough advantage to take them on. It was probably 30-45 minutes later when we spotted them again. The path we were on had looped around, so we figured if we waited we could set up a good ambush to catch them. The three of us hid behind some trees and waited. Unfortunately, we waited for over ten minutes but the two didn't reappear. Backtracking, we found that there was another trail we had missed that led back to the campsite. Knowing we had lost them, we took a quick break at the campsite before heading back out.
After trying and failing to find Harold and Katrena, our plan changed to finding Connor and Dunning. We knew they had gone down the steep path leading down the side of the hill that was next to the Cornucopia. We were about halfway down the hill when we heard them talking loudly at ease. The bottom of the hill was next to a river, and the foliage was also very dense. It wasn't a good place for our team to attack since we had mostly ranged weapons and the tall grass made it hard to shoot. The three of us retreated for the moment.
It was when we headed back to the Cornucopia that we once again spotted Harold and Katrena. They were heading down the path we had originally take at the start. It led to a little half building. However, the path ended at the building and there was no where else to go but back up the path since there was a steep hill behind the building. Gwen, Kennedy, and I knew we had them trapped. We tried to sneak up on them, but eventually I realized they had noticed we were coming. Knowing we had the advantage, we walked openly to the building, stopping about 20 feet away from it. I asked Katrena where Harold was since I could only see her. She tried to bluff and said he was somewhere else, but Harold was just hiding against the wall. I spotted his hand and called him out.
Our group had the advantage weapon wise. Since I had become the defacto leader, I was standing in front and I could have started the attack at any time. However, our two groups stood there for a moment with our weapons ready. I then got an idea, and asked them if they knew where Connor and Dunning were. They said they were down by the river, and that they had already tried attacking them but failed. I offered them a momentary truce if they would team up with us and help take down the other two. They agreed, and the five of us headed back down the steep hill path.
For some time we waited hidden at a shelter made out of the large sticks at the bottom of the hill. Kennedy and I were crouched in a ditch next to the shelter. We were to be the first to attack if the other two appeared. Similar to what happened to my group's attempted ambush before, Connor and Dunning didn't move from the river. About another ten minutes passed. It was then that we decided to try and sneak up on them. It was difficult because of the large grass and leaves on the ground.
Eventually, we got closer to the river. Connor and Dunning's voices had stopped. That's when we found their packs lying on the ground. We suspected they were trying to lay a trap, but after standing and waiting for a moment or so we realized they had finally made a move to go and find us. A bit stupidly, they had left all their supplies behind. We grabbed their precious packs and waded up the river a bit before climbing back up a hill using a very steep root path. It felt like going up something like this:
After going back to the campsite and divvying up the stuff from Connor and Dunning's packs, our temporary group split back into two. It was at this point that Bobby arrived and joined Harold and Katrena's group. Our group left the campsite first, and we knew we had to make an ambush while we had the chance. There were built lean-to's nearby that we hid inside and against the wall in. We knew Harold's group was heading in our direction. I didn't know whether they were actually going to come by our hiding spot or if they were going to take the path close by that led to the Cornucopia.
Luckily for us, they decided to check the lean-to's to see if anyone was hiding in them. Harold came to check the one we were in, but from the look on his face when we saw us he clearly wasn't expecting us to really be there. I jumped out and shot Harold. It was the first confirmed kill of the game. Gwen and Kennedy tried to take Katrena and Bobby, but Kennedy got killed by Bobby. I went after him, but the arrow slipped out a position as I went to shoot. That's the downfall of having a giant ball of Styrofoam on your arrow. It makes the whole thing unbalanced. Harold and Kennedy had to go back to the campsite and wait five minutes before being allowed to rejoin, and Bobby, Katrena, and Gwen went with them. Gwen had been confirmed as being killed by Bobby at this point, but as we talked the fight over later we realized she actually hadn't died.
Anyway, I had looted the stuff Harold had to drop since he had died, and had gotten hold of the stuff Gwen and Kennedy had to drop as well. I waited in the lean-to until Gwen and Kennedy came back. We walked around for a good long while, as well as taking a break hidden under the roots of a fallen tree. We stayed there for some time until we got bored. As we headed towards the area the lean-to's were in we could hear Connor and Dunning. Figuring the tactic had worked once before, we hid in the same lean-to again. Dunning tried to sneak up to the lean-to (which failed because he was wearing large boots). He hit the side loudly, hoping to scare anyone potentially hiding in there to make noise. None of us did, and he confidently jumped in front of the opening.
He swore when she saw us, and I shot him right in the chest. We jumped out and were going to take down Connor. It would have been easy if Harold's group had not arrived at that moment. It was a crazy fight, and eventually Connor killed me by throwing an axe into my stomach. Kennedy also got her second death, and Bobby was killed as well. Gwen took off running since she was outmatched, and the rest of us headed back to the campsite.
Gwen came to join us after a couple minutes. It was then that we decided she hadn't actually died the first time. By this point it had been about six hours since we started, and we were all tired and were getting a little bored of playing since most of the time we were just walking around. Since we got together to have fun, it was decided we would have fun instead of continuing a game most of us were pretty much done with. Harold, Katrena, and I went and bought campfire food and when we returned we had a cookout. We stayed up pretty late, and we woke up around 8. The exception was Dunning, who woke up early to cook the rest of the hotdogs for breakfast.
After the rest of us woke up properly, we decided we needed to have a fight to the death between those who hadn't lost any lives. That meant Katrena, Connor, and Gwen. The three could freely choose one weapon or two. They did, and this is the final battle that ensued:
As you can see, there was a bit of arguing over who really won. Overall though, everyone had a great time. We'll probably end up doing it again some time, and hopefully with a bigger group so we can get some more action. I just wish I could have gotten more footage and pictures, but it was impossible since I had to be on my guard the whole time.
There were two more extra battles just for fun, so check those out below!
#1
#2
We then went to a nearby camping ground in the middle of a forest. The campsite (as well as the bathrooms) were temporary safe zones during the game. One could only stay at the campsite for five minutes at a time before being required to head out into the fray again. Out of the two tents we set up, one was easy to do, but the other was complicated and took much more time to assemble. When that was finished we all headed over to the Cornucopia to start the game.
Previous to arriving we each had filled a pack with various supplies. A couple prepackaged things of food, band-aids, flashlights, spare change of clothes, and other various little tools that one could make use of in such a competition. These were placed at the Cornucopia along with the weapons. The weapons were things like bows and arrows (with the arrows having large Styrofoam balls over the tips), fake swords, a croquet mallet turned into a large war hammer (again using Styrofoam), ninja stars (plastic circle toy things), a slingshot with berries as ammo (which only could kill if victim was hit in the head), and a couple other small toy weapons. There was also things like shields.
The eight of us placed these things down at the Cornucopia (which was a picnic table in a cleared out space in the woods a couple minutes walk away from our campsite), and prepared to start. Since there were so few of us we changed up the rules a bit. We each had two lives and there was a ten second grace period at the very beginning so we didn't all die right away. As we stood around in a circle around the picnic table, we had plans running through our minds. The alliances were already formed. My brother, Connor, and Dunning were teamed up. Then there was Harold and Katrena in a pair, and I was in a trio with Harold's sister Gwen and her friend Kennedy. You might notice that's only seven people. Bobby had come to watch the movie, but had to go to football practice, and came back to participate later.
The signal was given to start, and we all rushed forward. My main role as decided by our alliance was to grab weapons. Either Kennedy or Gwen had the same task (I can't remember which >< ), and the other was to grab our packs. I managed to grab a bow and half of the arrows, as well as a sword. The other two managed to grab the other bow and rest of the arrows, another smaller sword, and a chest plate. We managed to get our packs as well. One of the bows was actually my own, and since I had some of the most experience with shooting out of our entire group, I kind of became the Katniss of the game.
We found a safe spot to gear up properly, and then for some time we walked around. We found a couple good hiding spots and ambush areas. In the first ten minutes we spotted Harold and Katrena in the distance, but we didn't feel we had enough advantage to take them on. It was probably 30-45 minutes later when we spotted them again. The path we were on had looped around, so we figured if we waited we could set up a good ambush to catch them. The three of us hid behind some trees and waited. Unfortunately, we waited for over ten minutes but the two didn't reappear. Backtracking, we found that there was another trail we had missed that led back to the campsite. Knowing we had lost them, we took a quick break at the campsite before heading back out.
After trying and failing to find Harold and Katrena, our plan changed to finding Connor and Dunning. We knew they had gone down the steep path leading down the side of the hill that was next to the Cornucopia. We were about halfway down the hill when we heard them talking loudly at ease. The bottom of the hill was next to a river, and the foliage was also very dense. It wasn't a good place for our team to attack since we had mostly ranged weapons and the tall grass made it hard to shoot. The three of us retreated for the moment.
It was when we headed back to the Cornucopia that we once again spotted Harold and Katrena. They were heading down the path we had originally take at the start. It led to a little half building. However, the path ended at the building and there was no where else to go but back up the path since there was a steep hill behind the building. Gwen, Kennedy, and I knew we had them trapped. We tried to sneak up on them, but eventually I realized they had noticed we were coming. Knowing we had the advantage, we walked openly to the building, stopping about 20 feet away from it. I asked Katrena where Harold was since I could only see her. She tried to bluff and said he was somewhere else, but Harold was just hiding against the wall. I spotted his hand and called him out.
Our group had the advantage weapon wise. Since I had become the defacto leader, I was standing in front and I could have started the attack at any time. However, our two groups stood there for a moment with our weapons ready. I then got an idea, and asked them if they knew where Connor and Dunning were. They said they were down by the river, and that they had already tried attacking them but failed. I offered them a momentary truce if they would team up with us and help take down the other two. They agreed, and the five of us headed back down the steep hill path.
For some time we waited hidden at a shelter made out of the large sticks at the bottom of the hill. Kennedy and I were crouched in a ditch next to the shelter. We were to be the first to attack if the other two appeared. Similar to what happened to my group's attempted ambush before, Connor and Dunning didn't move from the river. About another ten minutes passed. It was then that we decided to try and sneak up on them. It was difficult because of the large grass and leaves on the ground.
Eventually, we got closer to the river. Connor and Dunning's voices had stopped. That's when we found their packs lying on the ground. We suspected they were trying to lay a trap, but after standing and waiting for a moment or so we realized they had finally made a move to go and find us. A bit stupidly, they had left all their supplies behind. We grabbed their precious packs and waded up the river a bit before climbing back up a hill using a very steep root path. It felt like going up something like this:
 |
| These are the stairs of Cirith Ungol from Lord of the Rings |
Luckily for us, they decided to check the lean-to's to see if anyone was hiding in them. Harold came to check the one we were in, but from the look on his face when we saw us he clearly wasn't expecting us to really be there. I jumped out and shot Harold. It was the first confirmed kill of the game. Gwen and Kennedy tried to take Katrena and Bobby, but Kennedy got killed by Bobby. I went after him, but the arrow slipped out a position as I went to shoot. That's the downfall of having a giant ball of Styrofoam on your arrow. It makes the whole thing unbalanced. Harold and Kennedy had to go back to the campsite and wait five minutes before being allowed to rejoin, and Bobby, Katrena, and Gwen went with them. Gwen had been confirmed as being killed by Bobby at this point, but as we talked the fight over later we realized she actually hadn't died.
Anyway, I had looted the stuff Harold had to drop since he had died, and had gotten hold of the stuff Gwen and Kennedy had to drop as well. I waited in the lean-to until Gwen and Kennedy came back. We walked around for a good long while, as well as taking a break hidden under the roots of a fallen tree. We stayed there for some time until we got bored. As we headed towards the area the lean-to's were in we could hear Connor and Dunning. Figuring the tactic had worked once before, we hid in the same lean-to again. Dunning tried to sneak up to the lean-to (which failed because he was wearing large boots). He hit the side loudly, hoping to scare anyone potentially hiding in there to make noise. None of us did, and he confidently jumped in front of the opening.
He swore when she saw us, and I shot him right in the chest. We jumped out and were going to take down Connor. It would have been easy if Harold's group had not arrived at that moment. It was a crazy fight, and eventually Connor killed me by throwing an axe into my stomach. Kennedy also got her second death, and Bobby was killed as well. Gwen took off running since she was outmatched, and the rest of us headed back to the campsite.
Gwen came to join us after a couple minutes. It was then that we decided she hadn't actually died the first time. By this point it had been about six hours since we started, and we were all tired and were getting a little bored of playing since most of the time we were just walking around. Since we got together to have fun, it was decided we would have fun instead of continuing a game most of us were pretty much done with. Harold, Katrena, and I went and bought campfire food and when we returned we had a cookout. We stayed up pretty late, and we woke up around 8. The exception was Dunning, who woke up early to cook the rest of the hotdogs for breakfast.
After the rest of us woke up properly, we decided we needed to have a fight to the death between those who hadn't lost any lives. That meant Katrena, Connor, and Gwen. The three could freely choose one weapon or two. They did, and this is the final battle that ensued:
As you can see, there was a bit of arguing over who really won. Overall though, everyone had a great time. We'll probably end up doing it again some time, and hopefully with a bigger group so we can get some more action. I just wish I could have gotten more footage and pictures, but it was impossible since I had to be on my guard the whole time.
There were two more extra battles just for fun, so check those out below!
#1
#2
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