The Hunger Games: Every Quarter Quell Rules and Winners Explained

Contains spoilers for the 2025 novel “Sunrise on the Reaping”

Nothing about the Hunger Games is ever truly “good.” Suzanne Collins’ franchise, which began with the 2008 novel “The Hunger Games,” imagines a future North America reorganized into the authoritarian nation of Panem. The name comes from the Latin phrase “panem et circenses,” or “bread and circuses,” while real power rests with the wealthy, imposing Capitol in the former Rocky Mountain region. Across the novels and their blockbuster film adaptations, Panem’s Games remain the regime’s most brutal symbol of control.

Each year, Capitol officials visit Panem’s 12 districts, impoverished communities built around different industries, and select two young people from every district. These children, known as tributes, are between 12 and 18 years old and are forced into an arena with 22 others. Their assignment is simple and horrifying: fight until only one survivor remains. Of course, that “one victor” rule is challenged almost immediately in the first book and movie. Keep that detail in mind.

A Quarter Quell is essentially the Capitol’s way of making the Hunger Games even more vicious. Since the annual event is designed to punish the districts and reinforce the Capitol’s authority, every 25 years the Gamemakers introduce a special rule or twist. The changes are meant to increase the spectacle for viewers safely watching at home, far from the arena. Suzanne Collins continues to broaden the world of Panem, making it possible that future stories could explore other Games or Quarter Quells. Her 2025 prequel, “Sunrise on the Reaping,” which is set for a 2026 movie adaptation, focuses on the 50th Games. Here is a breakdown of every known Quarter Quell in Hunger Games history.

At present, Collins has not written a full account of the First Quarter Quell, also called the 25th Hunger Games. Her first prequel, “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” instead follows a young Coriolanus Snow as he mentors a tribute during the 10th Games. The identity of the First Quarter Quell’s victor also remains unknown. What readers do know comes from Haymitch Abernathy in “Sunrise on the Reaping.” He describes the event as especially cruel because the districts had to select their own tributes instead of relying on the usual random drawing. In a standard reaping, a child’s name is chosen at random, with the option for someone else to volunteer. That is how Katniss Everdeen enters the Games after taking the place of her younger sister, Primrose. Being forced to vote children into a death match is, understandably, even more disturbing.

Haymitch also remembers that “another Flickerman named Lucky hosted with commentary from a relic of a woman named Gaul,” linking the First Quarter Quell to figures introduced in “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.” He adds that Gaul created the familiar slogan “may the odds be ever in your favor.” Beyond those details, Haymitch explains that the first Quell established several traditions that later became standard parts of the Games:

“For this first Quell, the Gamemakers had the tributes kick off the Capitol portion by riding chariots through the streets in district-flavored costumes. Rather than scout a location for the Games, they built an arena for a single use. Also, the Cornucopia made its first appearance, loaded with weapons and supplies, triggering a heated bloodbath when the opening gong sounded.”

It makes sense that Haymitch is the one recounting the First Quarter Quell, since the next anniversary event centers on his own life. In “Sunrise on the Reaping,” he reveals that the 50th Hunger Games will feature twice the usual number of tributes. Instead of 24 children entering the arena, 48 will compete, with just one person surviving. “Forty-eight kids. Minus one. I will never remember all of their names,” Haymitch thinks. “Doubt they will remember mine. There are just too many of us.”

District 12 therefore sends four tributes into the 50th Games. Haymitch is initially spared when the names are announced: Wyatt Callow, Woodbine Chance, Louella McCoy and Maysilee Donner are selected instead. His relief is complicated by Louella, a small and vulnerable girl he affectionately calls “sweetheart.” After Woodbine attempts to escape, Peacekeepers shoot him in the back of the head, forcing officials to find a replacement during a five-minute interruption in the Capitol broadcast. Drusilla Sickle and Plutarch Heavensbee ultimately choose Haymitch after witnessing Woodbine’s mother rush to him, Haymitch’s girlfriend Lenore Dove try to hold the Peacekeepers back, and Haymitch step in to help.

Haymitch’s eventual victory is already established when he is introduced in “The Hunger Games” as District 12’s only surviving male victor. The major events of “Sunrise on the Reaping” are best left unspoiled, but the central premise is clear: doubling the tribute count makes an already merciless competition even more devastating.

When Katniss first appears in District 12, she volunteers for the 74th Hunger Games to save Prim. She enters the arena alongside Peeta Mellark, and the two form a complicated alliance. At Haymitch’s suggestion, they also present themselves as star-crossed lovers, hoping to win sympathy—and life-saving gifts—from wealthy Capitol sponsors. Their staged romance becomes such a sensation that the Capitol announces a rule change: two tributes from the same district may win together. Katniss and Peeta reach the final moments as a pair, only for officials to withdraw the promise. Rather than accept a single victor, Katniss threatens to consume poisonous berries with Peeta, forcing the Capitol to choose between allowing two winners or having no victor at all.

President Coriolanus Snow later retaliates in “Catching Fire” by turning the Third Quarter Quell—the 75th Hunger Games—against Katniss. This time, the tribute pool is limited to former victors. District 12 has only three living champions: Katniss, Peeta and an older Haymitch, whose alcoholism has become infamous. Katniss is selected by the reaping, while Peeta volunteers in Haymitch’s place. The Third Quarter Quell is uniquely significant because it becomes the final Hunger Games. Katniss exploits a weakness in the arena’s force field, destroying the structure and helping ignite the rebellion that eventually brings down the Capitol. Even so, its premise remains horrifying: survivors who had already endured the Games are deliberately forced to return and fight once more.