Pre-Games Activities

As the Retro Games slowly but surely start to morph into the Games formula that we all know and love today, so too do the activities. The 6th saw the introduction of train rides in which tributes from the same district were able to interact with each other and their mentor, and the beginning of interviews as well! For the 7th Games, mentors were further defined and more definitive 'rounds' of combat were added for needed structure. This year, we're keeping all of this and taking it one step further - below, you can find an itinerary of what you and your retro tribute can do in the time leading up to the beginning of the Games once your bio has been written and accepted! As a note, this is all voluntary to take part in and will not impact a tribute's chances of survival!

TRAIN RIDES

After being reaped, tributes will be transported into the Capitol via train after a brief wait in the Justice Building. The trip occurs overnight, meaning tributes will spend at least one night on the train. During their time on the train, they will be permitted to interact with each other and, if available, the previous winners from their districts. As a note, tributes will not be given any food during their train ride, but water (and wine) is readily available.

INTERVIEWS

Once making it to the Capitol, the tributes will be kept in a top-secret secondary location for an additional night. They will each be kept inside private rooms, which will be well-decorated but have no windows. The tributes are not permitted to leave their rooms, and if they try they will find armed guards waiting just outside the room for them. Again, tributes will not be given any food during this time. That night before bed, they will finally be permitted to exit their rooms (one by one) where they'll be escorted to an interview set on the first floor. Though there is a live crowd, it is much smaller and intimate, made up assumedly of the Capitol's wealthiest elite. The tributes will have no way of knowing that they are on camera and being broadcast live in front of all of Panem- including the sold-out coliseum across town waiting to see the tributes fight in the days to come- unless they're told as much. Other tributes will not be able to see anyone else's interview, as they'll all still be in their rooms when other interviews are occurring. Once they've taken their seat, they will be given a brief, personal interview by this year's master of ceremonies/gamemaker, Harlan Godfrey.

Once the interviews are over, tributes who behaved themselves will be given a bread roll for dinner. Those who weren't well behaved will get nothing.

IMMEDIATE PRE-GAMES

After their interviews, tributes will be escorted back to their rooms for the night. Early the next morning, they will be awoken and transported to the actual arena via hovercraft. Tributes will be welcome to interact with each other during transit, though it should be noted that all tributes will be strapped to their seats and not allowed to get out. Again, they will still not be given any food. Tributes will get dressed below the arena, immediately before rising into the games. They can either do this by themselves or with the aid of games officials/peacekeepers. It is worth noting that in previous games, the below-arena area has primarily only been used to store mutts/add them into the fights. Tributes will be shocked to see that little has been updated this year for them. Sand and light bleed through the cracks in the floor above their heads, straw and what they can only hope is dirt and mud caking their bare feet. Even their grand entrances into the arena are nothing more than this: two oversized birdcages, a rusty pulley system, and the old caretaker who slowly rises them into the arena with a solemn nod.