The Hunger Games is placed in a time period.
Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is a subgenre of science fiction , science fantasy or horror fiction literature in which the Earth 's technological civilization is collapsing or has collapsed . The time frame may be immediately after the catastrophe , focusing on the travails or psychology of survivors , the way to maintain the human race alive and together as one , or considerably later , often including the theme that the existence of pre-catastrophe civilization has been forgotten ( or mythologized ) . The Hunger Games (film) . The story takes place in a dystopian post-apocalyptic future in the nation of Panem , where boys and girls between the ages of 12 and 18 must take part in the Hunger Games , a televised annual event in which the `` tributes '' are required to fight to the death until there is only one survivor .