As it turned out, the IAC Hunter Games were nothing like the Hunger Games. In actuality, it was a brief throwback to the feral age of many uplifted Animalians. But there were actually several differences.
At it's core, it was an elaborate obstacle course combined with hide-and-seek and flag-tag. The Animalians who were primarily prey animals had to cross the obstacle course without the predator Animalians finding them and pulling off a hidden flag, meaning that they were caught and "eaten". The prey Animalians could defend themselves by trying to remove a hidden flag on the predator's body, meaning that they had successfully prevented themselves from being eaten.
There were also different ways of predator and prey Animalians using their natural defenses/adaptations to escape/catch their prey. But sometimes the predators would allow the prey to escape to make it more entertaining for the visitors.
There were also some restrictions to prevent permanent harm among the competitors. One example was that Animalians who were poisonous had to cover their poison injection systems (fangs for snakes for example) with special plastic covers and pretend to use them, and the "victim" had to pretend to be on a hallucinatory trip, thereby enabling the predator to claim their flag. Another was where porcupine Animalians had to wear plastic covers on their quills, but with special paint on them, and if the paint got onto a predator, said predator had to stay in place for thirty seconds ("one-Mississippi" seconds, not "count-as-fast-as-you-can" seconds) before going on the hunt again.
It wasn't just one terrain and many different predators and prey. It was also easy to change terrains from different forest terrains (from evergreen to deciduous to rain forest) to grasslands, to tundra, to desert. The reason for this was to play to different Animalians from different terrains strengths and weaknesses, and to give them something familiar.
Another thing that was done was the hosting of the IAC Underwater Hunter Games at Mieni Atoll. There were many similarities to the games on the mainland, such as covering deadly weapons with plastic sheaths/covers to prevent injuries, but it made many competitors think in three dimensions.
While the Hunter Games were a lot of fun, there were also a lot of laughs, both during and after. One such example was a kind of "friendly thespian rivalry" between a male opossum Animalian and a female Hognose Snake Animalian over the "dramatic death scene", which would unintentionally spark a number of internet memes, as well as start a kind of Animalian Theater group. But there were others as well:
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"I would like to ask why you didn't use your quills like ninja throwing needles?" asked one reporter of one male porcupine Animalian after the games.
"Because in the wild, real porcupines don't actually fire their quills." the male porcupine Animalian answered, "What we really do is turn our backs on an opponent and run backward, trying to impale our quills in would-be predators."
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"One internet, *ahem* sleaze-ball wants to know why you didn't stick your head in the sand during the games?" asked Sophie of one female ostrich Animalian as part of the Animalia Ambassadoria IAC Special Episode.
"That's a myth!" said the ostrich Animalian, after making a brief face.
"What?" asked Roland, deciding to play along with what the ostrich Animalian was doing.
"MYTH! MYTH!" Answered the ostrich Animalian, in false annoyance.
"Yes?" Asked Jessica, who was also in on the joke. There were a lot of hilarious responses for that.
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The IAC Hunter Games was not only a safe way to revisit the "Feral Age" as most uplifted Animalians called it, but a way for predator Animalians to prepare for hunting season. The only real "winners" were those predator Animalians who managed to get the most flags before the remaining prey Animalians managed to reach safety