Attack or Sleep?

The players have not been given very much food in an effort to motivate them to attack each other. One guard explains that “we gave [the players] less food tonight to make [them] fight each other. Weeding out the weaklings before the next game begins”. The players aren’t required to kill each other since it isn’t a game, so they must decide: stay in bed or attack other players. If all players stay in their beds, no one will be killed and all can play the next official game. If someone gets out of bed, then the players who stay in bed will likely die and the attacking player(s) may be more likely to live. By eliminating players, it makes it more likely the attacking player will win the final jackpot. This scene represents a prisoner’s dilemma since it’s in each person’s best interest to attack, but cooperation will yield a great collective outcome.