Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) play a significant role in monitoring changes in the physical environment, relying on a subset of designated nodes known as the Connected Dominating Set (CDS) to facilitate communication and serve as the network's virtual backbone for routing and clustering. Despite the various algorithms for CDS construction, the challenges persist in terms of construction cost and scalability. In this context, this paper introduces the utilisation of the Hunger Games Search Optimisation Algorithm (HGSOA) for Connected Dominating Set Construction in Wireless Sensor Networks (HGSOA-CDS-WSN). The primary intention of this paper is “to develop a technique capable of constructing small-sized CDS with reduced construction costs, particularly suitable for uniformly or randomly distributed nodes”. The proposed HGSOA-CDS-WSN method is implemented in MATLAB based on various metrics. The results are compared with those of existing techniques, such as the Parallel Structure from Motion for UAV Pictures using Weighted CDS (PSfM-CDS-WSN), Polyhedra Associated with Locating-Dominating, Open Locating-Dominating, and Locating Total-Dominating Sets in Graphs (PAL-CDS-WSN), and Sustainable Maintenance of Connected Dominating Set by Solar Energy Harvesting for Internet of Things Networks (SHE-CDS-WSN). The proposed technique achieves lower delay by 13.24%, 25.64%, and 9.96%, and higher throughput by 18.34%, 24.55%, and 23.04% compared to the existing methods. This systematic evaluation underscores the efficacy and superiority of the proposed HGSOA-CDS-WSN technique in terms of connected dominating set size, construction time, energy efficiency, network stability, and overall performance, highlighting its potential to advance wireless sensor network applications.