Since the release of Fortnite Battle Royale, in 2017, it’s been a worldwide phenomenon. This is not the first battle royale game has been released: what makes this one unique? 

Battle Royale video games are based on the movie franchise, “The Hunger Games.” Instead of having 24 contestants, it has 100 players competing for a victory battle royale. Players adventure around the map, gathering supplies and weapons to fight opponents.

Z1 Battle Royale, The Culling and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds are all battle royale games released before Fortnite. Maybe it’s the flashy colors, free access or the easy controls or the number of crossovers the game has, even Batman is in Fortnite! I don’t recognize the charm, especially when you have to pay real money for characters.

I played Fortnite for the first time a few years ago and got bored. To me, it was the same game repeating itself so I stopped playing for years until I was roped in again by my friends. 

A lot has changed since I last played. It wasn’t only a battle royal anymore. Fortnite has fun mini-game created by community players such as prop hunt—a game with the same premise of hide & seek, but the hiders turn into different inanimate objects around the map and hide as them. 

“The best minigame is box fights and zone wars and the worst is any type of race or non-combat game,” said senior Charlotte Ottemoeller. 

Even with all of these new mini-games, it gets tiring losing to sweaty kids online and getting cranked on. Fortnite brings out all sorts of emotions in different people. As a competitive person, playing video games causes me to grow frustrated. But for others, Fortnite brings positive emotions. 

“Playing Fortnite is exciting and competitive, but also relaxing just roaming around the map when you aren’t in a fight, “ said Ottemoeller.  

The memes surrounding Fortnite caused it to be perceived as a joke and a kid’s game. Most people who play Fortnite are kids, but the game takes strategy, so if you keep getting obliterated on by kids doing 90s (continuously doing 90-degree turns), like me, then you just have to get better.

“A misconception is that it’s a little kids’ game. The game actually requires a good amount of strategy and is also a third-person shooter game which isn’t really a kid’s topic,” said Ottemoeller.