Recently spiking in popularity, Fortnite is a multiplayer Tower Defense game and a Battle Royale (a video game genre that blends the survival, exploration and scavenging elements of a survival game with last man standing gameplay). Fortnite is a multiplatform game that is available on PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. It was developed by Epic Games and People Can Fly, and published by Epic Games. In this cartoon-like game, you can build bases, fight zombies and even fight against other online players.

Fortnite was originally a paid game and was released on July 26, 2017, solely as a Tower Defense game. The goal was to collect resources, find weapons, and attempt to defend a rocket ship with unique forts, all while being attacked by hoards of strange zombies. Later in the game’s lifetime, the developers launched a new way to play known as Battle Royale. The new game mode was quickly changed so that it could be played for free. Being completely free to play and capable of letting friends fight in groups, Fortnite soon became synonymous with the phrase Battle Royale. 

English teacher Alex Bales said he has played the game on PC (Personal Computer) for a total of nearly six hours. He has not played the full paid version and instead has participated in the Battle Royale game mode that was free at the time he played. He said that the game was mostly what you would expect: the weapons, characters and other features. What stood out to him was being able to modify the environment with walls, floors and stairs. He also said that being able to play with friends adds to the enjoyment of the game. He said that he wouldn’t personally buy the full version of the game because Tower Defense games are plentiful and Fortnite did not have enough to make this game-mode unique.

Senior Cooper McDermott, sophomore Dalton Clark, and freshman Erik Madsen have played Fortnite. However, none of these students have played the full version and say they like the Battle Royale mode. They believe the ability to build and destroy the environment makes Fortnite unique and it is more enjoyable with friends. Madsen also said he would buy the full game. Clark said that the game can be difficult to win, while McDermott and Madsen think it is an easy and fun game to pick up.

Fortnite has many players of different age groups playing from all over the world. It has proven that a game can change its image entirely from its original design and has become very popular. Will it remain active and full of players? Only time may tell.