It is only February, but the hottest trend for guys in 2018 may have already been decided. It has filled Snapchat stories and Twitter timelines almost to the point of being completely unavoidable. Fortnite has become a cultural phenomenon that has enthralled boys in their teens and twenties for the past couple of months.

Fortnite is a free, third-person video game with optional in-game purchases available on PS4, Xbox, and PC. It is a cartoonish spin on the popular “battle-royale” genre. The premise of the game is to eliminate player controlled enemies and survive until the last player or team remains. The game takes place on a large island with diverse locations including lakes, towns, factories and more. There are multiple game modes that inlcude varying amounts of players on a team. The game modes are solo, duo, and squad.

“Squads are the best game mode because you have a team to rely on,” junior Ethan Durin said.

At the beginning of the game, the players enter the game world via parachute. Players are able to choose anywhere on the large map to land and begin arming themselves with the most sought after weapons found in treasure chests. As they continue to loot for weapons, they come across enemy players and can either try to run or engage them with their weapons. There are also a few ways for players to heal their character when hurt. A significant feature of the game’s combat is the ability to build defense with supplies the player has collected. When the player defeats an enemy, they can pick up the loot that the enemy dropped. This system continues as the map shrinks until one team or player remains and is greeted by a “Victory Royale” screen. This has become a well known image due to the common practice of taking a picture of it and posting it on Snapchat.

“I love the competitiveness of the game and winning is just fun,” senior Harry Oakley said.

The game has shown no signs of slowing down and has had a steady player count rise since its release. Don’t expect to see any less “Victory Royales” on your social media platforms for a while because Fortnite just received it’s biggest update that included additions to the game map.

Derrick Voss

A&E Writer