‘Fortnite is good for children and a lot better than Roblox’

A Reader’s Feature suggests that Fortnite is one of the best games for kids to play and doesn’t deserve its negative reputation.

I am not going to profess to be a huge fan of Fortnite, and certainly until both of my children reached an age where they were allowed to play it I would not have even given it airtime. However, whilst it is a live service game it does have a lot of positives when compared to Roblox or general mobile or iPad addictive-yet-rubbish filler games.

My daughter and son both play and on occasions together. They have (because we try to be responsible) a time limit, but I would prefer them to play Fortnite than watch absolute rubbish on YouTube. There is some skill involved and it allows both kids to interact with their friends. Initially, when they started playing and became somewhat obsessed, I was really disappointed. They had gone from Mario Kart and Super Mario Bros. games to the PlayStation and dropped what I would view as far more interesting experiences for Fortnite.

Over the last six months (they have both had access for around 12 months) they have, however, started playing more complex single-player games, such as Dave The Diver, Zelda, and Hogwarts Legacy. When I’m around and have time, we have Mario Kart and Splatoon sessions and they (as they are lucky enough to have them) have started using their Switch Lites again quite a lot. Animal Crossing has made a resurgence for my daughter and she is on the cusp of engaging with Stardew Valley.

I think the point is that we can be very negative about Fortnite but in my view it is a game, the Lego building part is interesting (but no Minecraft), and it encompasses Rocket League and the new driving game. My children very rarely get V-bucks (I won’t buy them so it’s only when their grandparents are coerced into it) and so it doesn’t cost a fortune either.

My son has lots of friends who play nothing other than EA Sports FC, particularly the card-orientated game. Now, there is possibly (though it is up for argument) more skill in EA Sports FC, but is it much different in terms of being a dominant game that quite a lot of people play to the exclusion of anything else?

What I have learnt is that their engagement with Fortnite, whilst initially a real downer for me, appears to have actually given them both an impetus to explore other genres and see video games’ wider sphere. It is also infinitely better than something like Roblox and the shovelware on the various gaming stores, and in that it competes with other forms of media, it’s far better than the multitude of unboxing clips and mentalists running around spending money for pranks. That said, I can’t get enough of Elephant’s toothpaste videos!

Finally, I do think gaming is due a bit of a reset in terms of the massively costly games which aren’t recouping money. You look at much of what Nintendo produces and it’s gold on a much smaller budget, occasionally with much smaller overall playtimes. Games with bitesize levels and timed interactions I would argue are certainly better for the aging gamers who have a million other things to do (and it is something Nintendo excel at – even Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom you can break into small chunks).