I did not expect to enjoy Fortnite as much as I am. I get frustrated too easily when I'm outmatched, and I'm not a fan of combat-heavy games in general. But my brother streams Fortnite, and at some point a few weeks ago I decided that playing it would be a nice way to spend time with him. Especially since the mobile version of the game had just come out, and I find mobile game controls are much easier on my hands than either keyboards or console-style controllers. So when my brother announced that he was giving away download codes for mobile Fortnite on his Twitch stream, I asked him for one for my new iPad.
For those unaware, Fortnite Battle Royale is the more popular game mode of Epic Games' Fortnite. (The less popular mode is apparently "a co-op sandbox survival game," from whose characters the Battle Royale player characters are randomly selected.) The game is basically a more brightly colored copy of PlayerUnknown's BattleGrounds (PUBG): one hundred player characters parachute onto a deserted island littered with guns, ammunition, and places to hide, and a terrifying energy storm gradually shrinks the habitable area of the island until only one player, or squad of two or four players, is left standing. Fortnite adds a construction mode to the formula, allowing players to destroy trees, buildings, and cars and turn them into shelters and platforms. The mobile version also allows cross-platform play, so I've been able to play on my iPad with both the Geek and my brother on PC, and we've had lots of fun exploring the map and seeing how long we can stay in the game.
I'm not good at the game yet; most of what I do is sneak around collecting items until someone starts shooting at me, and then shoot back, but not quickly or accurately enough. And the game can be frustrating when I go in specifically to practice combat and then die repeatedly without eliminating any of my opponents. But the gameplay loop is short, even if you're doing well, and that makes Fortnite a lot less anxiety-inducing to play than a lot of other games. (This is, notoriously, why I've never finished a Pokemon game, even though I love Pokemon. I feel like the games demand too much of my time and focus at once.) Fortnite feels like I can drop in and out at any time, and I feel like I'm in complete control of how many games I play in one sitting.
But what really excites me about mobile Fortnite is the control scheme. One of the things I find frustrating about modern 3D games is the need to move my character and the camera at the same time, which requires a kind of coordination I will not be able to develop before my hands cramp up permanently from clutching a controller or keeping my fingers in one place on a keyboard. Mobile Fortnite has a circle at the bottom of the screen where you press in a direction to move your character in that direction. Swiping outside the circle moves the camera, and tapping outside the circle attacks. I can do that forever. Or at least for much longer than I can use other control schemes.
I do have a couple of complaints about the controls: first, and more importantly, I would like there to be an option to change the distance between the buttons along the sides of the screen. My hands are probably smaller than average for Fortnite players, and sometimes it feels like a stretch to both reach the aim and jump buttons and keep my hands out of the way of the action. The other complaint is that some wise guy put the jump button below the crouch button, which contradicts what I think are natural assumptions about the metaphorical locations of jumping up and bending down. I can and will learn the layout, but it seems absurd to me for the moment, and it's really annoying to find myself jumping and revealing my position to my opponents instead of quietly sliding into a bush or behind a wall.
Fortnite is cool for what it is, and I love the added accessibility of the mobile version. I'm aware that PUBG (again, the game Fortnite's Battle Royale Mode is copying) also has a decent mobile port with cross-platform play, but it costs significantly more. If someone wants to send me an iOS copy of PUBG so I can review it, let me know.
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