Have you heard of Fortnite? Your children have

There is a (relatively) new video game that is exploding in popularity and it is called Fortnite. So, what is Fortnite? It’s a third-person collaborative game that was described by one user as “the Hunger Games on steroids.”

Many players form teams with their friends, while playing as opponents that try to kill each other is also an option. It takes place in a post-apocalyptic world in which most of humanity has perished. There are only a handful of humans left, but there are zombies. The more popular version is a “battle royale” in which many players are dumped into a limited map and collaboration is encouraged. Oh, there’s one other aspect of Fortnite: It’s free for the Battle Royale version. They make their money via in-game purchases and so far, they’ve made over $15 million, according to Time.

It can also be played on a wide variety or platforms, including PS4, X-Box, MacOS, and, as of this month, iOS. It has become so popular that some schools have banned it as it was sucking up the Wi-fi. How popular? How about 40 million players across all platforms popular. Again, according to Time, Fortnite earned $6.4 million in the first week of April, compared to Candy Crush, which made $5.8 million. It is also now more viewed on Youtube than Minecraft.

When my 21-year-old son was home from college on spring break, he spent most of his free time playing Fortnite on his PS4. The gameplay is more cartoony than its first-person shooter predecessors like Call of Duty, which has a linear story to follow — and while some versions of Call of Duty were rated M for mature, Fortnite is rated T for teens. Its sweet spot, age-wise, is 13 to 17 years old. I watched my son play for a while and it didn’t seem like there was anything objectionable for teenagers, but you might want to check it yourself. Looking down the road, Radical Heights, another game following some of the same concepts, seems like its going to be the next big thing in the battle royale world.

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