I’m 40 Years Old and I Suck at Fortnite

Let me get this out of the way right now. I totally suck at Fortnight. Don’t get me wrong, I love the game, but I invariably rage quit after just a handful of rounds every time I sit down to play, due to my shear suckosity. I have always enjoyed shooter games from shoot-em-ups to First/Third person shooters. Unfortunately, Fortnight has proven that my age is evidently catching up with me.

When Fortnight’s Battle Royale was released I didn’t give it much thought. I just lumped it into the other Free-to-Play, Pay-to-Win games on the PlayStation Store that offered very little on what they promised. But as the weeks wore on, I kept seeing articles and videos extolling the virtues of this little Indy game with the A+ developer feel that combined Call of Duty with Minecraft. It took Twitch by storm, making streamer Ninja a known commodity to even non gamers. So I thought why not give it a try and see what all the hype was about.

I was impressed right off the bat. The graphics were far better than most F2P games and the control scheme was spot on and very intuitive. I also noticed that my meager skills were gonna be no match, getting insta-killed my first three games. So on my fourth game I tried a different tactic. I basically hid and relied on stealth. Picking up a couple guns and some resources only when I was absolutely sure it was safe to do so. Slow and steady won the race as I placed 5th, not getting killed until the diminishing play field forced me out of hiding. I then placed 3rd on my next game using the same tactic. The only problem was that this was NOT a fun way to play the game. It’s quite boring barricading yourself in for 20+ minutes hoping no one charges your little fort. So I went back to playing “the right way” getting insta-killed another three times in the process, so decided to quit for the night and play some Stardew Valley on the Switch instead.

The next night, I loaded up Fortnight hoping to have a better showing than I had the previous session. No such luck. In five games I was killed within just a few minutes of landing all five times. With a resigned sigh I switched of the game and brooded over how I could suck so completely at this game. This cycle continued for three more nights, I don’t give up totally on games very easy. Then a thought finally came to me. Maybe I’m just too old to keep up with these younger players who have a lot quicker hand/eye response. I had never been the greatest Call of Duty or Star Wars Battlefront player. Sure, I could hold my own, usually finishing somewhere around the middle, but I never set the gaming world on fire. I also began to think about the games I had recently been gravitating towards. Turn-based RPGs, TellTale Games, puzzle games, farming simulators and I realized that I had effectively eliminated the need for quick response time in my day-to day gaming selections.

I realized that at 40 years old, I used video games to unwind from a long day at work or to relax on the weekends. And that was OK. It was OK to be “too old” for games like Fortnight. Just because it was the hottest game around, I didn’t have to be ashamed that it wasn’t my cup of tea. That maybe the leisurely pace of Stardew Valley was better suited to my play style and that’s fine. So, if you are like me, and you too suck at Fortnite, take heart. There are literally thousands of games that will still provide you with endless hours of fun gameplay, so concentrate on them instead of what currently trendy. After all, fads come and go, but Tetris will always be awesome!