How a Baby Boomer can Win at Fortnite

Like countless parents around the globe, a couple of years ago we finally succumbed to the pleas from the teenager to get Fortnite – the insanely popular home video game.

In our house we already had an Xbox with games like Lego Harry Potter… fun, fantasy stuff. Was never crazy about first person shooters like Grand Theft Auto, where blood splattered about quite convincingly. It all seemed a bit unnecessarily gruesome.

But Fortnite removed that graphic aspect. Sure, it was about ‘eliminating’ opponents – but dispatch was bloodless. The environment may have been very realistic but the action – the ‘kills’ – kept at a digital remove. Fanciful avatars traipsing around an island gathering weapons and blasting each other – it was all… ok, ok – you can get it.

Once installed, the teen got amazingly good, amazingly fast – no surprises there. “Have a go, Dad.” Also unsurprisingly, I was lousy.

But… I had fun.

BadassDad is born

So much fun that I kept playing. What was intoxicating was how much speedy decision-making was required. A plethora of constantly changing, challenging scenarios were thrown at you and you needed to think and act strategically – fast. While the teen quickly lost interest, I was hooked…

Watching the other (undoubtedly much younger) players in action, it was clear I was never going to better their lightning reflexes and nimble control skills. No, if I was ever going to have a shot at winning, I’d have to call on the alternative advantages gained from becoming ‘a certain age’ – ie: stealth and cunning.

Once I realised that – and honed those abilities – the wins started rolling in – 150+ and counting… I transformed from #OutOfHisDepthDad to #BadassDad!

So, what was this strategic edge that turned it all around? How can a Baby Boomer Win at Fortnite? Let me Dadsplain…