Fortnite….have you heard of it? If you have kids between the ages of about 7 and 17 it’s pretty hard not to. But me a middle aged mum being thrown into this world and not wanting to be dragged out of it is a bit more unusual…I think. It’s almost like oil and water, they just don’t mix. I’m desperate to see if I’m the only mum out there who has got completely sucked in by this ridiculously addictive game.

This global phenomenon is Epic Games Fortnite; launched in July 2017 with Save the World which I know zip about, was soon followed by Battle Royal  in the September and it’s this mode that has flattered itself into my life.

It started with a seemingly innocent question from my youngest who is 9 asking me if he could download a game on his iPad. I have to put a password for any game he wishes to have and that’s the only reason he thinks to ask. So when I saw what it was and the picture had guns on it I took a breath to say no and both him and his brother equally sucked in their breath to let loose with pleads and begging which eventually turned into a full explanation of what the game was in a bid to get the gold coated password they wanted. I had a chat with my other half and he said there was no blood or guts to be seen and it was really popular. After putting up a bit of a fight I  gave in, pretty standard response from me.

Download complete but onto our PS4 or 3 or whatever the box in the corner is that goes in the telly rather than onto the iPads. The boys were over the moon, you would have thought that I was actually mum of the year. If this is all it takes then parenting is easy peasy. 12 years of thinking things through has normally gotten me pretty stressed and constantly at odds with myself about if I was making good decisions. This was a breeze, if only I liked Facebook I could go on there and put some ‘loving mummy time’ or ‘families together’ quotes and gushy pictures while the kids were in euphoric mode just to prove that I had this thing sewn up.

In a nutshell what is Fortnite for the unenlightened whom I can now look down on smugly…well the whole aim is to be the last person standing. Have you seen the hunger games? It’s pretty much that but on game version.

100 players, 1 battlebus, 1 map with the same town and location places on every jump, loads of ‘loot’ goodies such as guns, shields and traps to help you stay alive.

The game matches up 100 people including yourself, you all set off in the battlebus and jump off over a point in the map you want to land, you then skydive out of the battlebus. Float down to your chosen place……along with 99 others who are just as eager to be the last one standing and let the fun begin. Oh just incase that wasn’t enough, there’s a storm circle closing in so that you can’t just find a bush and hide in it. This is great though as it makes each game around 20 minutes maximum which is just about enough. Considering that the youngsters with their dexterous digits normally eliminate me in about half that time, 20 minutes is something to aspire to.

There’s lots of stats out there which show that around 125 million people have Fortnite accounts and it’s been reported that at any one time there can be over 3 million players online. Crazy numbers.

The thing is, I find that it’s really family friendly. Yes there’s guns and you fight to survive but it has ‘something’ that is engaging that makes us all sit together having a family competition for the best score and we have not done something like that in a long while. This game gets us together and for me that’s great. Will it last? Who knows, we’ve been through the Minecraft and Candy Crush fads and although you think it’s the best thing at the time fads fade and something new and shiny comes along.

So why do I feel in the minority and think that men and boys appear to play more?

Do they ‘switch’ off better than women?

Do they have that ability to put aside the fact that the kids dentists appointments need to be booked or where did I put the letter from the insurance that came through yesterday. It sounds sexist but is it true nonetheless?

I would love to hear from any other mums, with your tales of the Fortnite effect, let’s hear if it’s your guilty pleasure too. In the words of the great Delia Smith on the terraces ‘Let’s be avin ya!’