My son turned eight in August and started a new chapter in his life: The super obsessed with the Nintendo Switch chapter. When I was able to set up a tour at the Nintendo Corporate offices near our home, I knew I couldn’t pass up that opportunity for my son.
Ok, and for my husband who was probably more excited than anyone.
At the end of the tour, we got a discount at the Nintendo store. Enter my husband and eight-year-old (AKA two eight-year-olds). Needless to say, the Nintendo Switch was purchased and so began an even deeper obsession for my son. And my husband.
I grew up with an older brother and have fond memories of the original Nintendo. Games like Paperboy, Excite Bike and Duck Hunt used to be my jam. I looked at the Switch as an upgraded system from what I had growing up. We purchased games like Super Mario Odyssey (basically like Super Mario Brothers for us children of the 80’s/90’s). Other than needing to set parental controls so my son wasn’t playing video games 25 hours day, I didn’t think much about this new “toy” we had purchased.
Until he asked for a game called Fortnite.
“What is it?” I innocently asked. “Oh it’s a really cool gun game” he replied. But after my silence and staring at him he started to explain that it was more of a team building game. Unsure of what to think, I went to the wonderful world of internet reviews.
Mom, here is the summary of what I found after digging through dozens of reviews – positive, neutral and negative. If you are thinking about purchasing it for your child (or husband), I’d recommend you read on or Google some reviews yourself.
- The game features weapons and tools as a way to kill off people (some reviews also mentioned zombies)
- While there is killing, there is no blood or gore
- Female characters include unrealistic bodies and small clothes (a bit over sexualized)
- The characters look cartoonish so not like real people that are being killed
- The game is meant to help get you thinking about strategy. Staying alive is the goal.
- Part of this strategy can include hiding in a corner from enemies (this one didn’t sit well with me because of the fear factor when it comes to thinking of things like hiding during a school shooting)
- Incredibly addictive (I took this as a negative but I guess it could go either way)
- Most of the game is collecting resources, building teamwork and learning how to work together
- Most reviews seemed to report it seemed highly inappropriate for any kid under age 13. Some even said under 18.
- Some parents of kids as young as 6 reported they were fine with it because it lacked gore and focused on strategy
After reading the reviews, my answer to my eight-year-old was a solid no. I know there are kids in his class who have this game and love it. Honestly, I am not judging those parents. There do seem to be some redeeming parts to the game like learning strategy. But I made the decision along with my husband that Fortnight will not be joining our collection of Mario Cart and Just Dance.
Maybe in a couple of years I will re-review my decision. We’ll see.
Mom, have you heard of this game? Do your kids play it? Any reviews to share? We’d love to start a dialogue!
Learn more about monitoring your child’s safety around technology here.
Learn more about breaking your child’s screen time addiction here.
Read more of Stephanie’s contributions to allmomdoes here.
