Fortnite Fever: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Our teenage son Thomas and his friends were in the den laughing and energetically calling out split second life decisions like Goose, Maverick’s wingman in Top Gun. My husband, Andrew, and I were curious. Now that the boys are old enough to drive, they don’t hang at the house as often. We didn’t want to miss out on all the fun, so we went to get the scoop. Thus began our introduction to the video game Fortnite: Battle Royale.

The boys explained that each round of Fortnite starts with 100 players who leap out of a flying bus and parachute onto a small island where they run around and try to avoid other players until there’s only one person left. The cartoonlike characters and scenery are illustrated with bright and cheerful colors. Hidden around the island are items such as potions, chests, traps, weapons and other treasures like a bush suit to wear as camouflage. Characters can drive around in golf carts and there are even occasional breakout dance parties. (See more about the game here.)

We had a great time hanging with the boys that night. We liked the fact that one person plays Fortnite at a time while everyone else is actively engaged watching (aka not on their phones) and giving input. It reminded us of the ’70s when kids got that first Atari game console and family and friends gathered around the family television to watch everyone play “high tech and action packed” “bounce a ball on one thick line” video games like Pong and Breakout. We asked how much Fortnite had cost us and found out it had been free. We liked that, too. I guess you could say we were in Fortnite Bliss.

Meanwhile in a land far, far away known as “Inside the 610 Loop” Queen of Fun Moms, Paige Dominey, was having a different experience with Fortnite. Her son, Miles, a seventh grader at St. Mark’s Episcopal School, who had never really cared about video games had suddenly formed an addiction like no other. The struggle with Fortnite was pushing Paige over the edge.

“I came home from work and Miles was standing in his pajamas in front of the TV wearing a headset and screaming, ‘Dude! Dude! Help me! I need meds!’ I knew we had a problem. He hadn't dressed or brushed his teeth and had only eaten a bag of chips because ‘It was fast.’ I flipped my lid.

"I avoided the ‘parents that lecture’ who would tell me their kids had never seen a screen in their life but started researching technology options to kill WiFi to the house remotely. I posted on a neighborhood Facebook group for advice. They offered suggestions on controlling gaming and shared how much Fortnite was affecting their home and kids, too.”

FlatFortnite is happy Beth Ann Dominey (pictured, with her mom Paige) didn't spike him over the net at volleyball lessons.  

Paige was on a mission to detox Miles. On workdays, she started hiding Miles’ Fortnite controller somewhere in his daily chores. For example, he texted her, "Can I have my controller?" She replied, "Did you fold the towels?" He said he had. Only problem was that Paige had hidden the controller in the bottom of the towels and, if he had indeed done his chores, he would have found it. He kept asking where it was and his mom kept replying to go fold the towels. Ten minutes later, Paige got a text that said, "I folded the towels...good one, Mom."

Paige would hide the controller each morning and older sister, Beth Ann, a freshman at St. John’s School, was allowed to give it to MIles once Mom saw photographic evidence of the basics like: getting dressed, making his bed and putting clean clothes away. “I'm a slave driver!” says Paige.

Paige was completely frustrated by Miles’ addiction. “I decided to bring his controller with me to work! I wore the headset in my office for an hour so that my coworkers could get a laugh out of it...I even called them DUDE!”

In honor of Miles' favorite food, cheeseburgers, Paige and Beth Ann Dominey took FlatFortnite out on a hot dinner date.  

Before Miles left for camp this summer, Paige allowed him to “get a good fix” of the game. “I knew he'd be ‘Fortnite free’ for two weeks and I would maybe find my sanity,” she says. “When Miles left for camp, Beth Ann and I decided that we should have some fun and take his Fortnite controller out on the town because surely it was missing its favorite camper and needed some excitement. We called him ‘FlatFortnite’ just like ‘Flat Stanley.’” They took it to volleyball coaching, to get manicures and pedicures, to enjoy a cheeseburger (Miles' favorite food), to the Galleria and more spots around town. “We took his picture with the guy at Subway, the ice skating rink, Discount Tires and the Louis Vuitton Store,” says Paige.

Facebook friends had fun following Paige and Beth Ann’s adventures with FlatFortnite. They even packed the controller for the ride to Arkansas to get Miles from camp because they knew he’d want to be reunited with it as soon as possible. They walked Miles out to the car and gave him the headset. He immediately put it on and gave them a big smile. He walked around to the side of the car where Paige and Beth Ann had painted "2 weeks Fortnite Free!" and he gave them a grimace. They thought it was hysterical.

Friends Paige Dominey and Michele Pilibosian brought the Fortnite controller along to the nail salon. They decided the controller should pass on getting a pedicure as he's not exactly waterproof.   

“I am honestly thinking about buying stock in a battery company to make up for all of the money we have spent on batteries for the controller!” Paige says. “Just the other day I went to use our home computer but I couldn’t because thanks to Fortnite, the batteries were missing from the mouse.”

Paige shared that to limit game time, she purchased a Google WiFi system for their house so she could turn off the WiFi to specific devices like the Xbox (that way, the family still has Internet but Fortnite can’t be played).

Taylor and Kristen Leach, proud parents of three tween-teen aged boys, weren’t exactly throwing any Fortnite celebrations either. Taylor shared that their kids have pretty strict rules about electronic use during the school year; they’re only allowed to play Xbox on the weekends and for a max of two hours. During the summer, Taylor and Kristen generally allow more Xbox time.

“This summer we found our kids getting up early or staying up late to play this new game called Fortnite. After a few weeks of it dominating our house, I had enough. It is a one-player game (which is a problem with three boys) and it had taken over our boys’ lives,” Taylor says. “At one point early in the summer I hit a breaking point. I took the Xbox away and decided the backlash from the loss of Fortnite would not be as bad as the current level of fighting. Honestly, it was bad at first. They gave me every excuse they could think of...’It is a social event’, ‘All my friends are on it’, ‘I am a good kid’, ‘This does not control my life’….””

FlatFortnite's grand tour of Houston with Beth Ann and Paige Dominey continued with a trip to the Galleria ice skating rink. There was also some shopping including a trip to the Louis Vuitton store.   

“I finally told them, “Sometimes in life we enjoy things, but all things must be done in moderation. I gave extreme examples like alcohol and tobacco.”

“After a day or two my wife and I noticed the kids were getting along again. They would even play board games or swim in the pool with each other. The transformation that took place in our house was amazing. As the summer has gone on, we have slowly allowed the boys to play the game, but we have very strict limitations on time. I honestly think my kids understand that their life was being dominated by this game and all we did was take back control. I am sure people think we are crazy or are reading into this Xbox addiction too much, but I honestly believe that screen time is addictive,” Taylor shared.

Dad John Taper spends the majority of his time at the front counter welcoming guests to family owned and operated Bellaire restaurant Tapester’s Grill. This summer he found something new to do after work…play Fortnite with his son, John, a junior at Bellaire High school and daughter, Merritt, a freshman at BHS. John Senior says, “The game helps me to relax after a long day and I enjoy having an activity I can do with my children. We work together as a team and come up with strategies to win the game.” They’ve all enjoyed the experience.

Two other adults, who asked to remain anonymous, also enjoy playing Fortnite after work to relax. An added bonus is impressing younger guys in their office with the fact that they are Fortnite players.

So is Fortnite a good or a bad thing? Based on this writer’s interviews and online research, like so many things in life, it seems to be a little bit of both and depends on each specific case. Obviously today’s fancy video games are more intense than Pac Man and Frogger, and gaming addiction is a real concern.

Writing this Fortnite article reminded me of long-ago summers when our parents were telling us to get off the couch and “do something constructive with our lives” as we binge watched MTV videos (before binge watching was even a phrase!), tuned into three hours of soap operas in a row (ABC’s All My Children or One Life to Live or General Hospital) or watched endless reruns of the Brady Brunch and Gilligan’s Island. When pried away from the TV we prank phone called and built outside forts (sometimes in what we didn’t know were poisonous bushes like oleander trees). We roamed the neighborhood, walking without shoes, riding bikes without helmets, and without an ounce of sunblock or adult supervision. (What the heck were our parents thinking?!). We survived (and thrived). Just like our children will, too.

Yes, as many generations before us and many generations after us will discover, it’s never dull being a kid…or a parent for that matter! Now I’m going to call my hubby Andrew at work and ask: “Is your office refrigerator running?” When he answers, “Yes,” I’ll giggle and reply “Then why aren’t you chasing it?!” That one never gets old! (My parents really should have made me do summer homework or pull more weeds so I wouldn’t still be misbehaving!).

Do you or your kids play Fornite? Comment below to share your experiences. See more on Fortnite in this article by Buzz summer interns profiling kids of all ages who love the game plus a Fortnite Survival Guide here and, for fun, watch the Astros doing a Fortnite dance.