Fortnite Games
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Fortnite is changing. Of course, this is hardly a new realisation. We distinctly remember when Thanos started popping up and things became a little cash-grabby, or when the map was completely remodelled, or when, out of nowhere, a blooming 'Creator Mode' made it a challenge in itself just to find the blasted Battle Royale bit. But the latest change in Fortnite feels different. It feels bigger.

Because Fortnite is no longer just a game with different modes, it's a platform. And on that platform (the "Fortnite ecosystem" — a name that we still can't write without squirming) now sits three brand-new games, shoulder to shoulder with Epic's Battle Royale: Rocket Racing, LEGO Fortnite, and Fortnite Festival.

Despite some whispers beforehand, these new games-within-a-game jumped off the Battle Bus and plopped onto the platform almost out of the blue, but boy have they made quite the splash.

We have been spending the last week getting to grips with what the new "Fortnite ecosystem" *shudders* has to offer at launch and, so far, we have been rather impressed. With the three games being so very different from one another, let's break down every new game in Fortnite, one newbie at a time.

You'll also find a poll at the bottom of the page — feel free to let us know which of these free-to-play games you've been enjoying the most.

Rocket Racing

Overview - What is Rocket Racing?

Coming from the developers of Rocket League, the Epic-owned Psyonix, this is exactly what you might expect. It's Rocket League, but instead of playing a giant game of football, the cars race now. Where do they race? Around Fortnite-inspired tracks, of course.

You drop onto the starting line with up to 12 other players and after a brief tutorial introduces you to the basics of drifting, boosting, and flying — yes, flying — you're ready to set off.

For the most part, this is a pretty straightforward arcade racer. There are no items or coins for you to collect along your way, just a good old-fashioned race to the finish line after looping the track three times. Simple, right? Instead of relying on consumables, you have to drift and boost your way through the competition, looking for shortcuts on and off the beaten track.

At launch, there are 26 different courses for you to race around, spanning locations like Anarchy Acres and Loot Lake which are divided into three different levels of difficulty: novice, advanced, and expert. In the main game mode, 'Ranked Racing,' you progress through these difficulties, completing races to award you points which are put towards upping your rank and the level of challenge.

Of course, this is Fortnite, and there are car bodies, wheels, and decals that you can unlock along the way to pimp your ride and help you stand out on the track. Alternatively, if you use the same Epic Games account for both Rocket Racing and Fortnite, you can pull all of your unlocked cars and items from the former over to the latter.

Our Verdict (at Launch): Not Bad

While there is definitely a good amount to look forward to with Rocket Racing, at launch the game mode feels somewhat soulless and in need of some extra revs.

The driving itself feels pretty smooth, with the whippy drift mechanic making speeding around corners feel particularly satisfying, but there isn't quite enough variation on display at the moment to make levelling up the ranks worthwhile.

The difference between a novice and an expert track is certainly noticeable, with the latter requiring a more nimble touch on the accelerator and drift buttons, but in terms of layout and aesthetic, there is little to get excited about for the time being. At launch, the track variants appear to be either 'desert' or 'watery,' with the different corners and flip points not providing quite enough differentiation to keep things interesting after the first few races. That said, this is Season Zero and we're sure that more tracks from more creators will be on the way soon.

What is less likely to be ironed out between seasons, however, is the mode's performance on Switch. The Switch has always been near the bottom of the pile when it comes to visuals and frame rates in Fortnite, but this is really amplified when you are speeding around bends at high speeds, with ever-changing scenery and other drivers to account for. Pop-in and clipping are commonplace on the easier circuits, but things get pretty clunky in the higher difficulties.

If you want to see a fair race (and if the option is there), you'd be better to take your car over to another console.

LEGO Fortnite

Overview - What is LEGO Fortnite?

For a game called 'LEGO Fortnite', neither the Lego nor the Fortnite connections are all that strong. 'Minifig Minecraft' might have been a more accurate description.

Lego Fortnite is a crafting/survival sim reminiscent of Minecraft or Stardew Valley, at least, it is for the most part. The main objective is to build a thriving village, complete with houses, crops, workstations, and just about anything else that you can imagine. Where it differs from other life/survival sims is in its levelling-up system, where you can only expand your village by casting materials into the totem in the middle of your community. Imagine if Animal Crossing's Tom Nook asked for planks of wood instead of Bells and you get the picture.

As your village grows, so too does your crafting catalogue, with more recipes and blueprints being added with each level. But more recipes call for more ingredients, and you will soon have to venture away from the comfort of your surrounding area to track down caves, biomes, and chests.

The world itself looks like Fortnite: green, cartoony, mostly empty, while its inhabitants and buildings are made out of Lego: plastic, blocky, full of life. You can play either by yourself, crafting a solo world with only the help of the Fortnite Minifig villagers who will occasionally stroll into town, or with friends, divvying up jobs to bring about the bigger picture quicker.

Much like the other block-based survival game out there, Lego Fortnite can be played in one of two ways: Survival or Sandbox. The difference is whether you want to feel like you are living in your world or merely crafting in it. Survival has you hunting for your ingredients, crafting your tools, and being susceptible to hunger, sleep deprivation, and weather changes — all of that jolly stuff. Sandbox, on the other hand, lets you create to your heart's content with all recipes at your disposal from the get-go.

Our Verdict (at Launch): Good

Although the launch version of Lego Fortnite is packed with jank, there is a lot of promise on display here. With a few tweaks to the UI, inventory management, and reward system, we can see this rapidly becoming one of the more addictive survival sims on Switch — and one that's not too bad on the eyes either.

At the time of writing, our town is still in the early stages of its development, but, with a willing group of friends in tow, we can see ourselves coming back to this one and spending a good bit of time getting things just right. The village inspo is already rife online, and with a handful of improvements to the base mechanics (specifically to do with what you unlock and when), we'd imagine that even more enviable designs will be appearing over the coming months.

It might not feel particularly Fortnite-y, nor Lego-y, but we haven't been filled with this feeling of early Minecraft-style wonder for a good many years now. Brick by brick, this has the potential to become something special.

Fortnite Festival

Overview - What is Fortnite Festival?

Fortnite has been home to a good few festivals in the past — most recently, Eminem brought about the end of a season with a 'live' gig — and with all of those dancing emotes, the game has always to some extent been about performance. But never have the two been so intricately linked as they are in Fortnite Festival.

On the surface, Fortnite Festival is Rock Band in the world of Fortnite. In fact, it's Rock Band on all levels, having been made by now-Epic-owned Harmonix, the developer that originated both the Guitar Hero and Rock Band series. In this 'Fortnite Band' game mode, you take to the stage on either guitar, bass, drums, or vocals and perform songs to a crowd by following the vertically-scrolling rhythm beats on screen.

At launch, Fortnite Festival is played with standard button inputs, each note being mapped to a different button on your controller. However, alongside the introduction of new songs and stages in the future, a recent tweet from Rock Band peripheral maker @PDPgaming suggested that instrument-based controllers might also be in the pipeline.

In the 'Main Stage' mode, you team up with fellow musicians and play from a selection of daily featured songs, hitting as many notes as you can. Alternatively, there's the 'Jam Stage', where you mix and jam along to any of the tracks that you have in your locker (all purchasable from the in-game shop, of course).

Our Verdict (at Launch): Not Bad

Compared to the other games available, Fortnite Festival feels the most like a minigame at launch.

Rhythm game fans will find a certain amount to enjoy here (even if it is only a nostalgic trip back to the days of Rock Band and Guitar Hero), but the lacking selection of daily featured songs and reliance on users buying tracks from the in-game store makes this one of the more heavily monetised modes. This isn't to say that you won't have fun with the available songs, but it is something to bear in mind if you go in expecting a full set list at your disposal only to be hit by a small, oddball collection of forgotten pop songs, strange publicity tie-ins, and, weirdest of all, music from Epic Games itself.

The fun is only there, however, until your hand cramps up from the current control scheme which relies on playing the rhythm game with button inputs. This isn't unheard of, of course, but we couldn't help but think that there must be a better way to play — and if the not-particularly cryptic tweet from PDP is anything to go by, it looks like there will be.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I play LEGO Fortnite, Rocket Racing, and Fortnite Festival?

You can access all of the new games in Fortnite the same way that you would select any other game mode — through the main Fortnite game. They aren't separate downloads, but they do involve a hefty update to the base game.

Simply head to the list of options at the bottom of the 'Play' screen and select whichever game you would like from the 'By Epic' category.

Are the new Fortnite modes permanent?

Yes, according to Epic, Lego Fortnite, Rocket Racing, and Fortnite Festival are permanent game modes in Fortnite. Epic even confirmed it with the following tweet:

Are Rocket Racing, LEGO Fortnite, and Fortnite Festival free to play?

Just like the base game, LEGO Fortnite, Rocket Racing, and Fortnite Festival are all free to play.

You will have to pay for certain cosmetic upgrades and bonus V-Bucks (the in-game currency), but each game mode is available to play without spending a penny.

Is there a Battle Pass?

The standard Fortnite Battle Pass includes unlocks that can be used in LEGO Fortnite, Rocket Racing, and Fortnite Festival such as emotes and skins.

There is a Festival Pass available for the Fortnite Festival game mode which includes bonus tracks, instruments, and skins (alongside the standard, free unlocks) which can all be used on stage. This is available for 1,800 V-Bucks and will reset at the end of each Season.

As with the standard Battle Pass unlocks, all extras are purely cosmetic and have no impact on your ability to play the game.


So there you are. Overall, we feel that Lego Fortnite is the most promising new addition to the Fortnite family, at least at launch. Then again, for the attractive entry price of 'nothing', we'd say they're all worth investigating if you haven't already.

Have you played any of the new titles in Fortnite yet? Which is your favourite? Fill out the following poll and then take to the comments to let us know about your experience so far.

What's your favourite new game in Fortnite?