Fortnightmares
Worth Your Time!
Resource Recommendations to Help You Parent and Mentor Most Effectively
This Week's Recommendation:
"Fortnite Players Are Quitting the Game for This Absurd Reason"
Article on Videogamer.com
Read It Here
Why It Matters
If you ask preteens or teens what their favorite video game is, there's a very good chance they will answer, "Fortnite."
Although focused on the "Fortnitemares" Fortnite update, this "Worth Your Time" isn't intended to be for or against it or for or against video games in general (even though I have my opinions on both haha). Instead, it's intended to provide an opportunity for discussion between adults and youth about a current, culturally relevant topic.
This Worth Your Time is also intended to bring greater awareness of how video games have evolved since our own childhoods. Today's video games are much different from Super Mario Brothers, Wii Sports, and Pac-Man.
How to Use it
Watch the official Fortnitemares trailer here.
Adults and teens will take different stances on the significance of "selling your soul" to Mephisto in Fortnite:
"It's not reality - it's just a video game."
"They're just incorporating another Marvel character."
"He's portrayed as evil, so it's not like evil is being portrayed as something good."
"There are much bigger issues to worry about."
"You shouldn't be 'selling your soul' in any context or filling your mind with things like this."
"It's Satanic."
Whatever you think of it, use it as an opportunity for discussion:
"When you think about video games in general, do you usually think 'it's just a video game,' or do you think what you play matters?"
"What do you think about the new Fortnitemares update? What do you think about 'selling your soul' in a video game?"
"How would you decide what is a good and harmless video game to play and what isn't?"
Read passages like Proverbs 4:23, Matthew 12:35, and Philippians 4:8 together, and discuss how these could impact choices we make.
Use the discussion about Fortnite to explore other video game topics with them:
"What other games do you and your friends like to play?" (Later on, look up more information about whatever games they mention.)
"Do you or your friends ever play video games with strangers?"
"Has anything inappropriate ever happened when you were playing with someone or has anything ever made you feel uncomfortable?" (Video games can be used to groom children and teens, like happened to this young man beginning when he was 12.)
"Are there any video games you wouldn't play? Why?"
Ask appropriate follow-up questions throughout the conversation. Remember, questions that cause teens to think will be more effective than lectures.
For insights into another popular video game franchise, check out a previous Worth Your Time article about Grand Theft Auto 6, which will be released in 2025. Be sure to watch the trailer.
Read It Here