Fortnite Secondary System Analysis

Game Overview:

Fortnite is a 100 player battle royale game played on an enormous map.  The player and their squad drop from the air onto any location on the map with only an axe.  They then loot areas for weapons, shields, health, and other items.  Player can use their axe to change the game environment by cutting down trees, rocks, walls, and metal.  Harvesting is an important aspect of the game because players can use materials to build structures to reach high ground over enemies as well as defend themselves.

Systems in Fortnite: 

Fortnite’s Primary Systems:  

-Combat

-Movement

-Inventory

Fortnite’s Secondary Systems:

-Looting/Harvesting Materials

-Building/Changes to game environment

Harvesting Materials:

A player can harvest materials by chopping down walls, trees, or rocks.  Harvesting materials can be considered a secondary system because it is not necessarily essential to the gameplay.  If there was no building/materials in Fortnite the game would be a lot less interesting and make the name look stupid, however it would not really affect the core of the game.  Without harvesting materials and building the player can still accomplish the main goal of the game which is to be the last player or squad left.

Building/Changing the Game Environment:

Building is an effective way for players to scale hills and buildings and allow them to create their own cover or high ground.  Using the materials gathered from harvesting with their axe, players can build structures out of wood, brick, or metal.  Each material varies in strength, metal being the strongest and wood being the weakest.  However, just like harvesting materials, building is not essential to the core of the game.  Although it definitely allows players to be more strategic, players are still able to accomplish the basics of the game which is to be the last player or squad standing.  Taking the building out of Fortnite essentially makes it PUBG or Call of Duty Warzone but it is still not essential to the game’s core play.