Fortnite

In Fortnite’s battle royale, 100 players drop onto an island, grab weapons and fight while the storm closes in. What separates it from PUBG is building: you place walls and ramps in the middle of a firefight, and a good opponent can tower over you in two seconds. If that sounds exhausting, Zero Build turns it off.

The island keeps changing. Each season brings new locations, weapons and a battle pass, so after six months away you may not recognize the map. Money goes on looks: skins, emotes, the pass itself. None of it helps you in a fight. There’s also a creative mode full of player-made islands.

On PC the game comes through the Epic Games Store, and it isn’t on Steam. It’s also on PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch and phones. The requirements are gentle: 8 GB of RAM and integrated Intel HD 4000 graphics at minimum, though don’t expect it to look nice on that. The next big change is due in December, and we’re tracking when Chapter 8 starts.