Photo courtesy of Polygon | The fantasy war game is reminiscent of The Hunger Games series but includes guns. The goal is to survive the entire map and be the champion.

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Fortnite: Battle Royale has taken college campuses by storm as players battle each other like the Hunger Games until there is only one man left standing. If you just found out about this free-to-download game on both Xbox and PS4, here are some tips to get you started.

• Don’t jump out of the bus right away at the start! Tons of players do this, and it’s a really easy way to get yourself killed before you’re even out of the top 90.
• When you do bail out, don’t open the parachute until the game forces you to. The players who reach the ground first get the best loot.
• Speaking of loot, this is the color-coded system to describe how rare an item is. Generally, the rarer a weapon is, the more damage it will do to your opponents.
  • Common
  • Uncommon
  • Rare
  • Epic
  • Legendary
• The most important thing to know about this game is that the map size decreases periodically. The map may start out huge, but a minute into the game, you will be warned to get into the increasingly smaller circle. It doesn’t make you do it right away, but if you get caught in “the storm,” you will start to lose health until you die.
• Mine materials! What sets Fortnite apart from other battle royale games is its Minecraft-like mining system. Almost everything on the map is made from either brick, wood or steel. These materials are helpful because if you are running in a wide open field with no cover, you can essentially build your own protection.
• Drink as much shield potion as possible. Your health will dwindle fast if you don’t find some.
• When in doubt, just build up. If you’re one of the last people in a small circle, one of the easiest things to do when you run out of cover is build your own personal Empire State Building. Be careful, though, because if you fall off there’s a chance you might die.

There you have it, the basics on how to try and stay alive to win your first royale. Remember, it’s just a game, and the world isn’t going to end if you get “360-noscoped” from across the map in the top five. Keep a level head while playing.

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By: Jack Dunn ~Staff Writer~