Fortnite Chapter 5 has been a smash hit since its Dec. 3 release, and with all the new game modes, including Lego and Festival modes, it’s solidifying itself as one of the best free-to-play games of this year. 

Fortnite Battle Royale kicked off the season right before “Winterfest,” a winter-themed special that brings presents and snowball launchers to the island. The loot pool was completely refreshed, which included modified versions of the Assault Rifle and Pump shotgun and new weapons like the Frenzy Auto shotgun and Hyper SMG. 

Bosses like Peter Griffin and Montague were added to the island with mythic weapons like the Mythic Pump, Mythic SMG, Mythic Enforcer AR, Mythic Striker AR and a Mythic Frenzy Auto shotgun. New mobility and heals were also added with Grapple Blades and Flowberries. Flowberry Fizzes were added in a later update. Healing was also heavily improved with the ability to move while you heal, although it was heavily slowed. 

“The season has been considered to be much more fun and casual,” Dexter Short, ‘29, said. “I like the chill playstyle and how it’s not competitive.” 

At the beginning of the season, there was a new movement style that was widely criticized by many gaming sites and streamers ridiculing Epic Games, the creator of Fortnite, for changing it. After the complaints, Epic made edits to the movement which were considered to be an improvement.

The Lego Fortnite mode was well received, with it being a Minecraft-style game, where you have to create a village and craft to survive. No updates have been released so far, but there are rumors of a new “jungle” biome in addition to the current snow, grass and heat biomes. 

Another current rumor is the ability to upgrade your crafting bench to legendary, which will unlock legendary weapon recipes that will do more damage. The survival mode is accompanied by a Sandbox mode where you can spawn in any item you want without the grind.

Another new mode is Fortnite Festival. It is a mode inspired by the games Rock Band and Guitar Hero where you click buttons into tune with many popular songs. There are many different difficulty levels where if you go up to the hardest difficulty, you have to hit five notes instead of four. 

The game features songs like “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers and “Vampire” by Olivia Rodrigo, but the songs are acquired via the Item Shop for 500 VBucks, the virtual currency of the game. You can play guitar, bass, drums and even become the lead singer. 

The game has been acclaimed by many.

“It’s like ‘Guitar Hero’ which is fun, but [Fortnite Festival] needs more music options and it’s dumb that you have to buy songs,” Patrick White, ‘28 said. 

The mode currently has 40 songs, some of which are available to get from the Festival Pass, which is bought for 1800 VBucks and includes songs like “Gangnam Style” by PSY and an Icon Series skin by The Weeknd.

This season is widely beloved by players all over the world, and it is sure to grow even more with future updates and new features coming out soon.