Epic Games and People Can Fly may have initially intended for Fortnite to be more of a co-op base builder with players pitted against hordes of AI enemies, but the introduction and instant success of the battle royale mode caused the developer to pivot and refocus the game on this hugely popular feature. Since its release in 2017, Fortnite has been a cultural mainstay, infiltrating every corner of the internet and positioning itself at the center of an unprecedented wave of popularity for online battle royales. As is the nature of a live-service game, Fortnite is in near-constant flux, with new modes, character skins, and collaborations released through its many post-launch Seasons.
Another aspect that keeps the gameplay fresh and players intrigued is the arrival of new challenges. Alongside the other elements of Fortnite's gameplay, challenges are a great way to gain XP and have some fun as players pit themselves against the daily or weekly tests of skill. Some can be pretty silly, some can be enjoyably engaging, but some can really test a gamer's mettle and present a few difficult goals and tasks. Throughout Fortnite's varied history of updates and new content, there are a handful of memorable challenges that really pushed players to their limits.
Looking For A Llama
Fortnite's Llama pinatas may have become a well-known mascot for the battle royale, but they're notoriously hard to find in-game. The Supply Llamas, to call them by their official title, are pretty rare, even if players are deliberately searching them out, but the loot they drop can make hunting them down worthwhile. They've also upgraded since their first appearance, changing from static items to creatures that can move around and even teleport away. With only a few llamas spawning in the map per match and a limited amount of time to search them out, this challenge caused a few problems for players who spent too much time chasing down these skittish creatures.
Dealing Damage
Gameplay in Fortnite can be frenetic, fun, and stressful, and it can be hard just to find one good weapon, let alone five different ones. This challenge required players to do damage with five diverse weapon types throughout a match and was a bit of a pain to accomplish in the heat of battle. Dealing with the fast-paced PvP combat could be challenging on its own, but being mindful of switching up weapons, as well as searching for different types alongside just trying to survive encounters, made this challenge a little tough for some players.
Prioritizing A Pickaxe
Challenges that focus on specific weaponry can be tricky, especially when they require players to only use one type to take on enemies. The pickaxe is undoubtedly a useful item in Fortnite and is an iconic piece of in-game weaponry, but that doesn't mean it's always the most efficient way to dispatch other players. With the vast majority of gamers choosing ranged weapons like guns and crossbows, it can be really challenging to get up close and personal enough with a foe to deal a killing blow with a melee weapon. This challenge called for players to deal 250 damage to enemies with the pickaxe, and it proved pretty difficult to manage even if it seemed pretty straightforward at first glance.
Cracking Chests In Risky Reels
Added in Season 4, Risky Reels was a landmark North of The Pyramid and East of Boney Burbs which became the location for a particularly tricky challenge. It required players to search for and open seven chests during a match, which in and of itself doesn't sound too bad, but with all the players potentially searching for the scattered chests in the area, it made them hotbeds for combat and a highly sought after commodity. Not only did players have to keep an eye out for chests, but they also had to fight off other gamers who were looking for the same thing. Considering the competition to find unopened chests and the relatively low spawn rates of the item, this made for a pretty hard challenge.
Welcome To John Wick's World
Fortnite has done so many collaborations over the years with a multitude of different movie and game franchises that it's hard to keep track. There have even been partnerships with pop stars and in-game concerts, showing the widespread appeal and invasive popularity of Fortnite throughout the culture. One of the previous collaborations was with John Wick, the titular hitman from the popular neo-noir action film franchise. This team-up added the Limited Time Mode Wick's Bounty to Fortnite, which brought new skins and required players to kill opponents to earn gold coins. The team or player with the most coins at the end won the match – the requirement for the challenge – which proved to be a hotly-contested title, as well as some pretty cool themed content.
Mantling Madness
A fair few of the challenges that crop up in Fortnite are weapons-based, with players tasked with causing damage with certain types or finding a specific number of guns. Some are linked to timed modes or new maps, but some are just incredibly random. One of the weirder ones was the challenge that asked gamers to mantle five times in five seconds. This seemed silly and relatively straightforward, but it was actually incredibly difficult thanks to the time limit. The introduction of mantling may have made traversal a lot easier, but asking players to grab onto a ledge and pulling themselves up five times in as many seconds was a pretty tall order for players, and caused more than a few to lose patience with the challenge.
Riding The Bull
Fortnite likes to add some pretty weird and wonderful items and elements into its Seasons, whether these are themed as part of a collaboration or whether they are merely spawned from the creative minds of the developers. One item added in Season 7 was the adorably wacky Inflate-A-Bull, which players could use to bounce around the map and get from point a to point b faster and in a more ridiculous fashion. One challenge made players track down an Inflate-A-Bull and travel inside it as they bounced around with comical abandon. This seemed simple enough, but actually finding the item was what made this challenge harder than it first appeared.
Fortnite is currently available for Android, Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.