Fortnite is a free, popular game amongst young kids and teenagers. Playing it in your twenties or thirties may sound ridiculous to you – but hear me out.

Finals are creeping up on us, but many of us have more to be stressed about than exams. Christmas is approaching and our jobs are being either put on hold or cut back significantly.

Video games have always been a way to temporarily escape reality. They are fun, challenging, and exciting. And in 2020, most of them now connect you with friends and other people of all ages inside of an interactive online universe.

Since in-person contact has been severely limited by COVID-19, we could use a way to engage, laugh, play and communicate with each other now more than ever.

I started playing Fortnite as something to do at home with my 14-year-old daughter. My boyfriend also played online with his 8-year-old son who did not live with him. The laughter, personal connection and quality time it created between us and our kids was priceless. But I quickly discovered the positive effect the game itself had on me too.

Fortnite is commonly unappealing to adults due to its cartoonish graphics and targeted age market. I see it as something similar to going into a bounce house with your nephew or driving through the Festival of Lights to appease your family. You may roll your eyes or reluctantly participate. A moment later you find yourself briefly experiencing the exhilaration and amusement of being a kid.

Adult-themed video games lack the color and cheerfulness that gives me that care-free adolescent feeling. Fortnite allows you to engage in all styles of music and dancing, and an endless amount of hilarious costumes and a fantastical land full of imaginative creatures. But even with all those seemingly youthful aspects, it is challenging and complicated – you will not be breezing through it, bored.

I look forward to logging on with my daughter, yelling at the TV, hoping we win a ‘Victory Royale’ and laughing at our inside jokes after being too busy for each other with work and school for days on end.

I also look forward to logging onto Fortnite with my boyfriend with a beer and a table full of snacks for an unconventional date night, while everything is closed due to coronavirus.

My challenge to you is to give it a chance. It doesn’t costs anything and is available cross-platform. This means you can access the game from your computer, PlayStation, Xbox or mobile device.

It might be just what you need to take a break from the somber period of elevated tension and dispiritedness that is 2020.