Lego Fortnite has only been around for a fraction of the time the battle royale has been running for, but it has already proved to be extremely popular among adventure fans, who have arrived in droves to explore the blocky world while crafting and surviving the challenges thrown at them. The cute Lego Minifigs based on familiar characters from the world of Fortnite are an obvious attention-grabber, and while they provide a link between the two worlds the experiences are very different.
The level of challenge on offer is up to you, so you can choose to face the more involved Survival mode, or just take it easy in the Sandbox if you prefer a more relaxed game. If you're all set to begin this journey, then here's a guide covering the basics to get you started in Lego Fortnite.
How to access Lego Fortnite
Lego Fortnite went live on December 7, 2023, and you will now see a Lego Fortnite tile on your lobby screen along the By Epic row. Select that and you'll switch to Lego Fortnite mode, with your character changing to the Minifig version as long as it's available – well over a thousand Outfits already have a Lego Style and more are on the way, so it's unlikely you'll struggle here. If you search the relevant digital storefront for your system you should also find a standalone version of Lego Fortnite, if you'd prefer to bypass the general lobby screen.
Speaking of characters, if you go to your locker then you can see all of the Lego Fortnite Outfits you have available, so it's worth having a scroll through to admire all of the Minifig versions that have been created. If you haven't done so already, make sure you set up your Fortnite Lego Insiders account link and you'll unlock the special Explorer Emilie Outfit with Lego Style.
Note that although you can equip plenty of different outfits, your back blings, pickaxes, gliders, contrails, and auras can't be used in Lego Fortnite. You can equip emotes, but not all of them are compatible so you may need to adjust your setup.
To get started in Lego Fortnite, press up on the d-pad to follow the Select World prompt, then choose to Create New World. Here you can choose between Survival and Sandbox modes, which determines whether or not you need to gather resources for your builds, then you can choose a cover image for your world and manually enter a world seed number if you'd like to copy a particular starting area. Lastly, you can change various advanced settings to turn the following on or off:
- Enemies
- Hunger
- Temperature
- Stamina
- Elimination
- Drop Inventory Upon Elimination
- Friendly Creatures
- Villagers
Note that these settings can't be changed once your world is created, so think carefully before you make any modifications. With that done, hit the Start button and you'll be teleported to your created world.
How to gather resources in Lego Fortnite
The first thing you'll need to do in Lego Fortnite is gather resources, with Wood and Granite being the main items required initially. You can find both of these lying around on the ground for collection, and if you punch bushes and small trees you can also destroy them for Wood. Larger trees and rocks are too hard to break with your bare hands, so you'll need to craft tools before you can break them down for their resources. For more scarce resources, we have separate guides explaining where to find:
How to craft in Lego Fortnite
As you progress through Lego Fortnite, you'll learn new build recipes that will pop up as notifications, and you can then access these by following the Build prompt in the bottom left corner of the screen. When you select recipes in the Build menu, you'll see the material cost to construct them on the right hand side – some more complex builds will have an Upfront Cost to construct the basic shell, then a Total Cost to fill in all of the additional elements to complete it.
For builds such as the Simple Shack, you'll need to follow the blueprint exactly and place all of the elements in the correct spots, but with individual elements you can basically place them anywhere as long as they're attached to something solid and don't overlap. Build a Crafting Bench, then you can use it to craft tools, weapons, and more, and once you construct a Lego Fortnite Crafting Bench upgrade you open up even more possibilities. However, you can't interact with these items while they're in the rain, so make sure you construct them under shelter. It also appears that you can't move items once you've crafted them, so think carefully about where you're putting them otherwise you'll have to destroy them and waste resources if they're getting in the way.
Finally, make sure you craft yourself a bed, so you have a designated base to work from. This will also serve as a respawn point, should anything bad happen to you on your adventures.
How to build vehicles in Lego Fortnite
Following the Mechanical Mayhem update in March 2024, you can now build Lego Fortnite vehicles to drive around from biome to biome. There are three basic types – the Speeder, Offroader, and Hauler – or you can construct your own from the parts you unlock. For details on how to build these rides and craft the Power Cells to make them go, take at look at our separate guide.
How to recruit villagers in Lego Fortnite
Once you've started building up your village, you'll want to recruit some villagers to populate it. These residents can help you out with tasks such as gathering resources or farming, and they'll also provide you with gifts from time to time – so it's definitely worth having them around. For more details on how to recruit NPCs and manage them, check out our separate guide on Lego Fortnite Villagers.
How to deal with hunger in Lego Fortnite
The segments around the portrait of your character in the top left corner of the screen represent your hunger level, and when you drop down to three bars you'll become hungry. To deal with this, you need to eat food before your hunger level drops too low and you start taking damage. Initially you'll find Raspberries and Pumpkins you can collect then eat to recover from hunger, and by examining them in your inventory you can see how much effect each type of food has on your hunger level. As you progress you'll find new food items, as well as unlocking craftable equipment such as grills you can used to cook food and increase its effectiveness.
How to deal with cold in Lego Fortnite
The swing bar underneath the portrait of your character in the top left corner of the screen represent your temperature, and if it swings left into the blue sections then you'll become cold. To deal with this, you can stand near a fire or carry a torch, and get under cover if it's raining to help you warm up – if you stay cold for too long you'll start taking damage. Likewise, depending on the biome you're in you might find yourself getting too hot instead, so in that situation move away from any nearby fire and shelter in the shadows so you can cool off.
How to share your Lego Fortnite world and play with friends
Lego Fortnite is an experience that you can share with friends, and to invite them in you need to open the map screen and then move across to the Players tab. You will then see an Invite Players button you can hit, which will let you select the friends you want to join you. Once friends join you they will remain in your world for the duration of the time you're online, but as standard they'll be kicked out when you log off. If you want your friends to be able to continue in your world or join it after you've left, then you have a maximum of seven keys you can assign to other players from this menu, which will then let them come and go as they please without your input. However, as things stand you can't play Lego Fortnite Splitscreen, so this is the only option for playing with friends.
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