Fortnite, revealed last nite (rimshot) at the Spike Video Game Awards, is one of those games whose elements seem to be either derivative or easily recognizable, yet an easy description remains tip-of-the-tongue elusive. It's a got resource gathering, but it's not really Minecraft; cartoony characters, but you can't say it's Team Fortress; zombies and headshots, but it sure isn't Left 4 Dead; and a post-apocalyptic setting, but it's definitely not Brink, Rage or Borderlands.

So what the hell is it? Epic Games' Cliff Bleszinski talked about Fortnite backstage at the VGAs (above), and tried to bring some structure to what everyone saw in that teaser video.

According to Bleszinski, the game's day and night cycles appear to divide its resource-management/RTS elements and its run-n-gun shooting gameplay. In the daytime, the game will focus on building up a fortress; there'll be a cooperative multiplayer aspect to this. At night, the freaks come out. How well you worked with others in constructing the fort will determine how long you last against the undead horde. Well, your ability to gun down zombies will probably play a role, too.

Bleszinski added that the game does not yet have a publisher, meaning this teaser is as much for a potential business partner as it is for fans of Epic Games. (And, of course, Epic would probably hope any gamer enthusiasm for after the reveal would drive publisher interest in picking it up.)

I've heard some readers speculate that this could be a downloadable title which, when you think about successful games like Trenched, Toy Soldiers and Monday Night Combat, makes a lot of sense. So you can add another four games that Fortnite is sorta like, but not really like at all. Or is it?

Epic Games' New Franchise FORTnITE Blends Survival Horror With Tower Defense Strategy [Forbes]