The Sideways encounter is a brand new minigame of sorts in Fortnite Season 8. This is the second time we've seen such a minigame in Fortnite, the first being the Mothership orb collection game.
In this minigame, you need to kill hoards of cube monsters within a certain amount of time. You can avoid this minigame if you want to. However, a few NPCs have punch card challenges that require you to enter the Sideways.
Besides, given the insanely powerful loot that this encounter offers, I would personally recommend that you participate in these encounters whenever you can.
Here's everything we know about the Sideways encounters in Fortnite Season 8.
Fortnite Sideways encounter spawn locations
Truth be told, there isn't a specific location for these encounters to spawn. You need to keep checking your map in order to find out where these encounters occur.
These encounters show up as purple spots on the map. When you approach them, you will see a purple rift floating slightly above the ground.
That being said, once you interact with this rift, you will be drawn into a small zone of low gravity. And you will face off against a hoard of cube monsters.
How to complete the Fortnite Sideways encounter
Once you begin a Sideways encounter, you will notice an orange bar that appears on top of your screen, right below the compass.
These encounters are obviously time bound, so you have to fill up this orange progression bar within the set time limit. Killing monsters gives you additional time, with more difficult monsters granting you more additional time.
The best part about this is, once an encounter begins, others can join in too. Their kills keep filling the progression bar as well, so it's best that you work with your enemy loopers in order to complete this encounter successfully.
And if you can't complete the encounter in time, you needn't worry because you can begin multiple encounters in any given match.
Finally, it's okay if you can't collect the chests that these monsters drop after being killed. They still exist after the encounter has ended.
And that's pretty much it about the Fortnite Sideways encounters. Have fun and survive!