Fable II is so close you can taste it. After four long years, Peter Molyneux’s epic role playing adventure of good and evil is set to continue in October. To tide us over before we can begin to take part in the mass, same-sex, unprotected orgies that await (virtually of course) in the world of Albion, Lionhead Studios have decided to release Fable II: Pub Games onto the Xbox Live Marketplace. Pub Games is a collection of three unique casino style mini games: Keystone, Spinnerbox and Fortune’s Tower, to cater to your digital gambling needs.

The first of the three games on offer, Keystone, plays like a cross between Roulette and Craps. The game is played with three six-sided dice on a semi circle board, with stones assembled around the arch board numbered from 3 (the minimum value possible) to 18 (the maximum value possible). When a value is rolled, the corresponding stone is removed. If a value is rolled a second time, then a stone physically lower on the arch is removed. Before the game begins you place bets, naming which of these so called Archstones you believe will be removed before the game ends. From there the gambling shifts to inside the arch before each roll of the dice, as you make bets on what you predict the outcome of the next dice roll will be, like in Roulette, with everything from Trips, Run, spreads, colour and shape variables to bet on, just to name a few. The titular keystones are where things get interesting and have the power to end the game. Once the top two keystones (10 and 11: the most common outcomes), of the arch are removed, the arch collapses and the game is over. The bottom keystones (3 and 18: the least likely outcomes) are more significant and have the power to end the game instantly. In certain modes if this happens on the first roll, a jackpot is rewarded to all players. There is also a variation of play called Bloodstone, where you bet instead on what outcomes you believe will not occur. It’s an interesting spin on Roulette that allows for you to better predict outcomes as you begin to play more and understand which values are more common. Ultimately, although you may be able to recognise common outcomes, the bulk of the game still rests in chance.


Spinnerbox is an old fashioned take on a poker machine, with icons positioned in a triangular manner. You spin the box and aim to link together symbols of the same kind to earn winnings. This is a game entirely based entirely on luck, you can do nothing to affect your chance of winning. There is little more to do in the game but press the A button. Sure in normal play you can change the size of your bet, but when it comes to tournaments, all you can do is spin the required 100 times. You just press A. Even once you burn through your money in the course of normal play and need to take out a loan, it is all accomplished with the A button, so its one game you can literally play with your eyes closed or checking out what’s on TV. If there’s one thing this game does well, it is in capturing the monotony of playing the pokies.

Fortune’s Tower is my pick of the bunch. It is a genuinely intriguing concept that incorporates changing statistics that allow you to utilise a real sense of strategy to rise up above chance. The game is played with a deck of 60 cards: 8 cards for each value from 1 to 7 and 4 Hero cards. You start with a pyramid of three cards, the top face down. With each row, the value of the cards in the row is totalled to form the dealer’s offer. Bets are made in multiples of 15, so ideally you want to accept an offer of 15 or greater. Progressing down the pyramid increases the number of cards in a row, increasing your potential total, but also increases the likelihood that you will lose. If a row contains only the cards of the same value, then you will be granted a multiplier equal to the number of cards in the row, but if a card is touching a card of the same value in the row above it becomes effectively burned, but this can be saved by one of the Hero cards in the deck if they are on the same row, who are of no value but save all matching cards. If there is no Hero to save you, the card at the top of the pyramid, the Gate card, is used to replace a matched card. Beware that the top card is unknown and has the potential to be of the very same value it is replacing. As you progress down the pyramid the chance of matches becomes more likely and one mere Gate card is often not enough to save you, but if you make it all the way to the bottom row without using your Gate card you will win the jackpot. It’s a risk and reward scenario that allows you to make educated guesses based on how many Hero cards could be left in the deck to save you and whether or not the Gate card remains. Fortune’s Tower is great fun and a well thought-out card game, it’s certainly the best of the games on offer. It’s even better played with a mate, as you each take turns to estimate whether to take the money and run or press down in chance of greater riches. Sure you can’t predict the outcome, but you can at least make an educated guess. This is one game I’d love to play in real life with a couple decks of cards.


My biggest problem with all casino style games is the pointlessness of playing a game of chance, when you can’t take home the winnings. This is where Pub Games does things differently. All your winnings are transferred to Fable II when you begin your story. Be warned though, leave a stinging debt and you can be sure to encounter more than a few debt collectors hounding after you. Fortunately you are able to get out of debt by competing in free tournaments. Tournaments themselves are a way of not only earning money, but also unlocking 15 unique items to use within Fable II. From Amazing Apple Pie and the ability to teach your dog a backflip to more useful items like the Championship Cutlass and Potion of Strength, it makes all the effort worthwhile. For non-Pub Games players, the items can still be purchased within the Albion marketplace at a high price. The more you play over time, your gambling level increases allowing you to enter new tournaments and play new variations of each game type. You also unlock concept art from Fable II as you play. If it weren’t for the fact that your gambling, both winnings and debt, had actual meaningful application when you entire Fable II I’d be quick to brand Pub Games as pointless, but Fable II brings real meaning to virtual gambling.

Pub Games is effectively three different, well-presented randomisers where you can gamble away your money and press your luck, as you wait for Fable II to hit store shelves. There’s not a whole lot of gameplay here, almost everything here revolves around luck, but as a set of casino games they are certainly interesting and have a sound rule set. I’d be keen to wager a bet or two if they turned up at the local casino that’s for sure. Fortune’s Tower is a particular gem.

For the 800 Microsoft points it costs, the value in purchasing Pub Games is questionable especially if you are not intending to pick up Fable II on day one. On the other hand, if you’re picking this up as a free pre-order bonus, then there’s not a lot to complain about really, especially for something free. There mightn’t be all that much to do, but it’s a great way of building up your bank balance and unlocking items before the big day comes around.