Fable II Pub Games

It’s always good to be prepared, isn’t it? Maybe not always, actually. If you are so obsessed with Fable 2, so completely mesmerised by the potential of the follow up to the original, that you just have to get started on your character now, you can buy Pub Games for the Live Arcade. This will give you the chance to start gambling away your future character’s money in some games of chance. Not only would you have to be certain that you were going to be buying and spending a lot of time with the full game to appreciate these but you’d also need money burning a hole in your pocket as these mini-games will be coming for free if you pre-order Fable II anyway.

The three games included for your 800 Microsoft points are Fortune’s Tower, Keystone and Spinnerbox. These games are all run on casino-like rules and are surprisingly strict in their randomness and balance. Much like a visit to the real casino, you’ll be quite horrified how quickly you can fritter away both your basic money purse and your meagre winnings. Keep in mind that money lost or gained will be carried over to your funds in the full game. Do you really want to be starting with a deficit? But then you could just not link up your temporary character in the pub games to the full game if you were on a losing streak, right? There are some great things to be won, though, that would force your hand and make you transfer your rather poor character over regardless. You can win some really bitching items. Who doesn’t want to start the full game with heavy duty weapons, a new hairdo and a tattoo? A crazy person – that’s who.

Spinnerbox

Spinnerbox is a simple one armed bandit, fruit machine type game. Starting with three slots press the button, watch the spin, and see if you match up three of the same picture. Some matched pictures pay out money, some give free spins, some create multipliers. Although you get more and more slots the more you play, ultimately the game is entirely random and just boring.

Keystone

Keystone is Roulette by another name. With a wide variety of bet-able odds you can place chips on drawn across the screen you’ll decide which numbers to place your money on, which colour, if it’s even, odd, high or low. Each bet has specific odds and of course any combination of these bets might come in for you – but probably won’t. Lets face it, Roulette has always been for chumps. You have to keep in mind those totally boss items you could win though. Is it worth losing your shirt to win a Championship Cutlass… maybe.

Fortune’s Tower

The only game really worth a play, Fortune’s Tower is a fancy medieval version of Patience. Using some saving cards judiciously you’re charged with choosing the right moment to cash out before the hand goes bad and the multiplier ends, losing you your initial bet. There’s no upping the ante however. You’ll always only lose the original bet whereas the possible prize money can be pretty good. Although as random as the other games, knowing when to hold ’em and when to fold ’em can be a genuinely useful skill here. There’s a glitch in Fortune’s Tower’s tournament mode that lets the game think you’ve bet hundreds when you’ve only bet five monies. Using this you can win a fortune and lose very little. The glitch will be patched shortly so get in there today or forget you ever heard about it.