The Fable 2 Pub Games is an XBOX Live Marketplace arcade game that integrates winnings from your arcade character with the soon-to-be-released Fable 2. The games are all fairly solid with quite a bit of variety per game; however, with only three semi-imaginative games it will keep only people set on buying Fable 2 around for any length.
The game starts by choosing one of eight characters with 500 gold and zero debt. There is an option to merge characters and a panel with slots open for Fable 2 characters. The introduction for each game is quick and helps nail down exactly what is happening. My wife even picked up Tower of Fortune and Keystone pretty fast, not to say she's slow but video games aren't really her thing. The game keeps track of debt and current gold and as the player you can choose to ignore the debt, which has unforeseen consequences in Fable 2, or payoff your debts like a good gambler. Fable 2 Pub Games will also keep track of your characters gambling skill. You earn experience when you win and eventually can max out the gambling skill for a future Fable 2 character.
Tower of Fortune is the first and probably the strongest of the three games. I find myself spending most of my time with the tower in solo play. There is just enough skill thrown in so you can turn the odds in your favor. It's fun and admittedly frustrating to push the cards to higher pay outs. The biggest problem with the Tower is that there is currently an exploit which allows the player to spend the minimum, but bet the maximum. When used anyone can make extraordinary amounts of gold very quickly. Currently there are quite a few players with millions of gold already in the overall rankings. If this were a stand alone game it wouldn't be a huge deal, but since all the gold can be transferred to and from the Pub Games it will be interesting to see what impact it has on the Fable 2 release. Expect a patch soon.
Keystone is loosely based off Craps where the player bets on the probability of future dice rolls. I've played through a lot of the versions and I can't help but feel like everything I bet on is pretty much random. The game does a good job of showing the odds with just a click of the left trigger, but again it still feels too much like luck and less like skill.
Speaking of skill, the last game is Spinnerbox and it's been included if you have a handicapped cousin who would like to play video games. This is a version of slots and while there are quite a few varieties of slots they all... ALL have you continually pounding away on the 'A' button for as long as you can stand it.
All the games have tournament modes where you play against computer opponents which works out pretty well in Tower of Fortune and to a lesser extent Keystone. The Spinnerbox tournaments, however, are downright painful. The tournament has 20 contestants and 100 rounds or spins. That's right, 100, not 50 or 25; 100. So as you dutifully pound away on your 'A' button (also noteworthy, you are unable to even change the bid in a Spinnerbox tournament) you are randomly placed in 1st - 20th after 100 spins. It wouldn't seem like a big deal, as in, " I won't be playing any Spinnerbox tournaments" but the game rewards you with special items for your Fable 2 character if you win. So, spitefully I finished all the tournaments, but it wasn't fun.
In retrospect I would have picked up the package just for Tower of Fortune. I'm sure I'll be having some parties with friends and have my own deck handy. Also, I will definitely be picking up Fable 2 so the gold porting will be worthwhile. Still, without having more games the average XBOX 360 customer not planning on picking up Fable 2 should probably just download the demo and see if the Tower or Keystone is really worth the 800 Microsoft Points.