Fable holds a special place in the hearts of anybody who grew up with an original Xbox, and Lionhead’s best games are still beloved today. After a very strong first 10 years, the franchise mostly faded from the public consciousness, and its future seemed bleak when Microsoft shut down its developer. However, Fable is set to make a comeback in 2026, but will the upcoming title live up to the standards of the original trilogy?
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There are way more Fable titles than you might realize, as the series went into spin-off overdrive around 2010. Nowadays, the best Fable games are considered some of the greatest RPGs of all time; meanwhile, the other projects have a more complicated history.
Updated on February 12, 2026, by Mark Sammut: Fable should be making its return soon. If you cannot wait for Playground’s reboot, you might want to go back and check out some Fable games that you might have missed. Or, just replay Fable 2 for the millionth time. That’s what I do.
9
Fable Coin Golf
A Mobile Fable Game That Is Gone And Forgotten
It is sometimes baffling where franchises like Fable will go to try to create something different. Fable has always enjoyed including elements of British lore since the land of Albion is based on the ancient United Kingdom. Coin Golf is just one of the pub games that was borrowed from the British for the series.
Turning it into a fantasy game for Windows phones was a strange decision. Players have to try to rid the land of evil by getting Puck, the player character, into the “Pillar of Light” in the least number of shots possible. Gold earned could be transferred into the Fable 3 game afterward, which was the appeal for the majority of fans, but without a doubt, this was the least interesting entry in the history of the franchise.
Honestly, I have no way to play Fable Coin Golf nowadays, so it is included at the bottom of this list out of necessity rather than confirmed quality. It might have been great.
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Fable 2 Pub Games
For A Mini-Game Collection Companion Piece To Fable 2, This Is Fine
Fable 2 came with additional content inspired by classic British pub games. An Xbox Live Arcade title, the Fable 2 Pub Games collection included Keystone, Fortune’s Tower, and Spinnerbox. All the gold won through the game could be accessed by players when they returned to their Fable 2 game.
While this was a unique idea for 2008, and included different concept art that could be unlocked as players progressed, the idea of gambling for in-game money for a different game was an odd concept that wasn’t copied much in the future, helping it become relatively forgotten by all but huge fans of the franchise.
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Fable Heroes
A Decent Enough Fable Co-Op Game That Was Respectable For Its Price
A beat-em-up set in the Fable universe was an interesting decision on the part of the developers, especially for a download-only spin-off designed to connect with Fable: The Journey. Supposed to bring a family-friendly nature to the franchise, the hack-and-slash style of this adventure allowed players to take one of their favorite characters from the Fable franchise and launch into battle.
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The option for co-op was also included, with up to four players on Xbox Live when the game was released in 2012. The hero doll characters used were quite an artistic shift for the franchise to boot, as was the gameplay featured. While it made for a fun effort, it didn’t produce anything special enough to be regarded at the level of the main franchise entries. For the most part, Fable Heroes is just a cute but forgettable distraction that is good for a couple of hours of light entertainment. Although none of them were actually terrible, Fable diluted its brand by releasing a plethora of middling spin-off games in close succession, especially since they came around the same time as the most divisive mainline entry.
Xbox should really add Fable Heroes to Game Pass, just to keep it from becoming too obscure.
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Fable Fortune
Fable’s Free-To-Play Card Game Had Fun Characters, But It Died A Quick And Silent Death
As of early 2026, the last game in the series was Fable Fortune, although that will hopefully no longer be the case by the end of the year. A free-to-play collectible card game set in the Fable Universe, this short-lived release provided players with the chance to interact with different characters from the series, even getting to read new stories about them.
Although a fun card game that managed to gain a level of following, Fable Fortune seemingly never became sustainable, and support was discontinued within roughly a year of its release. By 2020, the game was shut down entirely. Fable Fortune is the franchise’s most substantial spin-off, at least in terms of content. The gameplay was fine but not particularly great, and the best part was learning more about the overall universe and characters.
5
Fable: The Journey
Fable Went Full Kinect And Did An OK Job
Nowadays, “Kinect” tends to spark groans and maybe even laughter, but that was not the case in the early 2010s. Before Microsoft’s disastrous Xbox One reveal, Kinect was seen as a novel idea that could be either good or bad for gaming. Fable: The Journey is one of the better showcases for the technology, and it is shockingly immersive and fun.
Allowing players to move their hands in certain patterns to form spells for combat, Fable: The Journey was one of the best Kinect releases the Xbox 360 ever had. While The Journey, as with almost all Kinect games, had problems and limitations, these were made up for by the strength of the narrative, which was at times positively heart-wrenching. Still, the Kinect element makes this the hardest proper Fable console game to revisit, just because it can be a pain to get it running. Honestly, the game deserves to be preserved through a VR port, as it would be a good fit for that format.
4
Fable 3
Metacritic Score: 80/100
Fable 3
8/10
- Released
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October 26, 2010
The third official entry in the Fable franchise took the unusual step of jumping so far forward in the timeline of Albion that the world now resembled more of a 19th-century Britain than the previous one. While a bold choice, plenty of players gradually found reasons to fall in love with Fable 3 and its story, which featured the player character attempting to overthrow the king of Albion, their brother. After succeeding in their quest, players then had to guard Albion against a great evil.
Notoriously polarizing, Fable 3 has always garnered a passionate response, both positively and negatively. Barely featuring any noteworthy RPG elements, the game streamlined most of the ideas explored by its predecessors, resulting in systems that were too stripped down to be worth anything. The campaign builds up an interesting moral premise by casting players as not only revolutionaries but also eventual rulers, resulting in a second half that challenges the protagonist to uphold the standards they had previously set. While a few moral dilemmas are included, they are mostly binary and don’t have that big of an impact. The campaign is also too short for its ambitious structure, resulting in both halves feeling underbaked.
OK, those are enough criticisms, as Fable 3 is by no means an irredeemable disaster. While repetitive, the combat is satisfying and stylish. Albion has gone through significant changes, but the world is still a blast to explore and exist within, and it is absolutely drenched in British wit. Even the property system was brilliant, as you can purchase so many buildings and then decide to become an awful (or generous) landlord.
3
Fable
While Not Living Up To All Expectations, The Original Fable Is Still One Of The Best Games Of The 2000s
Fable
- Released
-
September 14, 2004
- ESRB
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M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Language, Sexual Content, Use of Alcohol, Violence
The original Fable game has already been extended, re-released, and now will be rebooted. Still, the game continues to stand as one of the absolute best RPGs of the 2000s, and it has aged relatively well. The story of The Hero of Oakvale, featuring such a great morality system, and the beautifully designed land of Albion, were all great factors that helped Fable become legendary.
A classic story of loss that leads to the rise of a hero, Fable kept things classic and classy in narrative terms. Jack of Blades’ villainous story and the sacrifices that the hero makes to finally bring him down are all beautifully told, and Fable might have inspired a rise in RPGs that emphasize morality systems, along with incorporating a slightly darker tone. Infamously, the original game struggled to live up to the absurd promises made before its release, resulting in it being considered a slight disappointment at the time. Nowadays, that context is not really relevant anymore, and Fable can just be celebrated for its undeniable quality.
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Fable: The Lost Chapters & Fable Anniversary
The Definitive Versions Of The Original Fable
Fable: The Lost Chapters and Fable Anniversary have basically the same content, with the main difference being their art style/graphics. They are both the definitive versions of Fable.
The Lost Chapters is a surprisingly significant part of Fable’s history. Despite only being a re-release of the original game with added content, it played a part in keeping the franchise moving forward and relevant. Featuring new areas, sixteen new quests, and a great deal of added equipment, Fable: The Lost Chapters expands beautifully on its ancestor.
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While it had issues, this expansion managed to be a great addition that was very much in the style of Fable itself. Feeling true to the original while bringing in a huge amount of extra content, The Lost Chapters should have (arguably) been the base game all along, and it would have gotten the series started on an even stronger note. In 2014, Fable Anniversary remastered The Lost Chapters, while giving it a graphical makeover that can be a touch polarizing due to its cartoonish aesthetic.
1
Fable 2
The Best Fable Game
It is hard for a completely original game to nail everything, and Fable, from the start, wanted to do so much that was completely original to the gaming world that it was always going to struggle to meet its ambition. Fortunately, nearly all its core systems were upgraded and improved by its successor, with Fable 2 becoming the game that its predecessor promised to be. The only exception is the tone, as the sequel opted for a more comedic and satirical slant, which might not be to everybody’s fancy. However, the story and setting are otherwise fantastic and comfortably the best in the franchise.
Shifting five hundred years into the future, Albion now has a more 16th-century sort of feel, along with just being far more consistently impressive than arguably both its predecessor and successor. Unlike Fable 3‘s simplified mechanics, Fable 2 strikes a far better balance between depth and accessibility, allowing it to reward skill and mastery without being bogged down by interesting but poorly executed mechanics. The game does the best job of implementing moral choices that have clear, widespread effects and long-term consequences. Fable 2‘s relatively decent build variety, marriage and property systems, moral alignments, and just all-around endearing tone elevate it above everything else in the series and most RPGs.
Special Mention: Fable
While it is still too early to pop the champagne, Fable should be making a comeback in 2026. Playground Games is handling the reboot; yes, the developer behind Forza Horizon. Admittedly, this studio is a bit of a weird pick for an action RPG, but Playground knows a thing or two about bringing to life stunning open-worlds. Hopefully, this upcoming game sparks a new era for Fable.
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