If you’re looking for something distinctive to try, Banquet for Fools might be just the thing. It’s one of the most stylish CRPGs currently out there. Granted, it’s RTwP, but so compelling that it earns a rare exception I occasionally make for certain projects.
The game is developed by Hannah and Joseph Games, the same duo behind Whalenought Studios, known for Mechajammer and Serpent in the Staglands. Don’t ask me about the details of their internal shifts or structure, because I don’t have that information.
What I do know is that their new gem, Banquet for Fools, which has been in Early Access since September 2024, has just announced its full release date, accompanied by a brand-new trailer.
If you’re coming in fresh, Banquet for Fools is a party-based, isometric RPG with pausable real-time combat and a heavy exploration focus. It builds parties of four companions, leans on stat-gated dialogue, and pushes navigation without a quest log or compass, with quests often arriving as scrolls.
Fights run in real time with an action bar. You pause, open a radial combat dome, and pick actions or targets for the currently controlled character while the rest follow assigned tactics and formations. Critical attacks can soften tough defenses, and a later unlock lets you combine attack rolls for simultaneous Rally strikes.
Progression mixes use-based bonuses with point allocation. Each level gives three skill points plus a stat point, with extra advancement options for skills you used most since the last level. You can develop weapons, armor, pagan spellcraft, animal binding, music, and rogue abilities, and you can also buy training from specialists you meet.
Three interconnected systems are the pillars of the game:
- Songs let you build a setlist that auto-triggers on conditions like the start of battle, on kill, or low health, with limited memorization slots and adjustable potency.
- Pagan spells are custom-built by learning effects from Vol trees, choosing a birch, and etching a blood rune, with Fauna, Vines, and Spores as the three schools.
- Rogue play covers theft, stealth, and lockpicking, with patrols and sleep schedules to watch, shop access as a tradeoff, and bribes to clear local bounties.
Justice is a core loop too. You can choose lethal or stun damage on the fly. Lethal is safer but may create ghosts if a keeper is near. Stunned foes stay down for a limited time, letting you report bandits and grave robbers for coin at nearby forts or villages.
Crimes must be witnessed by your party to count, and town relationships change based on your actions and the reeve’s commendations.
The Early Access build has been expanding through numbered updates that add areas, systems, and polish, and the developers have been posting regular video showcases as those land.
Banquet for Fools now has a date for its 1.0 launch: the developers have set full release for January 23, 2026, and marked the news with a new “Release Date + New Demo” trailer that I share with you below. The update also puts a refreshed demo on the Steam page, alongside a limited-time discount.
