Banquet For Fools review | PC Gamer Skip to main content Open menu Close main menu PC Gamer THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES US Edition UK US Canada Australia Subscribe Sign in View Profile Sign out Search Search PC Gamer Games Hardware News Reviews Guides Video Forum More PC Gaming Show PC Gamer Clips Software Codes Coupons Movies & TV Magazine Newsletter Affiliate links Meet the team Community guidelines About PC Gamer PC Gamer Magazine SubscriptionWhy subscribe?Subscribe to the world’s #1 PC gaming magTry a single issue or save on a subscriptionIssues delivered straight to your door or device From$1Subscribe now Don’t miss these RPG Banquet For Fools is a CRPG like no other and the most interesting thing I’ve played this year, and between it and Esoteric Ebb, roleplaying fans are eating great right now RPG This bizarre CRPG features claymation graphics, beat ‘em up combat and the option to send defeated enemies to a prison colony, and it just left early access after a massive final update RPG Esoteric Ebb isn’t just the best Disco since Disco, it’s the closest anyone’s come to the magic of tabletop D&D in a videogame Action Crimson Desert review: The Forza Horizon of action RPGs RPG It’s only March, but I’m calling it: Esoteric Ebb is 2026’s best RPG and the first worthy successor to Disco Elysium Games The best indie games on PC Adventure Pathologic 3 review: One of the most compelling mystery adventures since Disco Elysium Action After 6 hours, Crimson Desert is one of the most overwhelming, chaotic, madcap videogames I’ve ever played—and I’m hungry for more Puzzle TR-49 review: A tense and beautifully written mystery, told entirely on a bizarre 1940s computer Card Game The Killing Stone combines occult contract law with card-battling in an isolated 17th century mansion Card Game Forbidden Solitaire warns us to uninstall it ‘before it’s too late,’ but I played the demo anyway and now I want more Sim Tavern Keeper is the management sim of my dreams, and the best thing I’ve played in early access in 2025 MMO Project: Gorgon has recaptured the old-school MMO magic I thought was dead and gone by letting me ask a pig about its mother so hard it dies Action Hell is Us review: a gorgeous adventure that gets in its own way a little too often RPG Monster Hunter Stories 3 review: An excellent monster battler bogged down by a war story without stakes Popular PC Gamer ClipsCrimson DesertMarathonBest PC gearGDCQuizzes Games RPG When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. 85 Banquet For Fools review Pen and paper at the ready. Reviews By Kerry Brunskill published 24 March 2026 0 Comments Join the conversation (Image: © Hannah and Joseph Games) Our Verdict Prizing immersion and effort above all, this is a demanding, but very rewarding, RPG. PC Gamer’s got your back Our experienced team dedicates many hours to every review, to really get to the heart of what matters most to you. Find out more about how we evaluate games and hardware. NEED TO KNOWWhat is it? An immersive RPG with an emphasis on personal note-taking.Release date: Mar 5, 2026Expect to pay: $20/£17Developer: Hannah and Joseph GamesPublisher: Hannah and Joseph GamesReviewed on: Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX, RTX 5090 (laptop), 64GB RAMSteam Deck: PlayableLink: Official siteBanquet for Fools’ opening drops me straight in at the deep end, a blood-soaked fight for survival against festival-goers gone mad while I’m surrounded by piles of corpses, given a gentle kiss by… I’m not even sure what that kindly oversized bird-person was, actually, and then shoved three centuries into the future without apology or explanation. After creating my own questing party filled with people and skills that largely reject familiar RPG stereotypes, I’m plunged into a memorably unique land filled with its own imaginative little phrases (“Topa-din!” is a common greeting), and a surprisingly detailed social structure that I haven’t got a hope of grasping yet.It’s about now I realise that “trying to uncover why everyone in the nearby Din Varens settlement have gone missing” and something about “reaching a lighthouse” isn’t as specific as I normally like my RPGs to be. Still, I suppose it would be unreasonable for a quest-giver to supply me and my party of random pub-going guards with details about an unexplained mystery. No problem, I’ll check my quest log.There isn’t one.Article continues below You may like Banquet For Fools is a CRPG like no other and the most interesting thing I’ve played this year, and between it and Esoteric Ebb, roleplaying fans are eating great right now This bizarre CRPG features claymation graphics, beat ‘em up combat and the option to send defeated enemies to a prison colony, and it just left early access after a massive final update Esoteric Ebb isn’t just the best Disco since Disco, it’s the closest anyone’s come to the magic of tabletop D&D in a videogame There isn’t a conversation history tab either. Or a “Go here” marker on the map. There is a notes section, but it’s completely empty. Because I haven’t typed any notes in it yet. Myself. With my own fingers. (Image credit: Hannah and Joseph Games)This freeform adventure not only expects but demands my active participation; if I want to remember the location of somewhere on the regional map I have to type it in myself. If I want to create a customised magical spell then I’ll have to name it and then draw its icon by hand. What little information I am given to keep is found on elaborate scrolls and hand drawn pieces of paper I must keep close by if I want to refer back to them later, the value and meaning of these sketchy scribbles and meandering passages left for me to decipher.Clear paths are rare and signposts even more so, leaving success (and survival) largely in my own hands.It’s a daunting prospect, but one that quickly encourages a slower, more attentive mindset. I have no choice but to become fully invested in this society and the people within it. I can’t help but notice how much they worry about their upcoming peppura harvest as I pass by, and I even remember what time of day the guard captain I want to talk to stands by the front gate. I come to appreciate the work of each settlement’s wandering ghost-repelling chanter, because I’m not going to get very far without their help.My travels across this barely settled land follow a similar tempo, giving me the choice of either walking to wherever I need to go, with every route taken a conscious decision, or rowing there by boat, which isn’t all that different in terms of the time and thought required. The biggest convenience the game’s prepared to offer is a network of boat services, though the geography of the landscape means not every boatsman can take me to every port. Of course, not every town has a port, and the fare is at times steep enough to make me think twice.The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware
