Banquet for Fools is leaving early access on March 5th
Indie studio H+J Games is preparing to fully release Banquet for Fools – a party-based open-world CRPG leaving early access on Steam on March 5th, 2026. The game is being made by just two people – the creators of Serpent in the Staglands and Mechajammer.
The story takes place on the island of Invimona, once home to a long-dead civilization. The Vollings – a people shunned by their deities and turned to paganism – have settled these lands to farm a rare and valuable spice. One lord built a successful operation there, but trouble soon followed: every inhabitant of one of his farm holds has vanished without a trace. Four guard volunteers are sent across the island to find out what happened.
The party of four generated companions travels the island, exploring towns, taking on requests, and piecing together the mystery of the missing settlers. Each character has unique dialogue options and choices based on their stats, and they develop relationships with each other over the course of the journey.
The party is also assigned a pack-boro – a beast of burden that can carry a boat and extra items, letting the group hike and portage freely across Invimona's rivers and sea.
One of the more distinctive design choices: Banquet for Fools has no auto-compass and no quest log. Quests and requests are handed to you on scrolls, and navigating the island is itself part of the challenge.
Combat is brawl-style beat-em-up. When the action bar fills, you can pause by opening the combat dome and pick an action or target. You control one guard at a time while the rest fight on their own – attacking, defending, kicking, charging, and pinning enemies as they see fit.
You can switch leaders at any time or bring in a support guard for combo attacks. If an enemy is too well-defended, a critical attack can open them up for follow-up hits from your companions. Once unlocked during combat, Rally attacks let the whole party strike at once.
The skill system covers a wide range of specializations:
weapons
armor
pagan spells
animal binding
music
rogue abilities
Skills level up through experience or by buying training from NPCs around the island. The ones you use most frequently earn bonus points on level-up, reinforcing whatever playstyle you've naturally fallen into.
Pagan magic works through a custom spell creation system. You learn effects from different Vol trees, then carve your own rune in blood on a birch to bind the spell to the world.
There are three pagan skill trees – Fauna, Vines, and Spores – each with different specialties and ways of interacting with the environment. More powerful versions can be crafted as your characters grow stronger.
The music system lets you build a combat setlist, with songs that trigger automatically under specific conditions at varying potency levels. A song might fire at the start of a fight, after an enemy falls, or when a companion's health gets low. You can only memorize a limited number at once, so picking the right songs and timing conditions matters for how your party performs.
The rogue path adds a layer of moral flexibility – items can be stolen from shops, but you won't be able to buy from that merchant again, and getting caught is always a risk. Guards and merchants follow patrol routes and sleep schedules, so watching your surroundings and timing the changing of the guard pays off. Racking up crimes puts a bounty on your head, and village Vollings will treat the party accordingly. You can always try to bribe your way out of a local bounty.
The justice system is also worth thinking about mid-combat: you can choose whether your party attacks to kill or to stun. Killing is simpler, but enemies downed near a keeper of the Carrion god can come back as ghosts. Stunning knocks an enemy out for 24 hours – bandits and grave robbers can then be reported for coin, though Exile Island's population grows with every turn-in. Stunned criminals don't stay down forever, so you'll need to reach a fort or village fast enough to call for a wagon.
The field kit handles resupply away from shops. With it, you can craft arrows from wood and wildlife-sourced arrowheads, make rivi-wraps from volatile foliage found in crevices, and convert amphoras of alcohol into explosive elyxir globes with various added effects.
The Intercessions system ties into Volling religion – stone statues of ancient deities are scattered across the island. If a deity finds you worthy, it'll let you craft a custom holy item, but only after a donation and a completed quest. These gods are petty and competitive, so picking which statues to engage with is a real choice.
As of version 4.0, the game includes dozens of unique creatures, five Volling races, over 200 unique items, and all core systems – from custom spell crafting with hand-drawn runes to sailing and garrison interactions.
Players who own Serpent in the Staglands can import save data – past choices will carry over and shape the world of Vol in Banquet for Fools, though owning the previous game isn't required.
