Ophelia Payne

Running Fable Petite Party is a colourful, wild and unpredictable spin-off from Running Fable. Brought to you by Seashell Studio, you can battle your way through 16 competitive mini-games and try to dominate the tabletop party board. Every round gives you an opportunity to taunt your friends, steal victory and cause mayhem.

This is a party game meant to be played on one screen with your friends, though, locally, up to 4 players. There is no online gameplay with friends, unfortunately.  You can choose to play the mini games solo as well, though, just not the board game mode.  Mini games will pit you against NPCs if you choose to play solo.

There are 16 mini games where you can outsprint, outbalance, outwit or outright sabotage your friends. These include a variety of games like hopping through a series of lily pads, scoring goals in a soccer match, using your memory to remember a pattern, or fishing. These mini-games are Sling Fling, Fishing Spree, Football Frenzy, Racing Rampage, Labyrinth Chase, Treasure Hunter, Apple Brew, Carrot Collector, Trap Stream, Firefly Catcher, Flag Rally, Lily Hopper, Grub Galore, Tempo Trouble, Bouncy Webs, and Hot Spot. What are these mini-games like? Let’s talk a little bit more about some of them.

In Sling Fling, you load up your slingshot as you target the different dummies that will pop up on the screen as the timer counts down. Each dummy that you hit will grant you some points, and there’s even a golden one that will pop every now and then to grant you extra points. Fishing Spree will have you casting your fishing rod to reel in as many fish as possible before the timer runs out. Bigger fish are worth more, so you might want to aim for them. There are also golden fish that grant extra points, as well as bombs that will take away some of your points.

Football Frenzy asks you to score a goal in the net that matches the colour of the ball dropped in the center of the field. A ball’s colour might change from time to time, so pay attention so you don’t kick it into the wrong net. Kick the golden ball into any goal for a huge boost to your score. In Labyrinth Chase, you have to sneak in and steal Santa’s presents while avoiding the exploding ornaments.

There is also a boardgame mode that combines tabletop strategy and party game madness.  Roll the dice and try your luck as you move your way through the 3 boards available. Here you will also work through the same mini games that you can also play separately. While you can play the mini games alone, you can’t play the boardgame alone. While you have a 6-sided dice to roll, I rarely rolled more than a 2, meaning the games took quite a while to finish. Whether this was bad luck or something goofy with the mechanics in the game, I’m not sure.

Easy controls mean it’s easy for all skill levels to join in the fun. Simple controls and short mini games keep this engaging even for younger players. I feel like this would be a fantastic game for families to play together.  

The graphics are vibrant and adorable. It’s a fabled universe of the tortoise and the hare, filled with ridiculous physics and silly animations. There’s no traditional story, but the charm is in the world that surrounds you. Characters are quirky, expressive and customizable. I spent too much time deciding what look I wanted my character to have.

The mini games are fun, the chaos is contagious, and I could see this being fun with friends. I only wish there were an online component to open it up to play with my friends around the world.

Running Fable Petite Party launches on January 30, 2026, across Steam, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4.

*Review copy graciously provided by Seashell studio/Press Engine and reviewed on PS5*