Bandle Tale: A League of Legends Story is the latest game from League of Legends indie game label Riot Forge, and it’s decidedly different from everything that came before it. While Riot Forge games like The Mageseeker, Convergence, and Song of Nunu have been more intense action League of Legends affairs, Bandle Tale is a comedic, cozy adventure with gameplay that shares more in common with Stardew Valley than League of Legends.
The adventure is set in Bandle City, which is home to the adorably weird species of Yordles that League of Legends players are probably familiar with at this point. Rather than being some grand coming-of-age story for an iconic League of Legends champion, this one is about a Yordle trying to unite Bandle City by throwing a whole lot of parties. I recently got a hands-off look at the game, which affirmed that Bandle Tale is the most distinct game to come from Riot Forge yet because of how it unabashedly embraces cozy game mechanics.
A different take
At the start of my demo, I was introduced to the Yordle players take control off, a knitting apprentice who has just ended a 101-year internship. After the portals that connect Bandle City are destroyed, players sets off to reconnect all of the different regions of Bandle City. Bandle Tale is going to be a 40-hour adventure, so I didn’t see enough to get a full sense of the game’s story. Rowan Parker, Riot Forge’s head of creative, previously told Digital Trends that the game will retain developer Lazy Bear Games’ trademark sense of humor. What I got a better sense of is how an emphasis on customization, cozy gameplay, and resource gathering and spending makes Bandle Tale stand out from all the Riot Forge games before it.
