In the last few years, Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade service has really come into its own, boasting just over 150 games covering pretty much every genre you can imagine. In that time we've seen some absolutely amazing games and some utter rubbish, including games that were basically just advertising, like Yaris. Now we can check another thing off the list: Arcade games that crossover with retail games. Fable Pub Games is essentially a promotional title for the impending release of Fable 2, allowing players to get a bit of a head start by earning gold and even items by gambling at the pub. It isn't subtle about its purpose, but that doesn't mean it isn't addictive and fun to play!

So if you played the original Fable, there's a pretty good chance you set foot in one of Albion's public houses for a nice cold beer and wenching after a hard day's heroism. If neither of those things tickled your fancy, you could partake in a smattering of pub games. Here in Australia this is a polite way of saying "playing the pokies,” but the underlying notion is true: fritter away your money gambling, then get kicked out at 2am for punching the "Queen of the Nile” in her smug face, promptly followed by a vomit on the sidewalk and overpay for a taxi ride home.

Fable Pub Games allows you all the joy of mindlessly pressing the "spin” button without the associated real world or virtual risks – it presents three simple game variants, and encourages you to gamble with gay abandon. How much you enjoy this pastime is probably directly proportional to how much money you actually sink in the slots when you hit the turps, or how desperate you are to get a leg up in Albion. Fable Pub Games starts you off with 500 gold, as well as the ability to go deep into debt if you so wish in your avaricious pursuit of coin. There's a free tournament available for each of the three game modes too, which is a handy – albeit slow – way of rebuilding your bankroll if you're in the red. Word is your debt can come back to haunt you in Fable 2 though, which could be interesting!

Of the three variants, Spinnerbox will be the most familiar: it's basically a poker machine. Match up symbols to win prizes, or don't match any to lose money. Keystone is a little less familiar, but it plays like a hybrid of craps and roulette, where you're gambling on the roll of three dice. What makes it interesting is that before the game starts you can place a bet on arch-stones, which surround the numbers 3 to 18 in a crescent shape, and crumble whenever their corresponding number is rolled. This adds a persistent element to each game of Keystone, but other than that it's pretty easy to get the hang of.

The final game is also the most interesting: Fortune's Tower is the only game that has any real element of strategy or skill to it, and is the only game that truly feels unique. Cards are dealt one line at a time in a pyramid, and the face value of each line is calculated as an offer to players to cash out. If a 4 and 5 are dealt for example, the value is 9, and this offer is multiplied by however much you wagered. Where Fortune's Tower really gets interesting is when you opt to press on, and the next line of cards is dealt. Obviously this means more cards and thus a potentially higher score, but if any card dealt is touching the same number in the row above, the card is burned and it could be game over.

Or maybe not! The top of the pyramid is called a gate card, and is dealt face down. In the event of a burn, it replaces the burnt card, which can salvage the line if you're lucky. Alternatively, the deck contains four Hero cards, who can protect a line of cards no matter how many get burnt. And if you manage to get an entire line of cards matching up, the potential prize can multiply. Make it to the bottom of the pyramid – a nail-biting 8 rows – you score a jackpot, which is the value of every card in the pyramid!

Fortune's Tower is really the only game that might get your pulse racing, the others are really just mindless casino games. But Fable Pub Games rewards your persistence with a Gambler rating, measured out of five stars. For each gold you spend, you get one point, and when you earn enough points, you'll advance in your Gambler rating. This unlocks more tournaments – which means more prizes – as well as different variations of each of the game types. For example the default Spinnerbox is just 3 spinning discs you need to match up, but later iterations go up to six, as well as adding multiplier discs and every pokie player's favourite, free spins!

As glamorous as this may sound, it's truly quite mindless work...it's like grinding for experience killing low-level enemies, only there's less going on. Fable Pub Games is reasonably well presented – it looks and feels like Fable – but it's still quite static and bland. There's no pub per se, just menus to get to different pub games, and aside from the portraits of your gambling persona and some unlockable concept art, there's nothing much to look at.

Nor is there much to listen to, with a distinct lack of pub banter or the usual cacophony that accompanies men and women consuming large amounts of alcohol. Each of the games has its own basic sound effects, but the game is otherwise silent, with the exception of some of the original Fable's music playing in an endless loop. It's the kind of game you can play on mute, really, but that just reinforces that sneaking suspicion that what you're doing is really just work.

And so we arrive at the heart of Fable Pub Games: despite the gambling and graphical interface, it's basically just a way for the super-keen Fable fanatic to earn some money before the game hits shelves in October. How much you get out of Fable Pub Games is directly proportional to how keen you are to play Fable 2. Extra money is nice, but let's face it, it's rarely in short supply in role-playing games. The bonus items will definitely tempt a few: permanent stat increasing potions, powerful weapons, hair-styles, tattoos, dog tricks and even a comfy bed for your house all represent a tangible bonus. But with no multiplayer and hours of gameplay that falls somewhere between "tedious” and "simple” depending on your enthusiasm, Fable Pub Games is hardly worth the 800 Microsoft Points it currently demands. If you get it for free as part of a preorder deal by all means check it out, otherwise save your money for a pint at the pub and a spin on the pokies.