During the September 14 Nintendo Direct, publisher Riot Forge popped up with not one, but two announcements. Song of Nunu: A League of Legends Story got a November 1 release date, while a brand new game starring Runeterra’s adorable Yordles, titled Bandle Tale: A League of Legends Story, was announced. Ahead of these reveals, Digital Trends spoke to Rowan Parker, Riot Forge’s creative director, and learned more about the newly announced game.
Bandle Tale is described as a crafting RPG and cozy game by Riot Forge and it follows a Yordle in Bandle City as they attempt to restore the city’s portal network after it malfunctions. To solve that problem, players will have to explore Bandle City to gather resources to craft useful items with, and along the way, you’ll meet some notable League of Legends characters. It’s developed by Lazy Bear Games, the developer behind titles like Punch Club and Graveyard Keeper.
The game’s reveal trailer already shows that Lazy Bear Games is carrying over its trademark sense of humor from previous titles like Graveyard Keeper and Punch Club, and Parker says that was very intentional. “If you’ve played Punch Club or Graveyard Keeper, you probably know that they have a great sense of humor. All the jokes and pop cultural references and stuff that gets in is a vibe, and when you think of that as a wholistic vibe, it fits really well with the Yordles,” Parker tells Digital Trends.
Another way Bandle Tale stands out from previous Riot Forge games is that it focuses on the escapades of a wider species within Runeterra, not just notable League of Legends champions. Parker says that’s because it’s impossible to tell a story about just one Yordle.
“You’ll probably notice that any of the storytelling work we do with Yordes never just has one Yordle in it,” Parker said. “They come as a group, and you can’t separate them from each other because they’re inevitably in each other’s stuff and all going to talk and interact with each other. I think that fits the vibe of what Lazy Bear does with their comedy. Just having a heap of Yordles causing mayhem seems like a lot of fun.”
Bandle Tale: A League of Legends Story is in development for PC and Nintendo Switch.
