Lionhead Studios have been completely disbanded back in March after Fable Legends failed to produce any amount of enthusiasm from the gaming public, or even Microsoft itself, but thankfully it appears that the Fable franchise might not be dead just yet.

While it certainly isn't the mainline game many have been expecting, a couple of ex-Lionhead developers have managed to secure rights from Microsoft in order to bring their vision of a Fable themed collectible card game to life. Fable Fortune is its name, and the team is currently looking for £250,000 on Kickstarter in order to fully fund its development, though the end product will be completely free-to-play.

If you're wondering what the early prototype looks like in action, here's a brief trailer:

Full gameplay details are currently scarce, but by the looks of things its going to be a fairly standard card game affair, though with a couple of twists. For me the most exciting feature is the ability to play in an online co-op mode against bosses, a feature that if well balanced could be an excellent and enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours, and most importantly, differentiate Fable Fortune from other similar games *cough* Hearthstone *cough*.

Besides online co-op the obvious stand out is the use of 3D art, which while not specifically gameplay related does lend a hearty dose of charm to the whole proceedings. You will also be able to level up cards, earn enhancements by making good/evil choices throughout the match, and "enjoy" the various puns and jokes the Fable series has become famous for.

If you're simply interested in getting beta access as soon as possible the cheapest tier you can acquire it with is set at £10. The expected release date for the beta is set for August, with the game itself fully launching at some point in 2017.