The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood
A narrative adventure about an exiled witch and tarot card creation.
The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood, a narrative adventure game from 2023, was created by the Spanish studio Deconstructeam and published by Devolver Digital. Its protagonist is an immortal witch named Fortuna, who was banished to an asteroid for a millennium after a prediction angered her coven’s leader. Two centuries into her exile, she strikes a deal with a supernatural entity to reclaim some of her abilities. This pact enables her to craft a personalized tarot deck, which she then uses to read fortunes for other witches who visit her. Players design these cards using an in-game editor, selecting and arranging props, backgrounds, and characters; each asset costs a certain amount of one of the four classical elements—air, earth, fire, or water. Through dialogue choices during divination sessions, players interpret the cards and uncover details about the visiting witches, and the outcomes of these readings can yield more elemental resources. Flashbacks to Fortuna’s past are explored via minigames, and players can also research the game’s world in her library. Eventually, the player can sway the election for a new coven leader by leveraging the relationships and knowledge they have built. Released for Windows and Switch on August 16, 2023, the game earned “generally favorable” reviews on Metacritic, with 88% of critics recommending it on OpenCritic. In Japan, Famitsu’s four reviewers gave it a combined score of 34 out of 40, including one perfect 10. Critics praised its blend of visual novel and card creation, with Rock Paper Shotgun calling it a “splendid, engrossing blend,” and GamesRadar deeming it “nothing short of superb” and one of the richest visual novels in recent years. Eurogamer described it as an “enchanting, emotionally charged visual novel,” while Siliconera highlighted its branching narrative and accessible card design, though they noted the election segment felt lengthy. Hardcore Gamer found the tarot creation alone worth recommending, and Nintendo Life called it a “spellbinding narrative experience” that adapts to player choices. The game was nominated for Best Storytelling at the 2023 Golden Joystick Awards.
Quick Facts
- Title
- The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood
- Developer
- Deconstructeam
- Publisher
- Devolver Digital
- Engine
- GameMaker
- Platforms
- Nintendo Switch / Windows
- Released
- August 16, 2023
- Genre
- Narrative adventure
- Modes
- Single-player
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The game follows Fortuna, an immortal witch banished to an asteroid for a thousand years after making a prediction that angers her coven leader. After 200 years, she makes a bargain with an otherworldly creature to regain power, allowing her to design her own deck of cards for tarot reading. Players use an in-game editor to create cards by choosing and manipulating props, backgrounds, and characters, with costs based on the classical elements of air, earth, fire, and water. Other witches visit Fortuna for fortunes, and through dialogue choices, players interpret cards and learn about these characters. Divinations can yield more elemental resources. Flashbacks revealing Fortuna's past involve minigames, and players can research in her library to learn more about the world. Eventually, players influence who becomes the new coven leader during an election by calling upon friends and using what they have learned.
Reader's Guide
The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood is notable for blending visual novel storytelling with a card creation system. Rock Paper Shotgun called it a 'splendid, engrossing blend of visual novel and card creation game.' GamesRadar described it as 'nothing short of superb' and one of the richest visual novels of recent years, praising its examinations of posthumanism and player choice. Eurogamer called it an 'enchanting, emotionally charged visual novel' and compared it to Barbie, though noting it 'occasionally feels like a beginner's Plato's Republic.' Siliconera enjoyed the branching narrative and how different playthroughs yield different stories, and said card design will likely be fun for both artistic and non-artistic players, though they found the election a bit long. Hardcore Gamer felt the fun of creating tarot cards was enough to recommend the game, also praising the plot, characters, and music, concluding it is 'an amazing narrative journey exploring fate, politics, isolation, friendship and more.' Nintendo Life called it 'a spellbinding narrative experience' and praised how the narrative changes according to player choices, describing the card creation as 'vibrant and indulgent' and presented in a 'truly authentic manner.' The game was nominated for Best Storytelling at the 2023 Golden Joystick Awards.
Did You Know?
- The game was developed by Deconstructeam, based in Valencia, Spain.
- Players design tarot cards using an in-game editor with costs based on the classical elements.
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