The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood is a 2023 visual novel and single player narrative adventure game that was developed by Deconstructeam and published by Devolver Digital. It was released on Nintendo Switch and Windows on 16 August 2023 to glowing reviews. The game is set in a world where magical women can ascend and become immortal witches who live in the cosmos.
Fortuna is an immortal witch who was condemned to exile by the leader of her coven for a millennia after using her fortune-telling skills to predict the destruction of her coven. Photo from Deconstructeam
In the game, players take control of an immortal witch named Fortuna, who has been exiled for a millennia after she used her fortune-telling skills to predict the destruction of her coven. 200 years later, Fortuna summons a cosmic creature called a Behemoth, and makes a pack with them in the hope of regaining her freedom. With the Behemoth’s help, Fortuna crafts a new Tarot deck, which she uses for Tarot card readings and to manipulate her friends, politics, and the fabric of time. The game plays like a choose-your-own-adventure novel. When other witches visit Fortuna, the player can learn more about them through dialogue choices and Tarot card readings. We also get to find out more about Fortuna’s life through flashbacks, mini-games, and interactions with other characters.
I really loved this game. It immediately drew me in with its beautiful artwork and animation style, enchanting soundtrack, mini-games, huge cast of characters, intriguing dialogue, and plot. The quality of the writing in this game was superb. As the story unfolded, I became really invested in the character of Fortuna, her backstory, and the impact that her Tarot card readings would have on her and other characters. I considered the weight of every choice that I made in the game. It made for fantastic storytelling. The best part is if I wanted I could go back and do it all over again and make different choices and get an entirely different gameplay experience.
The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood features a diverse cast of characters and explores themes of identity, gender, romance, family, community, and personal responsibility. Photo from Deconstructeam
I was really blown away by the diverse cast of characters in The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood. There were women of colour, queer women, plus-size women and trans women. I liked that the game explicitly states that trans women are real women and welcomes them into the coven. It was really nice to see such positive trans representation in a game.
The game features mini games where you can craft your own Tarot deck. Photo from Deconstructeam
I found the Tarot card building mini games to be interesting. How it works is you select a background and then drag magical components with the cursor and place them onto the card. The position that you place items on the card will effect the magical energy of each card and what their meaning will be. I liked reading about what each card represented after I finished crafting them.
The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood is one of the best visual novels that I have played on the Nintendo Switch. If you enjoy narrative adventure games I highly recommend it. It will cast a spell over you.