The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood Preview – A Narrative Adventure About Tarot-Hipster Witches? Count Me In

The narrative genre had a resurgence during the pandemic lockdown periods. I feel gamers needed an escape more than ever during these times, and we saw the popularity rise for games like Animal Crossing. However, another game that received attention was Coffee Talk. A simple game about running a coffee shop and serving warm drinks to patrons. While this genre always had a following, it was during this time that many discovered it was their preferred way to enjoy video games. Now, developer Deconstructeam, known for games such as Gods Will Be Watching and The Red Strings Club, have revealed their newest narrative adventure titled The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood.

While the team borrows elements from this genre resurgence, they make a unique mark on it using their grim story writing and charming character personalities.

I was able to play through the opening hour of The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood to get an introduction to its systems and characters. The game opens by introducing Fortuna, an exiled witch who must spend a millennium on a floating asteroid.

After 200 years, she has had enough and summons a forbidden creature named Abramar. Their relationship grows quickly as they both share similar goals of getting out of exile. This is the foundation of their pact, but through conversation, their depth and openness have me guessing they’ll grow closer.

Without a proper deck of Tarot cards, Abramar reveals to Fortuna how she can create a special deck using the four elements, Air, Earth, Fire, and Water. By unlocking this power, they steadily grow stronger, which casts doubt on how far this symbiotic relationship will go.

Players can make several choices during these early moments that depict what kind of person Fortuna is and her current mental state. It’s possible to make her out to be a vengeful narcissist, but I tried my best to keep her balanced.

I will say that the first guest who arrived to tease a possible chance of freedom caught me in a lie, but the restrictions for having guests were lifted. Fortuna also has relationships with other characters, and their backstories are depicted through flashbacks. How my choices will affect the later game is anyone’s guess, but I’m ready for anything.

Gameplay is primarily narrative-driven, but players have the choice of card creation, which is a significant system of the game. During interactions, Fortuna can read a visitor’s future. First, however, a single card is created by utilizing the pool of elements across three choices. Then, after the card is added to the deck, you can draw it at random, place it on the board, and choose a response.

It creates a lot of what-if scenarios as I always wondered what would have happened if I had given a different reading. I’m eager to see how this evolves as more cards are added to the deck and their effects on the reading.

Other choices require you to pay attention during conversations. But, take it from me, I accidentally put cheese on a pizza for a vegan…my bad. While these choices might not hold significance early on, I’m sure they will alter character relationships.

The witch aspect of this world is rather interesting as the narrative does a great job of detailing the nuances and rules of the witches. It’s delivered in an easy-to-digest way, and the music creates a relaxing atmosphere amid the sometimes dark narrative.

The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood has my attention, and I can’t wait to tell the fortune of these characters when the game releases on PC via Steam and Nintendo Switch later this year.