The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood is a charming mix of visual novel, political drama, and artist toolkit that tells the story of a coven of space witches. The player character, Fortuna, is exiled for forecasting the destruction of the coven, and is exiled for a millennia. Desperate, Fortuna makes a pact with an elder demon, exchanging either their immortality, loved ones, or the rest of their coven in exchange for the ability to create a new divination deck that allows them to grasp the full extent of their power to write the future and define the past.
In gameplay terms, you manage your resources needed to create new major arcana for a tarot-style deck and perform readings for the colorful cast of characters who come to visit you during your exile, which grants you more resources. Your readings always come true, and regardless of what cards you draw, you can usually find a way to tip the scales of fate in your favor. But this doesn’t always make things better; as when the leader of the coven dies, a general election is called that will result in you (likely) running for office for Witch President, running against your two “best friends”, who are caricatures of communists and conservatives. The last half of the game sees you managing your campaign in addition to your witch energies and culminates in an impressive ending sequence where the fate of your coven is determined and a leader is chosen while the fate of the world hangs in the balance. But then, the terms of your pact are invoked, and your sacrifice is made. Unless you go for the hyper-fascist power ascension ending in which you literally become God to reshape the universe as you see fit, Fortuna takes her agency back from the player and is always unhappy with the outcome. In my first playthrough, I used my powers to win the election, so I could guarantee that my policies (some of which I felt were right but unfavorable) would be put into place, but I had chosen to sacrifice my immortality at the beginning of the game (which I saw as a blessing; as immortality would surely be a curse, even in fantasy space witch world). So, my Fortuna returned to Earth to live out life as a mortal, and I was given no option to simply accept or (gasp) enjoy this ending, instead going into a time loop where you’re given the prompt to make different choices and eventually usurp God. :/
Also, this game is political in a social commentary way rather than just a philosophical one. And I felt it was both too ham-fisted and too silly. No men have ever become witches, but non-binary people and trans women (but NOT trans men) can. Which is whatever, it’s a silly game and who cares. But it feels like no one is happy with this- not men, not trans men, and not people who generally support equality rather than just man-bashing. Also, the game features entirely too much conversation about sex and drug use in a way that does not make interesting commentary on either theme; neither does it advance the plot in any meaningful way. It reads as complete virtue signaling and should have been cut.
I liked the card editor. I’m going to use it for my next D&D campaign. Fun game, great art, interesting story, milquetoast politics and heavy-handed virtue signaling. Games from this studio (previously, The Red Strings Club) have routinely been worthwhile experiences that utilize interesting gameplay mechanics in their storytelling.