The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood Review: Joining a cosmic witch coven, be back never.

My best friend of 30 years recently introduced me to tarot cards; although we have several states between us, we’ve managed to take turns doing readings for each other every week. The first few readings were very casual in an effort to get used to tarot, but the weekly readings quickly became a therapy of sorts, the cards acting as prompts for deeper introspection. Had we been strangers off the street, I doubt our readings would have been as insightful, but because we have known each other for the majority of our lives our advice was relevant and considerate of any potential implications. And, as always, every call ends with us reminding each other how much we love each other and will always be there for one another.

Having a relationship like this made The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood all the more beautiful to experience. Developed by Deconstructeam and published by Devolver Digital, The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood is “an enchanting narrative experience as Fortuna, a fortune-teller Witch condemned to exile on her asteroid home” that asks players to “craft your own Tarot deck, regain your freedom, and shape the fate of the cosmic Witch society.” And as someone who has had to hold themselves back from dumping weeks into this game, if it sounds up your alley from the description alone, it is far, far better than you can imagine.

The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood has players taking on the role of Fortuna, a witch dedicated to the art of divination through tarot. Unfortunately for Fortuna, she’s been exiled to live in complete isolation in her cute, cosmic cottage atop an asteroid floating aimlessly through space. Worse still, she’s been stripped of her tarot cards during this lonely millenium — essentially depriving Fortuna of any real expression of her magic — and all because she predicted the coven’s downfall! 200 years into her sentence, Fortuna snaps and summons the behemoth Ábramar, partially in an effort to stay sane but potentially as a route to seek vengeance. Only time (and player choice) will tell which course of action Fortuna chooses.

As The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood is a narrative experience, players will come to know Fortuna, those near and dear to her, and the witchy cosmos in which they all reside through the story that unravels. Exactly how it unravels is up to player choice, however; some decisions will see some witches become key figures in Fortuna’s life while others mean they float off into the background as quickly as they floated in. No matter which direction players take, one thing is for certain: players are in for one hell of a good story with depth, character, and love.

As for how the choices are made in The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood, a large number of them are through readings. Not tarot cards, mind you — after all, Fortuna’s tarot deck was confiscated as part of her sentencing — but with cards crafted through cosmic power. Players will be able to create their own cards with meanings based off their imagery and element, which are in turn used during the readings Fortuna has with her visitors. Just like in tarot readings, the cards might hold different meanings depending upon their draw order and interpretation, and just like in readings that are taken seriously, the querents take this advice, implement it into their lives, and report back to Fortuna on what happened. It’s one thing to influence a main character’s choices, but the choices of those around her? Talk about pressure!

Speaking of those around Fortuna, The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood is so much more than just a tarot card simulator: it’s a story of… well, sisterhood. Fortuna’s friends are few in her eyes, but their love for each other runs deep. They express how much they love each other out loud, they know each other’s little quirks down to being able to read between the lines of a short sentence, and fight tooth and nail for their friendships while respecting each others’ sometimes opposed philosophies. There is a specific kind of love experienced here — one rarely, if ever, presented in video games — that beautifully unfolded on screen that made me shed a tear or two more times than I’d like to admit.

I don’t really have that many complaints for The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood because this game exceeded all of my wildest expectations in terms of story, mechanics, and world-building; with that being said, I do have one issue with the card crafting UI. While it was annoying that some elements are required to craft the card with no exceptions, that was easy enough to get over with the layer button (just hide the offending assets behind others to get around this requirement). What I struggle with even 20 hours in, however, is the fact that there’s no “undo” button. Too many times I’d delete an asset just to see what the space would look like without it, only to realize I liked it and, as habit, search for an undo button to get that carefully sized and placed asset with a single click; alas, no such button exists, and it’s as eternally frustrating as being locked away for a millenium without my cards. If only I could summon a behemoth to give me such a button…

I want to stress that, UI issue aside (weighted more due to the fact that crafting cards is where you’ll spend the bulk of your time), The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood is one of the best games released in 2023. Without tiptoeing into spoiler territory, it’s a brilliant example of ludonarrative harmony featuring gorgeous aesthetics, a scintillating story, fascinating characters with real and raw emotions, a woefully underutilized concept/mechanic, and endless replay value (although I would love to get a skip already-read dialog button, to be honest). The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood has literally everything to make a witchy heart happy — no joke, I’m eager to wrap up this review just to jump right back into Fortuna’s world.

Deconstructeam’s five years spent on The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood has resulted in one of the most ingenious games ever made; if you’re into tarot, I know you’ll agree with this assessment. From its aesthetics to its mechanics, from its story to its impact, The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood is a one-of-a-kind experience made with love by video game artisans. Don’t let The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood’s understated beauty and vibes fool you — it’s easily in my top 5 games this year and is clear GOTY material, and if you’re ready to ponder the mysteries of a cosmic witch coven, I’m certain it’ll be one of your favorites too.

Final Verdict: 4.5/5

Available on: Switch, PC (Reviewed); Publisher: Deconstructeam; Developer: Devolver Digital; Players: 1; Released: August 16, 2023

Full disclosure: This review is based on a copy of The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood provided by the publisher.