HomeFeaturesThe Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood
The RPS Advent Calendar 2023, December 5thIt’s all in the cards
It’s all in the cards
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun
The fifth game in our 2023 Advent Calendar is “future-proof” in a different kind of way.
A big hand, please, forThe Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood!
Image credit:Devolver Digital
In Deconstructeam’s sumptuous, adventurousvisual novel, you’re an exiled seer, Fortuna, who is bodging together her very own custom deck of Tarot cards with the assistance of a menacing, yet surprisingly likeable (indeed, sort of romanceable) Behemoth. Over 10 hours or so, you resize and mash together props and backdrops using an MS Paint-style editor, unlocking sets of pre-written associations in response. You then use these cards to scry the futures of the other witches – old friends, old rivals and a smattering of new faces - who come to visit your lonely asteroid refuge. In the course of performing each reading, you play cards in response to each character’s questions and so, steer the plot, without ever setting foot outside your astral home.
There’s also, of course, a tension between what the developers tell you the cards mean, and what you intended as their creator within the game. Part of the fun is this feeling of amicable disagreement with Deconstructeam over the correct analysis of, say, a card depicting a host of angels with trumpets sticking out of their bottoms. (Yes, that’s one of mine.)
Image credit:Devolver Digital
