Thanks to Dinoberry Press for sending us a copy of Little Wolves for this review.

You can find the manual here at the price of $30 for the digital edition and here for $50 in the physical softcover edition (with digital file included), both in English only.

At your disposal, to help you understand whether the Little Wolves universe is made for you or not, you can find a demo of the manual along with some podcasts (still uploaded on the page Backerkit) relating to his plays.

So let’s go into the shadows of the forest to look for the tracks of our cubs.

Little Wolves Setting Review

You live in the Enchanted Forest, where four different Courts live in balance: the Courts of the Witches (in the North), the Courts of the Pumpkins (in the East), the Courts of the Mermaids (in the West), and the Courts of the Trolls (in the South). All the fairy creatures live in harmony, each with their own role. Drawing heavily on traditional folklore, you will find yourself interacting with beings from legends such as Unicorns, Dust Fairies, and Harpies. With this volume in your hands, you will be able to gain a thorough knowledge of the legends, even the lesser-known ones. You, on the other hand, are young werewolves, grappling with the changes brought on by your age and the various phases of the moon.

Of course, in your human form you’ll have some powers, and in your wild form, others. Will you be able to juggle your two distinct identities?

Game Mechanics

Sometimes, you’ll find yourself facing challenges that require special effort on your part. These will be presented to you by the Guide, the narrator of the situation.

It’s important to know that in Little Wolves, we’ll be at the mercy of the four elements: Air, Earth, Fire, and Water. Each of these elements corresponds to specific characteristics of ours: for example, earth represents empathy, strength, resilience, and patience. The first thing to do when faced with a challenge is to understand which element most influences it. In a breathless race, following these parameters, fire will be the dominant element: it also represents energy. We’ll also have three attributes: Sniff, Bark, and Claw. Sniff will be useful in situations where we need to sharpen our senses, use our intuition, or conduct reconnaissance. Bark represents our ability to communicate and tell stories. Claw, on the other hand, represents our more physical abilities, such as grit and our skill at using objects.

So let’s start by figuring out how many dice we should roll. Let’s assume that, regardless of the circumstances, we’ll always roll at least one die. Then, we gain one for each attribute level that might be useful to us. We then gain or lose one if we’re strong or weak in that situation’s key element. This depends, for example, on which Court we’re loyal to.

Other details will also play a role. The situation changes depending on whether we were more or less attentive before the test (for example, whether we are the one being ambushed or being ambushed) or whether we are in our human or wolf form (since there are more feasible actions in both forms).

Little Wolves Dice and Elements Review

So how do we know if our action has been successful?

It’s simple: we will use six-sided dice where each face corresponds to an element as follows.

• 1 – Moon: you gain a luck point, which can be used to roll one more rank before your roll
• 2 – Wind
• 3 – Fire
• 4 – Earth
• 5 – Water
• 6 – Heart: the wildcard element that will represent what you want

 

The number of dice representing the dominant element of the situation must be equal to that required by the difficulty of the test in a given number of game turns: for an easy comparison, for example, you will need to have 2 successes in a maximum of 4 game turns. If our wolf fails, however, at the Guide’s discretion, new scenarios may open up. He may lose an item, or he may still succeed, but it will come at a cost. Don’t worry too much: a good Guide can always be flexible with their requests, but above all, the group won’t have a specific order in which to act. Always choose wisely who will start among you, and if necessary, determine whether the group’s victory will depend not on the success of a single individual, but on everyone’s help.

Moon Phases and Masks

Moonlight influences every adventure of our group of little friends. Before the event, we’ll decide together what stage we’re in.

• Blushing Moonlight: Although there are several obstacles in your path, none of them will seem truly insurmountable. The air is filled with hope, and you are confident of your return home.
• Golden Moonlight: a night filled with mysteries, puzzles, and battles. But you’re young wolves, and you believe (perhaps naively) that everything will be okay.
• Frigid Moonlight: The woodland creatures seem hungry. You’ll have to be very careful, and it might not be enough anyway.

A sort of difficulty level, therefore, that will allow us to better manage the group we have in front of us and will make the adventures very different from each other.

A special mention goes to the ability to create a real mask to wear in your wolf form. Not only are you given a template, but we strongly recommend customising it to your werewolf preferences. You can also download a file created specifically for digital colouring.

Adventures in the Enchanted Forest

The manual also includes four ready-to-play adventures. The preferred Moon Phase for each indicates the difficulty level the group will face. They are also divided into chapters, so they can be played as small campaigns.

The very first one we’ll encounter, perfect for newcomers, is Zephyr’s Showdown. Set in a witches’ court, we’ll take part in a tournament for a game called Glombal, in which two teams will compete in a field full of traps and spells. What better setting to immerse yourself in a magical world?

Conclusions

We’ve saved the real gem of this manual for last: the illustrations. Rich, colourful, and at the same time dark where appropriate, they seem to have been plucked from an old-fashioned fairy tale. And I’m referring to one of those where the stories didn’t have happy endings and the macabre lurked behind the trees. Grendel Menz And SharpiBees did a great job, accompanied by the beautiful maps drawn by Fernando Salvaterra and from the dark cover of Jaen Nightly Butler.

The game design and its idea are of Julie-Anne “JAM” Munoz And Nevyn Holmes, who have recreated a world that would be perfect for a stop motion film of Tim Burton. In fact, to the little pack of wolves, the Enchanted Forest appears to be a sort of Wonderland, full of strange and fascinating characters, ready to enliven the stories told.

The 100 pages are presented on glossy paper and are beautifully printed, making the wonderful artwork stand out even more. At first glance, it’s like leafing through an art book about myths and legends.

By carefully calibrating the stories, Little Wolves is perfect for both beginners (even very young ones, so that they can better understand the role of these novice wolves) and for more experienced players, who will be able to capture the darkest part of the setting better.

A title with great potential in a format that won’t take up too much space in your library.

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