In this review we are pleased to talk to you about Women Are Werewolves. First of all we would like to thank Mana Project Studio for sending us a copy of this tabletop RPG. A non-binary narrative roleplaying game, as it is specified on the packaging, originally produced by 9th Level Games.
If you are interested in the game you can buy it from Mana Project’s web store at the price of 24.90 euros. There are no digital copies because Women Are Werewolves is not a manual, unlike many other roleplaying games, but a deck of cards.
Women Are Werewolves: Packaging Review
The deck is enclosed in a small, easy-to-handle, and well-made drawer-style box. Satisfying to the touch, it communicates at first glance everything there is to know about the game: the theme of lycanthropy and that of non-binaryity. The illustration by Silvia De Stefanis is perfect, especially the way the wolf’s purple fur contrasts with the gold lettering. The quality of the product is already fully evident.
This deck is made up of 85 cards, of which 25 illustrate the rules and setup of the game. The other ones are divided between cards that help establish the key points of the narrative (the context, the family dynamics, and the elements that characterize the mythology of the werewolves that give the game its name) and those that instead take it forward to the epilogue. Given the sensitivity of the themes brought into play, there is also the famous X-card, the security tool that, given the structure of the game, is presented here as a physical object.
Game Theme
Sensitivity is a key theme of the game. Women Are Werewolves addresses the theme of lycanthropy only as a metaphor. The goal is to allow players to explore the themes of the queer world and, of course, all its difficulties. The game, as it is explicitly stated, is not intended for queer people only. However, the characters are, as they were all born biologically female into a family in which only women have the ability to transform into werewolves.
What this entails is decided at the table, establishing how the various elements of the game are structured and which topics are best avoided. Once everything is ready, the selected cards guide players through the exploration of various topic categories.
It is important to underline that Women Are Werewolves is a roleplaying game that closely reminds of board game mechanics. Its structure doesn’t allow you to “play a character” in the traditional sense of the word. It is defined as a narrative game, because it focuses on telling key moments of their life. It is also masterless: everyone at the table has the same narrative authority. Players pass the spotlight among themselves, with no one ever taking the reins of narrating the “facts” not decided by the characters. However, there is a facilitator’s role, who will guide the others through the rules and safety tools.
Review of the Game Mechanics of Women Are Werewolves
Players take turns drawing cards that provide prompts to follow on three specific themes: lycanthropy, gender issues, and relationships with family. Each player develops that idea by answering the proposed questions. They explain how their character has faced and is facing it, while the others ask questions to help them further expand on the concepts. Once each player has answered the questions on their card and the table feels the theme has been fully explored, there is an interlude question. This is common to everyone and requires a shorter answer.
The game thus leads to the creation of a collective story that, through the individuality of the various characters, builds a sort of family saga centered on non-binary, queer figures and on the theme of “diversity”. This allows for an inner journey and deep reflection for everyone, conveyed through the epilogue phase.
Women Are Werewolves has been a major success in the gaming world, so much so that it won the 2023 PAX Tabletop Game Award, despite arriving in Italy two years late. This was also possible thanks to the efforts of Marta Palvarini, editor and curator of the Italian version, and the translation by Laura Fontanella.
The Mana Project team also took care of the guide for solo play, available for free on the publisher’s website. Women Are Werewolves thus turns into a journaling game, an epistolary path of the character that allows you to keep track of each step. Even more interesting is the two-player letter mode, which introduces an engaging exchange of letters between the two participants.
Conclusions of the Review of Women Are Werewolves
Women Are Werewolves is definitely a game that’s outside the box. It’s certainly so because of its structure, which takes the definition of roleplaying to the extreme for those who are not used to narrative games. The goal isn’t to move the character and see if and how they’ll succeed, but to tell how they deal with certain situations. Which leads to the second unusual element: the very strong association between the theme of lycanthropy and that of non-binary identity (and the queer world more generally).
The impact this game can have is enormous. Its simplicity and self-contained nature (it can be completed in a single session) allows players to truly delve deep into their inner world. For some, it may be a cathartic experience; for others, it may be instructive. It’s certainly a useful reflection, though it requires a certain sensitivity to social and human issues of universal significance, which not everyone is ready to address. But that’s no reason to back out: Women Are Werewolves is a game that deserves at least one session, to come out of it a little shattered and a little better person.
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