Paolo Garelli
In this review we will talk about Where is the Wolf?, a gamebook that will put our survival instinct to the test. I thank Dracomaca and Antonio Costantini for giving us a copy of their new work.
At first glance, we find ourselves in our hands a game book of 270 paragraphs with a strong impact colour cover illustrated by Antonello Venditti, and several valuable black and white illustrations created by Stefano Dell’Aria. The graphics are decidedly satisfactory and add the right visual component to an adrenaline-filled game.
You can find Where is The Wolf? on Amazon for €14.15.
Review of the Plot of Where Is The Wolf?
Where is the Wolf? has a simple and at the same time damned mysterious plot. You just woke up in a room. You are tired and disoriented and appear to have something on your face. In front of you, tied to a chair, stands a human in an orange jumpsuit wearing a wolf mask. A voice from a television tells you some simple rules to follow:
- If you take off your mask: you die.
- If you say your name: you die.
- Even if you talk about yourself: you die.
- If, at the end of the third day, there is more than one still alive: you will all die.
Here we are faced with a pure and simple massacre game in full Squid Game style. You don’t have a name, just a number. You are number 4 and you will have to make your way one way or another. You’re not a killer, you’re a normal man with normal problems who now has to decide what he’s willing to do to survive.
Let the hunt begin and… Good luck!
Review of the Rules of Where Is The Wolf?
In a game of massacre, the rules must be quick and make the player shiver when his resources run out. Where is the Wolf? succeeds perfectly in this undertaking with simple and intuitive mechanics.
The character sheet is divided into two columns, Injuries and Stress. Depending on the test we are going to face, we could lose points in one of the two parameters. For example, if we have to climb a surface we will have to do a physical test. At the beginning, we will roll 4 dice, but a few wounds will be enough to reduce the number of dice at our disposal. Each test has a difficulty value that indicates the number of successes needed to pass it; they correspond to the 4, 5 and 6 that we will be able to obtain. As we progress through the plot, we will be able to get our hands on objects and weapons that will increase the dice to use during fights.
The game manages story progression through the use of keywords called Codes. At certain points, the codes will allow us to unlock alternative paths and unique abilities. A peculiarity of this game is that, if we manage to get our hands on an ability, it will not disappear when the character dies; we can therefore also use it in subsequent attempts. This mechanic will make us experience the story from a different point of view, allowing us to discover different secrets without ever getting us stuck in dead ends.
Genetics and Randomness
You understand well how the lethality level is quite high. To overcome this inconvenience, the Genetics mechanic was inserted. We will have 5 points available which will allow us to re-roll a die for each point spent. This is a small but very welcome help when resources are running out and successes are becoming scarce.
Finally, all that remains is to talk about the White Die and the Black Die which represent randomness. At the beginning of the gamebook, we will roll two dice marking the result in the respective boxes. At some points in the gamebook, we will be asked if our result on one of the two dice is odd or even and this will change the story.
Because destiny is never completely in our hands.
Final Considerations
I played several games of Where is The Wolf? and sometimes I was the prey, but after an initial reluctance, I transformed into a ferocious predator. The gamebook presents tough moral choices to face and puzzles that will make the challenge even more interesting.
In some respects, it reminds me of a sort of escape room that will force you to come to terms with your morality. Kill or be killed. An interesting gamebook that I recommend adding to your library!
To conclude the review I can’t find a better way than to leave you the link to the trailer of the game book.
