Every coven starts with someone who didn’t think they’d be let in
This society is for women and non-binary people who study the Humanities, Philosophy, or one of the so-called “soft” sciences: the irregular students of irregular degrees. You suspect there is a place for you in games, but no one has yet shown you the door.
If your path into the industry looks unconventional, that is not a liability here.
People with these degrees are often taught, quietly and over many years, to undervalue what they know: critical thinking, storytelling, cultural analysis, the patient work of interpretation. That doubt can keep them from roles where those skills are needed most, in user research, game and narrative design, production, UX design, brand management and more. And yet, those are the skills the medium needs to grow richer and more thoughtful.
What we do
At the heart of the society is a simple, old-fashioned thing: one person who has walked a path, accompanying another who is about to begin it. Around that, we offer:
Personalized mentorship — ongoing conversations with someone working in games today.
Recognizing your strengths — naming what you already bring, and learning to value it.
Speaking for yourself — practical ways to present your skills without hedging or apology.
CV workshops and feedback — turning your experience into a document that shows your potential.
Interview preparation — getting ready for the conversations that matter.
A wider map of the industry — games in Europe are far more than AAA studios. There are publishers, indie teams, serious games, research, localization and many more places to begin.
Confidence in your own direction – the aim is not to fit you into the industry, but to help you choose your place in it.
Where the name comes from
Our name is borrowed, with affection, from Sangu Mandanna’s novel The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches: a story about a witch who has spent her life keeping herself small and hidden, and the found family that teaches her she belongs. It is also a small homage to literature itself, and to the Humanities that shaped how we see the world.
Why we start early
In a competitive industry like games, the ability to speak for yourself plays an outsized role. Research suggests that women tend to underestimate their abilities while men are more likely to overestimate theirs (1, 2, 3), and anyone who doesn’t match an industry’s default image knows some version of that doubt. Confidence shapes opportunity.
So we begin with students, before the first application: helping them recognize what they are worth before anyone has had the chance to tell them otherwise. Games still lack diversity (4, 5), and diverse teams are measurably better at creative and complex problems (6).
+0.1%
In 2014, women held 29% of leadership positions in Germany. In 2024, they held 29.1%. A decade, and progress has all but stopped (Tagesschau, “Zahl der Frauen in Chefetagen stagniert”, 03.11.2025, based on Destatis data).
That stillness is the backdrop against which we work. Games is where we have chosen to begin changing it: early, and one person at a time.
The founders
Natali Rein studied subjects often called “impractical”: a BA in American and English Studies and Art History, then an MA in Literature and Linguistics. She found her confidence in the world of video games, and today works as a Senior User Researcher at Ubisoft.
We started the society in 2024 to carry that experience forward. To encourage people with Humanities backgrounds to bring their learning and their imagination into games, and in doing so to change both the industry and themselves.
“Bend the world to your needs. Do not be bent by it.” — Natali Rein
