Even Cowgirls Bleed is a Twine based work by Christine Love that follows a wannabe cowgirl as she heads to the Wild West for adventure. Lonely, and riddled with self-contempt, the wannabe cowgirl adopts an unruly persona and shoots everything with her pistol. Thus, the cowgirl’s pistol becomes the sole interactive element for the player; when indicated by red text, the player moves their cursor over the directed word(s) and “shoots,” causing more text to appear and a retro shooting sound to play. This work is largely absent from any major graphics, images, or experiential aspects, though this arguably makes the narrative’s themes more compelling. With the player’s focus on Love’s brash, misguided character, the wannabe cowgirl’s journey through the Wild West becomes irresistible. The shooter-style interactive elements, though minimal, aid in establishing the absurdity of the character as well.

Because the narrative is primarily focused on the wannabe cowgirl’s adventure, the ending becomes shocking; the dramatics of the narrative climax allow Love to explore deeper themes of self-loathing and self-destruction. The unruly cowgirl persona is challenged by the wannabe cowgirl’s mistakes, which allows Love to explore what it means to be a cowgirl in the fictional Wild West setting. The shift in textual elements and color at the end is also a calculated change and further emphasizes the idea that even confident cowgirls can bleed.

This entry was produced for Dr. Melinda White’s Digital Literature class at the University of New Hampshire for the Spring 2026 semester.