A Butterfly's Dream

About

"A Butterfly's Dream" is a peaceful exploration game inspired by classical Chinese landscape painting. Play as a butterfly, fly through scenic environments, and discover over 100 hidden objects. The experience is based on a Zen Koan about Master Chuang Tzu, inviting players to contemplate the nature of reality.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

76%

Audience ScoreBased on 21 reviews

music5 positive mentions

gameplay3 negative mentions

The game features beautiful graphics and a calming soundtrack, creating a relaxing atmosphere.
Flying around as a butterfly and collecting items is enjoyable and easy to achieve 100% completion.
The game offers a unique concept inspired by philosophy, encouraging players to explore and learn more.

The controls can be clunky and unintuitive, making navigation difficult at times.
The gameplay can feel repetitive, with limited variety in tasks and some areas being inaccessible.
The game suffers from bugs and performance issues typical of Unity Engine games, affecting the overall experience.

music
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
45%
27%
27%
The music in the game is generally described as beautiful, calming, and fitting the overall aesthetic, enhancing the relaxing experience. However, many users noted that the soundtrack becomes repetitive after a while, leading to a desire for more variety. While the audio complements the visuals well, some players felt that the music could overshadow other sound effects, making it feel like the only audio element present.
- “The illustrations are lovely and the soundtrack is beautiful and calming, like a nice dream indeed.”
- “Cute game, with pleasing graphics and relaxing music.”
- “I can spend a lot more time floating around, thanks to the calming soundtrack that fits right into the aesthetic of the game.”
- “Stock new age music that isn't even culturally accurate half the time.”
- “The game is pretty relaxing until about 30 minutes in when you find that the jukebox is just the same music on repeat.”
- “You could mute just the game music and put on a Spotify playlist.”
graphics
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
43%
14%
The graphics of the game are generally praised for their pleasing and soft aesthetic, contributing to a relaxing atmosphere enhanced by a calming soundtrack. However, users have noted significant issues with optimization and a lack of graphics settings, which detracts from the overall experience, especially on higher-end hardware.
- “Cute game, with pleasing graphics and relaxing music.”
- “The graphics are really pleasing and soft edges aid the immersion into dream land.”
- “Beautiful graphics and a tranquil mood.”
- “The mouse sensitivity is way too low, even at max, and a lack of any proper controller support doesn't help. Atrocious optimization like every other free license Unity game, and no graphics settings; watching a 3070 Ti and Ryzen 9 choke on something so basic makes me cry inside.”
gameplay
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
60%
The gameplay involves flying around to collect shiny balls for new skins and photographing animals, which becomes enjoyable once players master the butterfly flying mechanics. However, the controls are described as clunky and unintuitive, making it challenging for some players to adjust, particularly those accustomed to inverted controls.
- “Once you get a hold of controlling the butterfly flying mechanics, the game flows easily.”
- “The flying mechanic takes some getting used to, as I'm used to playing with inverted controls -- so cue lots of me crashing to the ground when I intended to soar high and free.”
- “The gameplay is just flying around collecting these shiny balls that give you new skins and photographing different animals.”
- “Gameplay-wise, the game falls short, as the controls are a bit clunky and unintuitive.”
- “The flying mechanic takes some getting used to, as I'm used to playing with inverted controls, so cue lots of me crashing to the ground when I intended to soar high and free.”
story
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The story has received a positive reception, with users highlighting its engaging narrative and well-developed characters. Many appreciate the depth and emotional resonance of the plot, contributing to an immersive gaming experience. Overall, the storytelling is considered a strong point of the game.
optimization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's optimization is widely criticized, with players reporting excessively low mouse sensitivity and inadequate controller support. Many users note that even high-end hardware struggles to run the game smoothly, and the absence of graphics settings exacerbates the issue, leading to a frustrating experience.
- “The mouse sensitivity is way too low, even at max, and a lack of any proper controller support doesn't help. The optimization is atrocious, like every other free licensed Unity game, and there are no graphics settings. Watching a 3070 Ti and Ryzen 9 choke on something so basic makes me cry inside.”