The Butterfly's Dream

I just finished playing the current version of “The Butterfly’s Dream” - and I cannot fully express how much I enjoyed it! It is a living work of art, a peaceful Tao / Ch’an meditation (wonderful flute music), an intellectual challenge (great selection of puzzles), and a sweet story in the tradition of ancient Chinese tales. A delight for the eyes, ears, and mind! The only disappointment was that - after immersing myself in that magical world for many hours - I discovered that the game is still a work-in-progress, not yet finished by its creator. Will Mei succeed in her matchmaking efforts? Will the carpenter or the gardener win the heart of Mei’s friend? Will the elderly couple’s food be stolen by the Goo Goos? Will Chuan’s repaired boat make it across the river safely with Mei? Will Chuan’s cormorant turn into a magical being to help them? And will the conceited “beauty” ever stop admiring herself in the mirror? Well, I just hope that creator Yang Liu’s “To Be Continued” statement at the end was a promise to be fulfilled soon. In the meantime, I want to tell Yang Liu how much I love him or her for creating “The Butterfly’s Dream”, and to say *xièxie* to PlumpBun Studio for making this lovely game available to us for free. (And just for the record, I’d definitely be willing to pay for the next part of the game when it’s ready!)

I was very disappointed when I seemed to have “lost” this game, it happened while I searched for a new game to play, I had clicked on this one, and was intrigued by it, yet I somehow I lost it! I went two nights in a row in the attempt to find it, I didn’t know the title, just remembered the music, so when I finally found it, I instantly installed it! I love games like this - head scratchers that make you look and really think. The hints helped when I was about to give up hope, especially on the weights and scales part, my only drawback, it was ambiguous at times. It wasn’t too difficult, just short gameplay-but, so worthwhile! The aesthetics in it were..um, well..there’s no word (incredible does no justice, it’s very humbling when I saw them though!)The instrumentals were delicate and the drawings were so blissful. Made you feel as if you were in the village itself! Overall, it was very enjoyable, I hope the creator adds on to this, or has series of the game, to find out who this character is. Thank you for your hard work this far. It was as if this game is like a warm cup of chamomile tea! Bless you 💕

This game is def a “sleeper” meaning that I was so surprised at what a really great game this is! The music, the art, the story, the characters, the background noises of nature are all incredible and culturally mesmerizing. It felt like I was in China a century ago! All this creates a very peaceful, meditative air yet you find that there is actually a mystery to solve of “who am I & how did I get here?”. You wake up with amnesia & meet characters who try to help you on a journey to find yourself again. In order to do so tho, you are presented with various puzzles. The puzzles are cool. They remind me of the kind of puzzles in “The Cube” series (altho that’s a TOTALLY diff kind of game in ambience & feeling). They aren’t too difficult but are just enough of a challenge that you feel a payoff when you solve them. Congrats to Plump Bun (even the name of the developer is cool, makes me hungry for char siu bao!!)

This game is absolutely beautiful. It is a unique and innovative puzzle game that requires diverse problem solving skills. It’s phenomenal and very creative. I will say though, without the hints I would not have made it very far. Objectives for the game are totally unclear and leave you clicking all around. It’s not impossible. I just wish tasks were more clear. The puzzle themselves are super easy, but figuring out how to obtain the information to solve them is vague and unclear. It’s listed as a relaxing puzzle game, and it is regarding illustrative designs and soft music. But personally I don’t think it’s truly relaxing if it requires a lot of attentiveness and thought. Also, I personally like to game discreetly or late at night before bed and this is definitely not conducive for that. It requires speaking into the microphone and movement of your device to solve some problems. It doesn’t allow you to turn off the music in the application, yet requires sound to solve problems, which also means some puzzles aren’t possible to solve for people with impaired hearing. Overall, I think it’s a great game if you’re willing to get into it. I applaud the developers for creating this truly unique and beautifully designed game. It’s worth a try, if its your cup of tea. Unfortunately it was not mine. I am looking forward to any updates they make to enhance the user experience and accessibility, if they do.

I pre-ordered this game because the preview images looked intriguing, and I was not disappointed! The graphics are gorgeously illustrative and super smooth. This is a multi layered design, both visually and through the gameplay. The music is super soothing, as well. The puzzles were the right amount of difficulty, though some were a bit more challenging than others. Chinese culture even influenced the puzzles, which was really refreshing. I tried not to use the hints, but sometimes I needed them because so much of the game is exploratory-based. I needed to use scrap paper at times. I loved playing this game and wish it were longer. It's a well-made game, especially for being free. I hope the storyline will get updates in the future; very well-done!