allboardgames.com
The Butterfly Garden (second Edition) box art
2021 Ranked #14,491

The Butterfly Garden (second Edition)

A set-collection game has players capture butterflies and race to deliver them to protected gardens for victory points. Low cards improve turn order but carry fewer butterflies, creating a choice between access and supply.

Animals Card Game Set Collection Animals: Butterflies

Players

2-5

Play time

Not listed

Age

14+

Complexity

1.5/5

Rating

6.27

Harder to teach Highly interactive Deep strategy

Overview

At a glance

Is this game right for my group?

ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.

Teachability 2.4/5

Harder to teach

Replay value 4.0/5

High replayability

Interaction 3.7/5

Highly interactive

Player scaling 4.2/5

Scales well

Strategic depth 4.5/5

Deep strategy

See all 5 specifications

How it plays

How does it play?

Help save endangered butterflies! Construction projects in your city are disrupting the natural butterfly habitat.

Core mechanisms

Key systems that shape the decisions players make.

Read the full game description

Help save endangered butterflies! Construction projects in your city are disrupting the natural butterfly habitat. Capture butterflies and deliver them to protected butterfly gardens in local zoos, botanical gardens, and museums. The game is played in a series of rounds. Players start each round by playing a card from their hands to determine the round's turn order. Cards are numbered from 0 to 59, and lower numbered cards go first. On a turn, a player captures butterflies from the field and adds them to the jar. When possible, players "deliver butterflies" from their jars to the different butterfly gardens to score victory points (VPs). Which butterflies can be delivered is indicated on the face-up "delivery cards" and players are often in a race to deliver butterflies to take the cards and score points. The player with the most VPs at the end of the game wins. During the game, players must carefully decide which butterfly cards to play. By playing lowered numbered cards, players not only get a better pick of butterflies in the field, but they also get first chance at delivering butterflies. However, lower numbered butterfly cards usually have fewer butterflies on them, so players cannot add as many to their jars. Also, butterfly cards with special powers usually have high numbers, so you often must sacrifice turn order in order to use one of these special powers. In this second edition, the artwork and components have been upgraded. A major rule change is a new set-collection aspect of the delivery cards. There are now 4 types of delivery cards and players score a bonus for having a variety. Also, there are some minor rule changes with scoring butterflies in one's hand and jar at game end. Another small change is in the special powers on some of the cards. The maximum number of players in the second edition was lowered to 5 from 6.

Browse all classifications

Shopping

Where to buy

No verified retailer offers are available yet. The references below may still help you continue your search.

Unverified shopping references

Editions

Language and publisher variants currently recorded in the catalog.

Edition Year Language Publisher / Region
No editions imported yet.

Player resources

Rulebooks, player aids, FAQs, and solo resources.

No files imported yet.

Game and edition data

All specifications (5)

Play and group

Players
2–5
Best with
2–5
Play time
30 min
Age
14+
Complexity
1.5/5
Credits and catalog connections

Credits

Designers

1
Steve Finn

Artists

1
Akha Hulzebos

Publishers

1
Dr. Finn's Games

Linked items

No published linked games yet.