Fluttering Souls – First Impressions
Review copy provided by the publisher
You could fit about a dozen Fluttering Souls boxes in one of the larger offerings from Good Games Publishing. That’s not saying anything bad, either. It’s just noting one of the only small boxes in the catalog alongside games like Guild Master, Unfair, and other titles.
This isn’t some big experience. It’s a tight card game for two players that finishes in under 20 minutes. Depending on how the game goes, it could end in much less time as well.
Designed by Joel Lewis, with picturesque art from Dejana Louise Storey, Fluttering Souls is a set-collection card game with a card tableau that players will deconstruct with each card draw (similar to 7 Wonders: Duel) until there are no cards remaining and players score.
A small amount of strategy exists in determining how to do that, but it’s a really simple game that you can teach in two minutes and finish not long after. Take it with you on a trip. Open it up with your friend or family member who doesn’t like gaming all that much. Play it once. Play it ten times. Fluttering Souls is not there to be your answer to Gloomhaven. It’s there for when you throw your back out trying to pick up Gloomhaven but you still want to play a game while you’re laid up on the couch.
Let’s look at what’s there.
What It Does
If you haven’t heard the legend of the White Butterfly, it’s a poignant tale of love, loyalty, and connection.
Many years ago, an apprentice merchant named Takahama fell hopelessly in love with a woman named Akiko. They became engaged, but tragically, Akiko died before they could be wed. Takahama was distraught. He had built a life and a successful career, but he could not bear to be away from his love. Such was his dedication to Akiko that he abandoned his trade and gave his life to the upkeep of the cemetery where she was buried.
For 50 years Takahama visited Akiko’s grave every day with a single pure white rose. One day, Takahama fell so ill he could not go outside. Fearing he may die, his sister and niece came to care for him. While he lay there, unable to move, a butterfly of the purest white landed gently on his pillow. Annoyed, Takahama’s niece tried to shoo the butterfly, but it would not stray from the pillow of the dying man. As Takahama’s final breath left his body, so the butterfly flew to the grave of Akiko and disappeared.
White butterflies are believed to be the visiting souls of loved ones. Worried that Takahama had not visited her grave that day; Akiko looked over him and did not leave until his soul had joined hers.
Now that’s a really sad story, but the beautiful part of it (other than the couple’s dedication to each other) is the concept of the white butterfly and its significance as a symbol of love.
The white butterfly is the (somewhat thin) connection to Fluttering Souls. Players compete to win each round and when they do they gain a white butterfly token. First to three wins. It’s not as beautiful as the story. Doesn’t really go into the deep end of storytelling… But at the end of the day, it’s not the point of the game. This is a set-collection card game. Go read a book if you need the narrative that badly, Jesse.
The two-player game will last three to five rounds as each player races to claim three tokens before their opponent. Players will take turns selecting a butterfly from the open design and then they’ll tally victory points from each set of butterflies they have collected at the end of the round. The one with the most points secures a white butterfly token.
How It Does It
Five different butterflies score five different ways. The Blue Morpho only scores 4 points when you have a set of three. The Eighty-eight scores 3 points for every pair you have at the end of the round. The big-ticket Monarch scores 2 points for a pair, 5 points for a trio, and 8 points if you get all four. The Swallowtail is special, awarding 2 points if you only get one but allowing a player to use it as a wildcard butterfly for scoring if you manage to get both of them. And then there is the Great Eggfly, which is given to the player who goes second each round. Whoever has the Great Eggfly card can place it down on the spot that they just emptied when they take a card. It’s used to foil your opponent’s plans. And, for whoever has it at the end, it counts as a tie-breaker on points.
Those are the butterflies and how they score. But there needs to be a structure to the game.
That’s achieved with layout cards. This deck of cards is shuffled and then one layout option is drawn for each round. That layout will determine how the butterflies are arranged, which cards are faceup, and which cards are facedown.
The facedown cards (along with the two remaining cards that aren’t used in the layout) make it impossible to accurately determine what butterfly species are where and how many are being used in the round. The faceup cards give you a sense of where you might want to focus your energy as far as set collection is concerned.
And the important rule about the layout is that cards overlapping another card also lock that from being taken. Only when the one or two cards layered over a butterfly are removed can that card then be taken by a player.
That’s pretty much it, though.
Draw and set up a layout. Determine the first player. Deal out the cards. Take cards in turn order until they’re all removed. Score points. Award the butterfly token. Rinse and repeat.
Why You Might Like It
Fluttering Souls plays fast and it’s a game that you can talk over. Sometimes, when you’re traveling or with non-hobbyist gamers, you need something small and unpretentious. This is that kind of game.
The artwork is beautiful and the gameplay is easy. You can teach this game and finish the first play in twenty minutes or less.
Why You Might Not
There’s not a lot of depth here. That’s by design but it’s also going to be a non-starter for many gamers. Even though it’s a small-box game experience, some players won’t get over that hurdle of how streamlined and simple it is.
You won’t be discovering strategy for this game after many plays. The core concept comes easily and it won’t change mechanically as you keep bringing it to the table.
Final Thoughts
There are games for everyone. I believe that. And games that work for one person may not work for someone else. That doesn’t make it a bad game. Just designed for a particular audience.
And I say that because I imagine many people in the hobby might look at something like Fluttering Souls and say, “Bah, that’s not a game” or “But where’s the depth?!”
I understand that. Fluttering Souls is not my usual cup-o-tea. It’s probably not going to stay in my collection. But it’s a good game. It does exactly what it was meant to do. Which is create a light and fun card-collecting experience for someone who doesn’t have a lot of time on their hands. Or it provides an accessible window into the hobby for someone to share with a friend or family member. Or it could get your board-game brain buzzing before diving into something deeper. Again, it’s not Gloomhaven. But it could sit on the shelf right next to that big box, not take up any space, and easily be pulled off of the shelf when you need it.
As far as the gameplay, I like the Great Eggfly card. It starts off as a catch-up mechanism for the second player that quickly turns into a strategic blocking tool. And the Swallowtail is interesting as it enables you to somewhat adapt to butterfly sets that you’re unable to finish. The combination of faceup and facedown cards also injects the right amount of uncertainty. You can’t just math the game out from the beginning. Those facedown cards and the two left out of the game put a wrench in the analytical gears.
If you enjoy card games, this is a simple and appealing option for you. If you like set-collection, then this one is different (to an extent) every round given the layout of the butterfly species. If you like beautiful art, then the box is fetching and the butterflies are pretty. If you like games to take when traveling, this is as light as they come.
Good Games Publishing as other titles as well, so if you’re interested in Fluttering Souls or something else, check them out!
Have you heard of Fluttering Souls? What small card games do you enjoy? Are there any that you play with those new to the hobby?
Let us know in the comments and give a recommendation for other games of which to share our first impressions.