Culture

Rating: 8/10

The gaming industry as a whole has grown incredibly quickly. But no other branch of gaming has seen more exponential growth than mobile gaming. It seems like a blink of an eye ago I was being enthralled by Snake on my dad’s Nokia (which was the size and weight of a brick), and now I can play games on a smartphone that can often stand toe-to-toe with console titles. Credit where credit’s due to the technology that made this possible, but the growth of this particular industry is a testament to the innovation and creativity of the game developers who have embraced and rapidly evolved this medium. Every day, new mobile games are being released, not only changing the way that we see and use our cell phones and tablets, but the way we see gaming in general.

Just past the Exchange right here in Dunedin is a beautiful building emblazoned with the letters “NZHS.” This acronym stands for Natural History New Zealand. This building houses some of the most creative and accomplished work being produced in New Zealand, including a games studio called Runaway Play. Runaway Play seeks to make mobile games inspired by nature that are both informative and fun. Their latest game, Flutter, exemplifies why the mobile industry is as strong as it is.

Flutter is a game in which you attract, care for and collect butterflies – a simple premise which contains a rich, fulfilling and informative experience. Set in a vibrant and colourful section of the rainforest, you begin the game with just a few branches and what looks like an egg incubator made from the trees, which you use to attract your first butterfly egg. The incubator randomly generates an egg based on three criteria: region of origin, size of butterfly and rarity.

After waiting for an allotted time, your egg will then hatch into a caterpillar. It is your responsibility to feed these ridiculously cute caterpillars leaves so that they can grow into butterflies. Once well fed, the caterpillars form cocoons from which eventually burst forth brilliant butterflies that fly around your rainforest generating honeydew, which acts as a currency in the game.

These are the basic mechanics of the game but, as all good games should, it introduces more complex features as you progress through it. Eventually, you must clear away sections of leaves to expand your forest and butterfly collection, which requires that honeydew generated by your butterflies. A levelling system allows you to upgrade your butterflies dew production, enabling you to clear your forest faster.

There is a huge variety of different species of butterflies to collect, which are organised in sets by which country they are from. Rewards and a personal sense of accomplishment encourage you to complete these sets. To make this possible, you can influence the kind of egg the incubator produces by collecting flowers which might, for example, give you a 50 per cent chance of producing a rare egg. For those of you who have played games like Dragonvale and been frustrated by the random species generation, this feature is great because it offers the player more control as well as challenging them to be creative.

The game is free to download and, like many mobile games, offers the opportunity for gamers to make micro transactions within the game for additional content or perks.

This is by far one of the most addictive mobile games I have ever played and it makes me so proud to see such a high quality game coming not just from my country, but from the city in which I reside. My recommendation: play it for a week, then go to the butterfly exhibit at the Otago Museum and see how much you’ve learned.