monarch
a tale of migration and resilience.
when I was a child in the suburbs of southern california in the early aughts, the monarch butterfly migration was an event that I could only describe as magic. I walked through clouds of them on the way home from school. flocks so thick that they blotted out the sky. the windshield of my mom's camry collected dozens of them with every grocery run. in parking lots their carcasses decorated the grills of vans and oversize SUVs. when they came, people rejoiced online: "the butterflies are back!" until slowly — almost imperceptibly at first — they stopped coming.
western monarch butterflies have declined by 99% since the 1980s.
~*~*~*~
art, words, and code by me
music is ektar 100 by r beny
sounds are open source
use your mouse to navigate. apologies for any strange audio issues on the browser version.
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really nice game! i love the art style and atmosphere
A beautiful monarch butterfly's fluttering wings and sadness.
I once saw a documentary program about the great migration of monarch butterflies. But the filming was recent, so the previous migration you witnessed was about 100 times as long.
Please pray that this flapping of wings will never cease in the future, meow~🦋🐈️🦋
That was a really beautiful and also profoundly sad game. I'm glad to have experienced it.
I adore the authenticity in this. I didn't exactly enjoy playing this game, but it felt like time well spent. This feels like my own childhood memories, I can really feel how much this loss of butterflies actually matters to you. It also reminds me of a song by Porter Robinson, a bit about nostalgia, but also about the beauty of the world as it is.
"Growing blind to the butterflies around me
Knowing I'd remember it accurately"
Thank you for making this.
I always have to take the time to check our your new projects. Another lovely creation. I remember once being swarmed by a Monarch migration in Southern California as a young man. It is one of my fondest memories. 🦋
Love your art style! So beautiful and elegant!!
Thank you for recreating your experience of walking home for all of us!
so loving 🦋
It's hard being a butterfly
it's so beautiful and i really feel like i am a part of these butterflies
very beautiful, elegant, gentle and sad
Beautiful yet brutal work! I really love it when games tell me bad things are going to happen at the very beginning and all I can do is to keep playing until it unveils. Out of control and upsetting but also so damn good.
I like how the number of butterflies serves as guides and interacts with the environment to create a narrative. Really nice work!!
Awesome mechanic story telling!
Elegant storytelling in showing the human impact. I wasn't aware of just how big the monarch migration used to be. Wish I could've seen it.