Butterfly's Life Circle

I chose the butterfly's life cycle as the core of the game's narrative. The butterfly's life cycle consists of five key stages, containing the transformation from egg to caterpillar, to cocoon, and finally from pupa to butterfly. Through this fantastical story of the natural world, I hope to guide the player on a symbolic journey through life from birth and growth to metamorphosis and maturity. Each life stage in the game not only represents a biological change, but also a metaphor for the different stages that humans experience in their growth.

In the twine game, I tried to combine the life cycle of the butterfly with the inner growth of the individual together to approach the gap of meaning. I have included in each stage of the butterfly's physical metamorphosis the depiction of the emotional and inner world of the form at that stage and elements of adventure. For example, in the “Cocoon” passage I transform the natural cocooning process of the caterpillar into an adventurous journey in search of the “cocoon of metamorphosis”, and in the “Butterfly” passage I use dreams and inner growth to depict the emotional and inner world of the butterfly. This process symbolizes the courageous exploration and challenge of life from the unknown to self-realization.

Through the structure of cycle, I try to express a thematic argument: life is a continuous process of reincarnation and renewal, and each stage has its own unique value and meaning. The growth and metamorphosis we undergo are not only external changes, but also the rising of self-consciousness. Explore the profound connection between nature and individual growth through the journey of the butterfly.

During the test, the testers mentioned that the pacing of some passages was slightly slow. Therefore, in order to make the story more compact, I enhanced the emotional tension when the caterpillar searches for the cocoon and breaks the pupa, and appropriately reduced the detailed description of the natural environment. In addition, some testers also suggested that the game was not interesting enough. So I added dropdown menu and cycling link in some passages to enhance the playability and increase the audience's motivation towards the game.