In this clever, butterfly-themed board game for two players, strategically (and simultaneously) move Caterpillars and Butterflies to capture your opponent's Monarch!
The game board is divided into three sections. Each player begins gameplay on their milkweed, or home row. The meadow fills the space between each player's milkweed; the fence is the dividing line at the halfway point of the meadow.
Each player begins gameplay with four Caterpillars and one Monarch, placed in their respective positions (1, 2, 3, 4, or M) on their home milkweed. Caterpillars can move one space orthogonally (up, down, left, or right). If Caterpillars successfully make it across the meadow into their opponent's milkweed, they automatically metamorphose into Butterflies and return to their starting position at their home milkweed. Butterflies can also move orthogonally but gain the added power of moving diagonally one space in any direction as well.
Monarchs are the most valuable piece in the game. Not only are they the piece that each opponent strives to capture but their movements are unique. They begin the game with the power to move one space orthogonally and diagonally, but cannot move beyond the fence. They also cannot be moved twice. As mentioned above, the goal of the game is to capture the Monarch. Any Caterpillar or Butterfly can capture the Monarch.
What makes Monarch different is simultaneous gameplay. Each player makes their move secretly behind a screen (the grove) on a compass, where their next move is decided by placing a die in the space corresponding to their next move. Illegal movements (those that cannot be made because they go against the rules of the game) will lead to the immediate end of the game. When each player has placed their die corresponding to their next move on their compass, both players groves are removed at the same time to reveal their moves simultaneously. Moves are made at the same time. If any Butterfly or Caterpillar lands in the same space as any other Butterfly or Caterpillar (whether that other Butterfly or Caterpillar is one's own or one's opponent), both pieces return back to their home milkweed. If any Butterfly or Caterpillar lands on the same space as a Monarch, the game is immediately over. Players can only move the Monarch or make no movement once (not twice in a row) before moving again; doing so twice in a row immediately ends the game. Lastly, if players choose "no movement" in the exact location of their opponent's movement, they have fortified their unit, which means it does not have to return to its home milkweed space (the opposing unit does, however!).
—description from the publisher
Abstract Strategy, Animals, Bluffing · Area Movement, Chaining, Hidden Movement, Simultaneous Action Selection
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