Flutter: Starlight

Spoilers*This article is about a specific form of media, such as a movie or a video game. Therefore it may contain heavy spoilers so as to best discuss it. You have been warned!*
Flutter: Starlight is a mobile game produced by Runaway. It is available on Android through Google Play and iPhone through Apple Play. It serves as a spin-off or distaff counterpart to Flutter.

## Gameplay

The player has a large book to fill out. The information filled in is mostly pictures and small bits of information of the moths and a few other lifeforms that you can collect or encounter during the course of the game. All of the characters are genuine species, as opposed to fantastical creations. However, some characters are able to talk and they are all drawn in a stylized, but in a mostly species-recognizable style. The moths do not talk to you. Also, the moths are depicted with butterfly-styled wings rather than moths, as they are portrayed landing at a side-view instead of a back view, so they folded their wings so that the pattern is seeable as it would be with a butterfly. Additionally the caterpillar and pupa designs are based on their moth's color scheme and patterns rather than what they actually look like in real life. It mainly a game to help people appreciate the beauty and be educated on exotic moth species. But their is some leeway for fantasy.

As moths are associated with the night, the backdrop is always night. The moon-phase differs and follows real life. Different moths are available depending on the lunar and zodiac phases, so following the calendar is a little more important in this game. Players use flowers to help call specific kinds of moth caterpillars based on their adult size, rarity, and game-specific group based on a common feature all the (unrelated) moths present. This is a reference to moths being pollinators, and perhaps because certain moths only pollinate certain kinds of flowers, though all the flowers used for attracting caterpillars to the incubator are fictional. Caterpillars are fed generic leaves, and they definiately do not eat as fast as real caterpillars do. The caterpillars than pupate, and come out to become moths. The player does not know the species of moth until it is fully adult.

Like many mobile things tasks are time-oriented. Caterpillars have to wait to be fed again after a certain amount of time, depending solely on its species. They usually stay a pupa for the same time it takes for their caterpillar form to get hungry again. When they become moths they release coins after a certain amount of time depending on their level and species. Players have to fuse the same species together to increase their level, sometimes multiple times depending on the moth. In the original game Flutter: Butterfly Sanctuary, the coins are called Honeydew. I don't know why this change was made.

An Oriental Bay Owl named Michelle asks for moths to go on quests, which take anywhere from 30 minutes to (at least) 8 hours to complete for a known reward. A toad named Trevor eats fireflies (which look like the only fictional species in the game), and as a reward you gain flowers. Fireflies are collected as rewards from Michelle, tapping moths with coins, etc. You feed these to Trevor the Ornate Horned Toad, who gives you flowers in return. Every now and again there will be a special event that can last a day or more where one of a few ant characters asks you to grow mushrooms, which take a couple hours to fully grow. Collecting the finished mushrooms gets you closer to specific awards, including event-based moths. Recently this bee-fly showed up. I didn't ask for it, and its frequent laughter ruins the gentleness and calm of the music. I can't store her. I don't know what to do with her. Her creepy design is more reminiscent of what's in Flutter. I can't even see her snout easily, I have to zoom in super close to notice it. I just hate it. This weird dog bee-fly. There are also other bugs that you can buy, mainly different kinds of bees and glowbugs.

The Yellow Furry Legs moth is the first moth players get to have in the game. Interestingly enough, the designs of the moths don't include legs, so its named feature is absent. The longer I play the game, the more annoyed I am with some features. Like how the caterpillars take forever to feed even though in real life and in reputation caterpillars are known for constantly eating, rather than just eating a meal every hour. I also hate how the moths are presented as butterfly-like with their wings, but I know that this game wouldn't have gotten this popular if it wasn't for that. I feel like if there's ever a sequel, they should fix this feature and draw them so that when resting you see the top of them with their wings folded down.

## List of moths featured in the game (incomplete)

* *Acraga infusa*
* *Aithorape roseicornis*
* *Rosema zelica*
* *Chloropteryx opalaria*
* *Phauda mimica*
* *Campylotes desgodinsi*
* *Dysphania cuprina*
* *Agrius convolvuli*
* *Cephonodes hylas*
* *Cosmodens elegans*
* *Xanthiris flaveolata*
* *Anachloris subochraria*
* *Declana altronivea*
* *Declana egregia*
* *Phragmatobia fuliginosa*
* *Zeuzera pyrina*
* *Dysphania fenestrata*
* *Deilephila elpenor*
* *Pyroorpha dimidiata*
* *Eudryas unio*
* *Tissanga pretoriae*
* *Aenetus virescens*
* *Utetheisa pulchella*
* *Agila tau*
* *Arctia caja*
* *Caryatis phileta*
* *Dalcera abrasa*
* *Pityeja historionaria*
* *Erateina staudingeri*
* *Ormetica ameoides*
* *Dipthera festiva*
* *Smerinthus jamaicensis*
* *Cyclosia papilionaris*
* *Daphnis hypothous*
* *Eudaemonia argus*
* *Pleuroptya ruralis*
* *Pterophorus pentadactyla*
* Others

## Other creatures

* *Phodilus badius*
* *Ceratophrys ornata*
* *Elimaea punctifera*
* *Neuroctenus transitus*
* *Orthalicus reses*
* *Euspinolia militaris* (Not in Flutterpedia, said she was a Panda Ant)
* *Anastoechus nitidulus*
* *Nyctophilia reichii*
* *Xylocopa tranquebarica*
* Leafcutter ant (species unknown to me currently)
* Others

## References

1. ↑ https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.runawayplay.starlight
2. ↑ https://apps.apple.com/us/app/flutter-starlight/id1076468537
3. ↑ I played it.