Mahjong Butterfly Review – Review Introduction
This is a review of Mahjong Butterfly – a game for Kindle by Namco Networks America. It is available for $2.99 in the Amazon store and was initially released in September 21, 2011 and is rated 5 stars on 2 reviews.
Available on the following Kindle versions as of 10/4/2011: Kindle Keyboard (formerly Kindle 3), Kindle DX, Kindle 2nd Generation.
Mahjong Butterfly Review – Main Takeaways
When I bought this game to review it, I thought I would whip right through the game and get it over with. After all – I reviewed another Mahjong game for the Kindle last week. I read the instructions and my initial reaction was “cheesy!” What’s with this caterpillar/cocoon/butterfly bit and feeding your caterpillars? And then I started to play.
Then came a new problem – I could not quit playing. I love this game! I am addicted to this game! It is a perfect example of taking a game that so many users have played before (Mahjong) and adding twists to it to make it a much better game.
There are 47 levels within the game. In each level you have the opportunity to find a new caterpillar by matching caterpillar pieces. They go in the lower left hand corner in three spots for caterpillars you can work on. Each caterpillar has various lives assigned to it as well as needs for berries and leaves. Once those needs are met it turns into a cocoon. Then, using the two sun tiles in the level, your cocoons are hatched into a butterfly.
In addition to various berry and leaf tiles that need to match, you have sun tiles, caterpillar tiles and about 8 wind tiles. You need to try to avoid matching wind tiles because they take away lives from your caterpillars (lose them all and they dry up and blow away).
Kindle Mahjong Butterfly Active Content – Game in Play
In the lower right hand corner are three slots for matching tiles. You can place tiles there in a holding pattern to allow for strategy (you don’t want to match the sun tiles too early or they won’t be available for the cocoon hatching). You can switch between caterpillars if one has all their leaves (as an example) to one that needs leaves, until you are ready to work on berries or something.
Kindle Mahjong Butterfly Active Content – Butterfly hatched
I even spent about 20 minutes looking through the Encyclopedia last night to check out my Rare, Uncommon and Common butterflies that I have earned. There are 10 rare, 15 uncommon and 25 common butterflies (beautifully rendered in gray scale) and I want them all (I do wish there was more details about each butterfly type).
Mahjong Butterfly Review – Conclusion and Overall Rating
I would give my Mahjong Butterfly game review 5 stars (I’d give it higher if it was allowed). This game is an absolute gem. I refuse to quit playing until I have beaten all the levels and earned every butterfly. I highly recommend that you get this now (but don’t blame me if you get addicted).
Filed under: Kindle Game Review
Good review. I’m sold. Will be getting game now!
I read this review when it was posted, but I didn’t think the game was one that I would be interested in. Then I saw on a message board where someone said that it was a fun online game. I don’t play games online, but I remembered a kindle version was available and bought it last night.
Like you, switch11, I have not been able to stop playing it. In fact, I would be playing it now if it weren’t for the fact that the battery is recharging. I would give it five stars as well.
@switch11…If you plan to continue playing until you collect all 50 types of butterflies, you are going to be playing for much longer than you (or I) thought.
I completed level 47 today. So far, I have only gotten 13 of the 50 varieties. I have collected a total of 42 butterflies. I have 7 of one kind and 6 of another. Since you only get one caterpillar per level, this will make for a very long game.
It says that there are 47 levels. What it really means is that there are 47 different layouts. After you complete #47, you start again with layout #1.
If you hit P(ause), you will get a menu of options. Click on statistics to get a list of the 50 varieties, how many you have collected, and how many of each variety you have collected.
It is definitely addicting.
tarzanphan60 is the one that is really addicted (I’m giving switch11 a blogging break). Yes – I found this out last week. I also found that my “theory” that caterpillars with higher berry and leaf requirements does not necessarily translate into the rare butterflies. I wish it would have higher odds of giving you different butterflies. Let’s see which one of us gets all 50 varieties first. Here’s a thought – if I only have 13 after a full cycle and you only got 13 – is it possible that there is no way to get the remaining 37?
I’ve played through all the levels multiple times, and haven’t gotten any new types of butterflies since my first time through. Has anyone else gotten all of them? I have almost 50 of what is supposedly a rare one!
I am still stuck at 13 after two times through the game. I still love the game, but the instructions seem to indicate you can actually collect all 50 butterflies. Off to Amazon to see if I can contact the developers and find out if it is even possible. I’ll let you know what I find out.
Here is the official response from Namco:
Thank you for contacting Namco Bandai Games America Inc. Customer Support. We’re sorry for the trouble you are experiencing. We took a look into this issue and there does seem to be a problem with unlocking all of the butterflies. There are 50 total species but they are not all unlocking properly at the moment. We’re working on fixing this issue right now. Unfortunately, our support team does not know exactly how long it will take to fix this issue. The game will update automatically when the update is available. We apologize for the inconvenience. Please feel free to contact us again should you require further assistance.
I’m glad they at least know about it now. Hopefully we’ll have that update soon!
I hope so too. I let them know I was posting their response on a blog with followers to keep pressure on them. :)
I have played over 240 games and still only have 13 out of 50 buterflies. I’m not sure there is the ability of getting the rest.
Yes. The developers told me they were “working on it” but I am not holding my breath. They just came out with a version for the Nook Color/Tablet that is gorgeous and has solved the database issue.
[...] game). If you have read my past reviews, this is my absolute favorite game on the Kindle (see my Mahjong Butterfly review). Several of us were frustrated because we could only earn a portion of the 50 [...]