Mariposas Board Game by Alderac Entertainment Group – Monarch Migration Fun

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1. libbi Verified Buyer – 17 March 2025

   I gave it one less star because it can be really frustrating. There’s a lot that goes into this game, but once you figure out a strategy that works for you, it is fun. It took my husband and I several weeks to figure out what that strategy was for each of us. It’s a gorgeous game, though.
   

2. How to Play Mariposas Board Game Verified Buyer – 12 April 2025

   This week the game that came out on our table for the first time was Mariposas. This is the second game by the game designer Elizabeth Hargrave (who designed the award-winning Wingspan). Mariposas is a game following the life cycle of the Monarch Butterflies. In the game, the butterflies will be flying from Mexico north to spread across the US and Canada, and then returning to Mexico by the end of the game. The game is played with 3 separate seasons, Spring, Summer, and Fall. Each season will have specific goals for you to accomplish during that season. For instance, you might have a goal to have 3 butterflies north of Atlanta. You might also have a goal to have butterflies on specific color hexes on the board at the end of the season. Gameplay is pretty straightforward as you will always play one of 2 movement cards that you have in your hand. Each movement card will tell you to move a specific number of butterflies a set distance. As you move the butterflies you will gain flowers which will allow you to breed the butterfly to the next generation of butterfly when you are next to a milkweed feeding station (which btw is the only food the Monarch caterpillar eats). You can also end up going to cities and uncovering cards or special moves for your butterfly. The cards are sets of the life cycle of the butterfly which can give you points or other bonuses. Aesthetically, this is an Elizabeth Hargrave game, so it is going to be colorful and pretty. I would say after playing it, the board seems a little busy with the kinds of flowers almost blending into each other. However, the theming and design is top notch. The butterfly pieces are printed to show which generation they are, but the number is a bit tiny, so be prepared with your reading glasses to make sure you’ve got the right butterfly. By the time the game is over, you do feel that you’ve really watched the migration of the butterflies. Two drawbacks that I noticed on the game is that you don’t really need to focus on returning your butterflies to Mexico to win (as a matter of fact all of us who played only got one butterfly token back), and if you focus on the season goals instead of the game goal, you can come out ahead. The second drawback to me is the life cycle cards. Not a single person in our game was able to collect a complete set, and no one got the big bonus for any of them, although each card does give you a single point, it felt off not to be able to complete a full set. This is mainly because their locations are secret at the beginning of the game and only once a butterfly lands on a city does that specific token flip upright for you to see it and try to make your way to it. Overall, the game was enjoyable. It is not Wingspan, it is a lighter game with each turn you only have to decide which butterfly to move in response to 2 different cards you have in your hand. My rating: 7.0/10

   

3. Danielle J. Verified Buyer – 18 April 2025

   We enjoyed Wingspan which has the same designer as Mariposas. My daughter likes birds and Butterflies so this was a great game with advanced mechanics that could keep her interest.
   Immediately upon completion of our first game, we all realized there were different strategies that we should have utilized which would have increased our score. The same happened with our next few games. Employing different strategies made for great replayability.

   My one suggestion would be that some of the wooden butterflies are hard to see since the board is so colorful and the colors are very similar.

   Overall it is a solid game.