Over the past few years, there’s been a rise in ‘cozy’ games popping up in the indie space, offering an alternative to the typically achievement-based design of pretty much everything else. While these games do require a different mindset due to their generally short nature and simplistic gameplay, there’s something to be said about immersing in something more focused on delivering a brief, simple, and relaxing experience. Flutter Away from Runaway is the latest cozy game to grace the Switch, and while it doesn’t set any new standards for the genre, it’s still a decent experience.
Flutter Away could be best described as a ‘walking sim’ with just a hint of Pokémon Snap mixed in there. You play as a city-dwelling woman taking a solo camping trip to a rainforest for a few days, primarily to interact with the extensive butterfly population there. Over the five days of your trip, which together last about an hour in real-time, you’ll hunt three new species of butterfly each day to photograph and document. To get the butterflies to appear, you have to fulfill a series of simple objectives, such as helping a capybara get fruit out of a tree or setting up a campsite, all of which are fulfilled by a point-and-click interaction. The total play area is roughly the size of an actual campsite, so finding the next objective is usually a pretty straightforward process. There are also a handful of optional hidden objectives to fulfill along the way, such as photographing tree frogs.
It’s not a terribly ‘fun’ game in the sense that many games are, yet there’s something alluring about the quiet and serene atmosphere that makes the hour worth seeing all the way through. Slowly walking through a forest, journaling your findings, and sitting by the campfire has a nicely chill vibe to it, and the credits roll just about at the point that it feels like things are starting to get a little stale. There’s even a bit of replayability to be found in the optional objectives and a series of achievements you can collect for meeting various criteria.
Visually, Flutter Away feels a little lackluster, as you’re presented with a charming, but chunky world that looks just a bit cheap. Low-res textures, flat colors, and blocky models are par for the course here; not hideous by any means, though certainly not impressive. The illustrations in the journal are a nice plus, but it feels rather disappointing when compared to the more visually interesting styles of other walking sims. Couple this with the fact that it’s only an hour long, and it may not justify the $13 price tag for some players.
Flutter Away is relaxing but uninspiring. It does an excellent job of setting up a peaceful atmosphere that just gives you the space to check out some butterflies, but it’s also over nearly as soon as it starts, and there’s not a ton else to do on a subsequent playthrough. If you’re looking for a cozy one-and-done experience to disappear into for a bit, Flutter Away delivers before making good on its title.
Over the past few years, there’s been a rise in ‘cozy’ games popping up in the indie space, offering an alternative to the typically achievement-based design of pretty much everything else. While these games do require a different mindset due to their generally short nature and simplistic gameplay, there’s something to be said about immersing in something more focused on delivering a brief, simple, and relaxing experience. Flutter Away from Runaway is the latest cozy game to grace the Switch, and while it doesn’t set any new standards for the genre, it’s still a decent experience.
Flutter Away could be best described as a ‘walking sim’ with just a hint of Pokémon Snap mixed in there. You play as a city-dwelling woman taking a solo camping trip to a rainforest for a few days, primarily to interact with the extensive butterfly population there. Over the five days of your trip, which together last about an hour in real-time, you’ll hunt three new species of butterfly each day to photograph and document. To get the butterflies to appear, you have to fulfill a series of simple objectives, such as helping a capybara get fruit out of a tree or setting up a campsite, all of which are fulfilled by a point-and-click interaction. The total play area is roughly the size of an actual campsite, so finding the next objective is usually a pretty straightforward process. There are also a handful of optional hidden objectives to fulfill along the way, such as photographing tree frogs.
It’s not a terribly ‘fun’ game in the sense that many games are, yet there’s something alluring about the quiet and serene atmosphere that makes the hour worth seeing all the way through. Slowly walking through a forest, journaling your findings, and sitting by the campfire has a nicely chill vibe to it, and the credits roll just about at the point that it feels like things are starting to get a little stale. There’s even a bit of replayability to be found in the optional objectives and a series of achievements you can collect for meeting various criteria.
Visually, Flutter Away feels a little lackluster, as you’re presented with a charming, but chunky world that looks just a bit cheap. Low-res textures, flat colors, and blocky models are par for the course here; not hideous by any means, though certainly not impressive. The illustrations in the journal are a nice plus, but it feels rather disappointing when compared to the more visually interesting styles of other walking sims. Couple this with the fact that it’s only an hour long, and it may not justify the $13 price tag for some players.
Flutter Away is relaxing but uninspiring. It does an excellent job of setting up a peaceful atmosphere that just gives you the space to check out some butterflies, but it’s also over nearly as soon as it starts, and there’s not a ton else to do on a subsequent playthrough. If you’re looking for a cozy one-and-done experience to disappear into for a bit, Flutter Away delivers before making good on its title.
