Time Flies Like Butter

Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like bananas. But what about butterflies? In Time Flies Like Butter, you play as a caterpillar that can not only morph into a butterfly but can also morph time. Uncover different ‘cause and effect’ relations to create the best butterfly effects. Informed by the study of causation in metaphysics, TFLB explores a new puzzle design methodology of using causation models as building blocks for crafting diverse and original puzzles. The project presents a novel time-manipulation mechanic where the player rewinds into unexplored time to create new timelines via backward causation.

The video below contains subtitles with more info:

Explore different time-manipulation abilities to solve puzzles by acquiring power-ups:

Pollinate flowers, reverse entropy to form a pyramid from a pile of cards, time-travel into and out from a ghost-state, prevent or allow a airplane collision:

A title card introduces each level, drawing attention to the puzzle at hand. Upon completing certain puzzles, the rippling consequences are conveyed in a comic-book style across polaroid photographs, and referenced in subsequent levels.

Explore the consequences of solving 17 levels; interlinked in a non-linear, branching, circular narrative structure:

Each level was brainstormed based on different causation models, taken from the study of metaphysics in philosophy, to create diverse and interesting puzzles: