Clash of Chaos and Confetti #31: Mariposas

The Premise and Standings

Each week we’ll face off in a best of three series playing a different board game from our collection.  The winner claims the moniker of C&C Clash Champ for the week.  The loser may get a funny feeling in their stomach.  The lesser player also gets to choose the game for the next week.

We will maintain a record of wins and losses throughout the year to see who finishes 2022 as the ultimate board game champ in our household.

Our current C&C Champion is Confetti after winning last week’s WWE Legends Royal Rumble Card Game smackdown.

Pre-Clash Current Standings:

• Weekly Winner: 13 Chaos – 17 Confetti
• Individual game wins: 43 Chaos – 42 Confetti

After losing last week, Chaos has chosen Mariposas.

The Game – Mariposas

Mariposas allows players to take on the roles of migrating butterflies as they traverse through America and eventually return to Michoacan, Mexico.  During their journeys, players will work on carefully planning their flight paths, gathering flowers, and discovering waystations.

This is a game that focuses on movement, resource gathering, and set collection.  Mariposas’ gameplay takes place over three rounds, Spring, Summer, and Fall, which have an increasing number of turns (4, 5, and 6).  On their turn, players will choose one of their two movement cards to execute.  The board is large, so it’ll be impossible to cover it all, so players will need to decide where they wish to send their butterflies.  

Depending on where their butterflies land, players may be able to gather flower tokens, collect waystation cards, or breed their butterflies.  All of these resources should help players as they pursue the ultimate end goal of having the most points after the third round of play.  There are several viable paths to victory which will work best when mixed.  

One option for points is season goals.  Each season will have a randomized goal card which will prompt players towards certain actions (breeding in specific areas) or states of being (earning points depending on your number of butterflies or their locations).  This adds something for players to consider as they plan out their movements.

The way station cards collected are also worth one point each, but when a set of four of any one color is obtained, players will get a special benefit that was randomly decided at the beginning of the game.  Sometimes these benefits help immediately and other times they may payoff at the end of the game.  Since the waystations are spread all over the map and what each one holds isn’t revealed until someone lands on it, players must weigh the potential benefits of finding matching sets and the possible wasted time if they do not.  On the brightside, the first to any waystation gets to roll a die that earns them an extra flower.  

Finally, players will want to breed their butterflies.  Not only does this give them more butterflies to control and use across the board, but each generation of butterfly comes in at a higher number. Once players hit the 4th generation butterflies, those butterflies are worth points as well.  Each 4th generation butterfly that makes it to Michoacan by the end of the final round, is worth an increasing number of points.  For those who don’t, they still are worth 2 victory points when all is said and done.

Mariposas is all about carefully flight planning.  Players will want to push their butterflies towards goals and possible payoffs, but they will have to be careful never to overstretch their reach or they may not be able to make it back to Michoacan by the end of the game.  It’s a careful balancing act.

Who will take flight and transform into the winner they deserve to be, and who isn’t’ quite ready to soar?  Only a few games of Mariposas will reveal the truth.

Chaos’ Pre-Clash Thoughts:

I’ve been on a terrible losing streak, but this is the week I turn things around. Those who follow our blog will know that I put myself through a solo-campaign of Marvel United this week.  I pushed hard and barely came out victorious, but I believe I also reignited winning ways.  Now I will parlay that success back into the C&C Clash competitions.

Confetti’s Pre-Clash Thoughts:

I’ve been on such a winning streak lately, it’s nice! I feel a bit bad for Chaos though. Not badly enough to lose though, so looking forward to coming out on top of our Mariposas battle. 

Game 1 –

Mariposas offers a lot of choice for players as their butterflies take flight.  Chaos quickly opted for trying to gain a few more butterflies and then position them to get season goal points.  Confetti also began breeding, but clearly valued waystation cards highly.  She might have also gained end of season points, but she miscalculated her movements.  Her butterflies’ quest for waystation cards, but them just out of range of goal points.

As the game continued, both players continued working toward their goals.  Chaos kept prioritizing season goals while grabbing whatever other resources he could along the way.   Confetti, of course, also made an effort to earn season goal points, but waystations never stopped being her priority.  

Each round Chaos slightly edged Confetti out on round-end, season goals, but Confetti’s collection of waystation cards did look intimidating, especially as she completed sets.  

As the game wrapped up, both players were able to get two 4th generation butterflies back to Michoacan.  With those points equaling out, it would come down to how their respective strategies paid off.  In the end, it turned out Confetti’s waystation cards were not quite enough to best the end goal points earned by Chaos.

For the first time in a long time, Chaos achieved victory in the first round of a Clash.

Game 1 Winner: Chaos

Game 1 Scores: 40 Chaos – 34 Confetti

Game 2 –

The second game saw both players leaning a bit more into each others strategies while never completely turning away from their own.  While still grabbing a bunch of way station cards, Confetti worked harder to grab goal points and she also looked to breed many butterflies. Chaos on the other hand, did a bit more way station exploring.

The first season of the game saw Confetti take a decent sized lead, but fate would not be on her side for the next season.  The Summer goal offered big points to any player that could get butter flies into position around three far Northern cities.  Having explored the South, Confetti knew she would have to take the smaller season goal options.  Meanwhile, having opted to explore the Northern stretches during the first season, Chaos was able to breed and position his butterflies correctly just as the second season ended.  The seven points he earned were a big deal, especially when coupled with the few smaller season points he grabbed as well.  All of this put Chaos firmly in the lead.

Confetti still saw hope for a win as the third season commenced.  She was able to breed more 4th generation butterflies than Chaos and because they were already more Southern, it was easier for them to return to Mexico.  In fact, she got four 4th generation butterflies back to Michoacan, while Chaos barely managed two.  However, Chaos’ waystation stopped paid off as he collected the entire green set, which rewarded him one extra butterfly in Michoacan at the end of the game.  Suddenly, the gap in butterflies didn’t seem so large.  

As the final scores were tallied, Chaos once again proved to be the better butterfly master.

Game 2 Winner: Chaos

Game 2 Scores: 42 Chaos – 34 Confetti

Game 3 –

Knowing that she already lost her championship, Confetti chose not to fight the third bout.  

Your Winner and NEW C&C Clash Champion: Chaos!

Chaos’ Post-Clash Thoughts:

I have finally emerged from my cocoon of loss and become the winner I always knew I could be!  Now I just need to make sure I carry this momentum into whatever next week brings.  

Confetti’s Post-Clash Thoughts:

I… lost. How the mighty have fallen. Hopefully I’ll regain my throne next week! I’m glad for Chaos though, he was feeling sad. 

New Standings:

Post-Clash Standings:

• Weekly Winner: 14 Chaos – 17 Confetti
• Individual game wins: 45 Chaos – 42 Confetti

Next Week: Jaipur