The Butterfly

About The Butterfly

The Butterfly is a small horror game by Kerineia, made in Unity and released free on itch.io for Windows and Mac in 2025. Its maker sums it up in two lines: Leila is sick, and you should help her.

You play in first person, walking through a house of low-poly rooms in fog-coloured light, reading notes and handling the things in it, including Leila's medicine, and going out among the trees in the dark. A door with a three-digit code and notes pinned in odd places are about as complicated as it gets; the game is mostly about moving through the story.

The maker calls it a narrative psychological horror game about insects and love. Its horror is personal and bodily rather than built on chases: it comes from caring for someone who is unwell and from where that care leads. The maker warns of eating disorder, self-harm and low-fidelity gore, and the reactions quoted on its page, from Alpha Beta Gamer to YouTubers who played it, speak of it as unpleasant and sickening in the way it means to be.

It suits players who like short, story-led PS1-style horror they can finish in one sitting, and who are comfortable with its themes.

How to play The Butterfly

1. Download The Butterfly free from its itch.io page for Windows or Mac.
2. Unzip it and start the game.
3. Move with WASD and look around with the mouse.
4. Press E to read notes, pick things up and open doors.
5. Follow the notes and Leila's needs through the house and outside to the end of the story.

Tips

• Read every note; one of them holds the code for the locked door.
• A note on the fence marks the gate, so look closely at the fence if you seem stuck outside.
• Play it in one sitting with headphones on; it is only about 20 minutes.

Questions