Lepidoptery

About this board game

Lepidoptery is a two-player climbing, deck-shedding, and connection game played in about 30 minutes.

Players take turns playing increasingly stronger combinations, then dropping tokens into the board columns that match the types of combinations they played. The game combines climbing play with a race to build a connection on the board or empty your deck.

Unlike many climbing-shedders, Lepidoptery allows combinations of different types to be played on one another. For example, sets can be played on singles, creating more possibilities as players choose which combinations to play and which columns to affect.

• Play stronger and stronger combinations.
• Drop tokens into columns matching your played combination types.
• Form four tokens in a row in your own player color.
• Shed your deck to claim victory.

The columns steadily shape the available plays. As columns fill up, their corresponding combination types become blocked from play, while previously filled columns are emptied, changing the board and the options that remain.

Victory comes in either of two ways: form a four-in-a-row using tokens in your player color, or shed your deck. This gives each turn importance both as a step toward a connection and as part of the race to play through your cards.

Released in 2025, Lepidoptery is designed exclusively for two players. Its combination of climbing, deck-shedding, and connection mechanics creates a compact contest built around increasingly powerful plays and a board that continually changes as columns fill and empty.