After reaching level 6, you will be able to catch butterflies. Start by purchasing the Entomologist from the shop and building it. It will allow you to craft butterfly nets and lures.

Once you’ve built an entomologist workshop and crafted your first net, find a flock of butterflies and tap on it.

Hint: flocks of butterflies appear in random locations on any island. By completing the Chasing Butterflies questline, you can also get a butterfly pond for your Home Island and attract butterflies to it.

The preparation screen will appear. In it, you can choose:

• Which net to use. This determines the number of flips you will have.
• Which lure to use. Better lures allow you to catch rarer butterflies. You can also choose not to use any.

Start the mini-game by dragging your net to the flock of butterflies.

Precise nets (1) give you 4 more flips than regular nets (2). You can get precise nets by increasing your entomologist level and unlocking achievements.

Your goal is to match tiles with identical butterflies. Some tiles also have bonuses like diamonds, energy, and experience points.

Each round consists of two flips. Tap on any 2 tiles to turn them over. If the tiles match, they stay face up and you get the reward. If not, they are flipped back over. You can hold the flashlight icon in the bottom right corner to see which tiles you’ve already flipped.  

Matching two of the same butterfly tiles in one round allows you to either claim the butterfly and finish the game or release it and continue playing.  If you decide to claim it, you also collect all the bonuses you found (one per pair). Bonuses can only be claimed with a butterfly. If you don’t catch one, you won’t get the bonuses.

If you run out of flips, you can finish the game or purchase 2 additional flips with diamonds. This can be done up to 2 times. Note that nets and lures are not returned if you finish the game.

The butterflies you’ve caught can be observed in the Butterflarium, giving you entomology points and additional bonuses. The rarer the specimen, the more valuable the rewards for researching it.

Catching and observing butterflies allows you to raise your entomologist level and unlock achievements for reaching various milestones. The more butterflies you catch and observe, the better the rewards you get!