People in education often talk about backward design: first define the final learning outcome, then work backward to plan the objectives and activities. This keeps the curriculum coherent and gives students a path they can actually expect and complete. In product design, user stories work in a similar way: imagine the value or outcome a story should deliver, then work backward to build the details. If a product journey has no story and no outcomes, users open the app every day without knowing where to go, and the only reason they keep coming back is that they happen to have some free time—or they simply forget to delete the app.
Before the affinity system launched, the core amiverse experience was something like this: open the app, chat with a character, receive a reply, then close the app. The next day, if the universe smiled on you, you might do it again. We had the Memory Constellation, which let characters remember what you had said, and we had Live2D characters that reacted to your conversations. But all of that only made each chat feel better—it was still hard for users to feel like they were building something over time or that the first day was meaningfully different from the hundredth.
To be honest, maybe it really wasn't that different 🤣
How dull is AI chat without a direction?
Early on, our idea of AI chat was something like this: a user opens the app, types whatever they want to talk about, and the AI naturally responds according to the topic with emotional value. In a good way, this is “free exploration with no goal.” In reality, it often means “we have no idea what we’re doing.” It’s like a game with no levels, no missions, and no system-provided next steps. Every day feels the same, and even if you spend more time on it, nothing changes. That was basically amiverse before:
- No sense of progress: The 100th conversation feels roughly the same as the first.
- No sense of anticipation: There’s no “what happens next if I keep talking?” payoff. Closing the app costs nothing.
- Topics have to come from the user: Every session starts with “what do I talk about today?” If you can’t think of anything, you just stop chatting.
Letting a character remember your stories didn’t mean your relationship was moving forward. There was no clear roadmap or reward to look forward to.
New feature: affinity system
To fill that gap, we added an affinity system with levels and story progression.
Your relationship with a character builds over time and reaches different stages, and each stage has its own story arc. This creates a visible path. You know where you are now, and you know there is more ahead of you.
Right now, affinity mainly increases through two things: conversation count and login count. Every conversation and login gives you 1–3 affinity points. There’s no complex secret to it—it’s simply “come back and talk to them more often,” and the relationship will slowly move forward.
Every affinity increase unlocks a new story beat or hidden detail written by our copywriter. Once a character reaches a higher level, the system also unlocks a different speaking tone and more intimate relationship details (How We Shape Character Response Styles). The relationship is no longer just a line in a profile; it becomes a state that changes over time. From polite stranger to familiar friend, we hope this makes the character feel like they really do get closer to you.
Experimental feature: interactive story arcs
Affinity gives direction, but to know “what to do” at each stage, you need content. In addition to letting AI characters improvise and generate different outcomes based on user preferences, we are also experimenting with more interactive, story-driven content.
In the past, user-character interactions allowed you to tap or swipe the character to trigger specific actions. Building on that, we implemented a visual-novel style story flow: once a user meets certain conditions, they can tap the character in interaction mode to trigger a story scene. You’ll see pre-arranged scenes and narrative beats, then make choices inside the story.
This feature is still experimental. We currently only provide a limited number of scenes and stories. Why start small? Because content is the most expensive part of the entire system. Copywriters have to write dialogue, but they also need to plan character actions and reactions across different scenes. So we want to confirm that the gameplay itself works smoothly and integrates well with character state and the affinity system before scaling up additional content.
These mechanics already exist everywhere
At this point, the AI chat market is already crowded enough that everyone knows affinity systems, progression mechanics, and story systems aren’t exactly new 🤪.
From romance-sim character bonds and RPG party affinity to mobile-game relationship systems and character story arcs, this kind of design exists almost everywhere. In the past, as a consumer, I only cared whether a product felt good to use. When I started trying to build something similar myself, I realized that the mechanics people often treat as “everyone copies them” or “everyone does it” are actually useful because they work. Affinity, stamina limits, daily rewards, and similar systems all give users a reason to come back, a sense of anticipation, and a potential for growth.
amiverse is a small not-so-big team. We still have a long way to go compared with mature products. But just like with well-defined learning objectives, once you know where the goal is, the rest is simply a matter of taking the next right step.
The affinity system and interactive story content are already available in amiverse. The narrative is still limited, and the system is still being tuned, but this is our first step in this reverse-design approach.
If you want to see how far your relationship with a character can go, feel free to download the amiverse app and try it out. If you want to complain about the story, suggest what kind of affinity design you want, or point out something that seems broken, you can leave feedback on Instagram or Threads.
Thank you!