u/Commercial_Kale_8554

Hey all, I've been building this mostly nights and weekends. What bugged me about most AI character apps is that the conversation feels the same at message 500 as it does at message 5. So I tried to build something closer to a game than a chatbot.

The core idea: every conversation moves a relationship meter, Stranger through Soulmate, and each stage actually unlocks something — nicknames, callbacks to things you've told the character before, deeper topics, eventually more personal scenarios near the top. I also built a branching story mode (horror and sci-fi so far) with real multiple endings, and a small community space where people can publish characters they've made for others to try.

There's smaller stuff too — voice messages, character card import, a couple of response styles depending on whether you want fast banter or something more thoughtful — but the relationship system and the story mode are the two things I'm genuinely unsure about, since I haven't seen many other apps attempt them.

Not trying to sell anyone on anything here. Mainly curious from people who've used a lot of these apps: does progressing through relationship levels actually sound engaging, or gimmicky? And does branching narrative belong in a character app at all, or does it feel like a bolted-on second product?

Happy to answer anything in the comments, including what it's called, if anyone's curious.

https://preview.redd.it/y47wbif7dv7h1.jpg?width=738&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fa0e47d67f94fce80cfe57359fd60a414bcd30d4

https://preview.redd.it/o6vi9ff7dv7h1.jpg?width=738&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=12f64d000c00440b8c4797e5e109c93a8129fbe5

https://preview.redd.it/sab674f7dv7h1.jpg?width=738&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=38fe6a274e23e0e598ad583e071e3a70ea800627

https://preview.redd.it/6rjz74f7dv7h1.jpg?width=738&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3452bf16881b3f3125ed38d81fd8cc08be0e2233