Multiple user personas, games, and more Companions
It's been some time since our last update here, and it's been good. We've reached over 10,000 signups just 4 months since Embraces started. This update, we've added multiple user personas, increased Companion limits, added our first game to chat, and improved chat edit functionality. Let's dive right in.
Multiple user personas¶
Till now, users only had one "About You" section. But what if you wanted to roleplay as Juliet to your Romeo, or assume the role of a different character in your favorite fanfic?
Introducing user personas. Each one has its own name, gender, portrait, backstory, and physical description, and a companion's Bio page lets you pick which persona that companion sees. Keep one that is simply you, and another who goes by a different name with a history you made up for the fun of it. Try building a persona for a character that interacts with that Companion's lore, and tell us how it goes!
You can hold as many personas as you can companions, and you can create one right from the picker when the moment calls for it.
Do note that if you switch personas on a chat that already has messages in it, we check with you first, since it changes who your companion thinks they have been talking to. We recommend recreating the Companion as a new entity with a different persona if you think you'll be using multiple personas for the same Companion.
Play Four In A Row with your companion¶
Tap your Companion's name to open their menu and you'll find a new row wearing a Beta pill: Four In A Row. Start a game and the board slides in above the chat, so you can keep texting while you play. Your companion treats the game as part of the conversation. They comment on your moves as they happen, gloat, stall, and take it personally when you trap them. Watch out for trash talk! Some will get feisty.
Difficulties adjust gradually based on your past performance. Your companion spots threats on the board, and they pick how hard to play from how your recent games have gone, so the matches stay close enough to be worth winning. Every finished game stays in the chat as a card, and tapping it reopens the board full size with the winning four still on display. Let us know if we should add difficulty levels, or anything at all that could improve the experience for you!
This is our first game, which is why the pill says beta. Games are FREE, while mid-game banter costs the usual 1 message credit per Companion turn. So... what games should we build next?
Rewrite the reply, or report it¶
Two new options in the message menu. Long-press a companion's latest reply, or right-click on desktop, and you can now choose Edit to modify Companion replies. The conversation SHOULD carry on from your version, but do note things might get wonky if they conflict with Companion past memories. The new Report function also lets you highlight to us if your Companion isn't acting the way they should.
Clicking on pinned messages now allows you to navigate directly to that instance from your past conversation.
More messages, more Companions¶
We mentioned a long time ago that we would pass on cost savings to our users if we found new ways to engineer cost savings without sacrificing chat output quality. We've just raised the monthly allowance on all three paid plans without touching the price, while also increasing Companion limits.
Free: 3 messages daily, non-stacking
Crush: 700 > 750 messages
Partner: 1600 > 1700 messages
Soulmate: 4000 > 4200 messages
Companion limits have also been upgraded!
Free: 3
Crush: 5
Partner: 7 -> 10
Soulmate: 7 -> 20
Enjoy Embraces? Tell a friend, or come say hello. We're on Discord and Reddit, and if a persona you built made you laugh, or you have beaten your companion at their own game, share about us on our socials and join our welcoming community!