Start now: Season 1 is 18 episodes long and still going
Averris: The Riftborn is ongoing, and the English version has 18 episodes of Season 1 with 269 choices. That's a full season to play while new episodes arrive on the update schedule. It's fantasy adventure with intimate scenes.
A flaw in the system
The setting is an alternate 1920: magic has shaped both the Old World and the New, and the world's laws have decided the heroine is a mistake. She alone holds the power to change its fate, or to be the last to fall when the end comes. Underneath, the question is whether she lives by the rules of the System or by the laws of Anarchy.
The tone is lighter than the premise. The second episode opens with "Hi there, I'm the fresh headache you didn't ask for!", and by Episode 4 the agenda is to drive Ashi up the wall and then go for a stroll.
Three long routes, and the most popular one is the cheapest
A route is made of romance steps, the choices that move a romance forward. In Averris the routes are long and generous: every love interest gives away about half of them.
Ashriel has the longest route: 26 steps, 12 free, 14 paid for 745 diamonds.
Sailen is right behind: 21 steps, 10 free, 584 diamonds for the other 11.
Rael is the one players ask about most, and he's the cheapest: 19 steps, 10 free, 9 paid for 524 diamonds.
What the gap means
Ashriel costs about 40% more than Rael. That's not a small difference, but it's also not a reason to pick a guy you like less. If two of them appeal to you, give each a separate save slot: the free steps carry a lot of each route, so the second playthrough is cheaper than it looks. All three routes sit entirely in Season 1, which means the bill comes due within these 18 episodes, not spread over several seasons.
Play the plot free and save the heavy episodes for Rush
Only 71 of the 269 choices are paid, about a quarter. Buying every paid option in the season would come to 5,661 diamonds, so Ashriel's whole route is more than a tenth of that.
The priciest episodes:
- Episode 12, "Puppets and Puppeteers": 5 of 17 choices paid, up to 556 diamonds.
- Episode 4, "The Art of Waiting": 5 of 20, up to 477.
- Episode 2: 6 of 14, up to 430.
If you haven't played them, wait for Diamond Rush, when paid choices are free in every story. With routes this long, I'd pay for the steps that matter to me and send everything else to the Rush list.
