Dear Althea

Dear Althea is a choice-driven visual novel and a reinterpretation of Rhoda Broughton’s 1897 novel Dear Faustina. You play as Althea Vane, a young upper-class British woman whose life is upended by her father’s death and the collapse of her family and future. In Victorian London, she must choose a new future, a home and a group to belong to, while encountering a range of situations, characters and romantic possibilities.

Story and choices

Your decisions shape the story from the first chapter. Some choices have consequences much later, affecting Althea’s fate, other characters’ fates and your relationships with them; they can also open new dialogue routes and change the dynamics between characters. The story has 41 chapters, though following one of the 10 routes takes about 25 chapters. There are 10 possible final chapters, and endings reflect earlier decisions rather than being labelled good or bad.

The characters are divided between upper and working classes. From the first chapter onward, you can decide which group Althea identifies with and whose characters she defends, with potential repercussions. You can choose not to pursue romance, or enter a relationship with up to four characters on the LGBTIAQ+ spectrum. The game also allows polyamorous relationships. Consent is addressed in relationships: sex is never required, and refusing it has no negative repercussions.

Victorian London

The artwork depicts Victorian-era Britain and its class differences. The game contains 780 illustrations, with between 18 and 50 in each chapter, showing the situations and characters’ expressions and gestures.

Puzzles and play

Puzzles are integrated into the plot and period setting, and you can skip them without missing important story points. The story is presented entirely in text, and sound is not required. Interaction with the game and puzzles uses the right mouse button; there are no skill or speed challenges. The typography is designed to make letters easier for people with dyslexia to identify and is based on the typeface used in the original 1897 book.

Length and routes

Across all possible choices, the game contains more than 112,408 words and takes about five hours on average, depending on your decisions and reading speed.