The Alters – Assertiveness Achievement Guide

Assertiveness Achievement, Assertiveness Lesson The Alters, Assertiveness Trophy, the alters

The Alters, the newest game from 11 bit studios, released last week to rave reviews. In the game, you create different versions of the player character Jan (or Alters) to help you man your base and survive on the hostile planet you find yourself stranded on. Each alter is who you could have been if you had taken a different path in life, and as such, they have some pretty different personality traits based on their experiences.

Lucky for Jan, if you keep them happy and fulfil their requests, they can teach you some of these lessons. And unlock some achievements along the way. First up is the Assertiveness Achievement.

The Technician

To unlock the Assertiveness Achievement in The Alters, you’ll need Jan Technician. He’s the first alter you unlock and is mandatory for progression, so don’t worry about missing him on your playthrough.

Once you’ve created him and passed the prologue, you’ll want to do your best to keep him happy. Making Cooked Meals in the Kitchen (using raw food from the Greenhouse) is the easiest way to do this, so you’ll want to invest in those resources asap.

When he asks to chat with you (a dialogue icon will appear under his character portrait in the top corner of the screen), check in and see how he’s doing. He’ll complain about a lack of sleep, and you can offer to build a dormitory to make things more comfortable. The dormitory requires 40 metal, which you should already be mining (but you can find a deposit on the right-hand side of the map). Once built, you can talk to him again and he’ll thank you for making him more comfortable.

Soon after, he’ll talk to you about how you are being a pushover when talking with the company. You can choose most dialogue options here, but I went with admitting to being a coward when it came to your dad, which seemed to make him open up.

The next time you speak to him, he’ll bring up a social room to help everyone relax. This needs 40 metal and 30 minerals. The mineral deposit in Act 1 can be found on the left-hand side of the map (as per the minimap) after you’ve cleared the rock formation and seen the extent of the lava river. You’ll need to walk past some anomalies to get to it, so just move slowly and you’ll be fine.

After this is built, he’ll challenge you to a game of beer pong in the social room. The game is pretty easy. Line up your shots and release the action button when you hit the pink section of the power bar. You don’t need to win, but it’s difficult to lose.

Note: Both of these steps must be done in Act 1, or you won’t learn the lesson!

The next time he wants to speak to you, he’ll give you a hard time again about not standing up for yourself. He’ll bring up the fact that you did everything he asked without challenging back. Again, your dialogue choices don’t appear to matter here. Once he’s pushed you to stand up for yourself, you learn the lessons of Assertiveness and fittingly unlock the Assertiveness Achievement in The Alters!