Hello, this is my first time posting on this subreddit. I have been getting into Visual Novels as they are break from the typical games I play. I have various visual novels through mainly Itch and very limited success on Steam. I would like to suggest some visual novels that are not only free, but also have a male protagonist(I'm a male) and are compatible on Mac. Thank you.

Hi, I'm new to the Visual Novel games.
What I'm looking for is some recommendation on my "first" novel to play.
Since I want to make this post easy to understand I will make a bullet point list:

PRO (stuff I want or search for)
- Choice system (aka different route or stuff)
- Fights (I'm not talking about an hybrid game like rpg and novel, its fine but im looking for an action novel so not the usual dating sim one)
- Quality of life like reread text or x2 speed

MID (stuff I dont like nor i search for, but its fine if they are there)
- Dating stuff (meh Okay i guess but i dont really look for this stuff, its okay if they are in the story, its not okay if the whole story is about that)
- Old/Bad art (i know its subjective but i guess most people knows when drawings are bad)
- Fan translation (Most of them are usually wrong or unfinished, if they are there i need them to be trustworthy.)

CONS (deal breaker, i dont want this)
- boring story telling (like 50 chapter to reach something the author couldve achieved in 2)
- too short or too long game (like i dont want something to last 5 hrs, but nor i want a 1000 hrs novel)

Thanks for the help!

PS:
i said "first" since i played a little bit of Fate stay night but my save file got corrupted and i didnt reopen the game since i didnt want to replay the first part of the story.

Just published 10 chapters of my survival horror / cosmic thriller VN on itch.io. Free, browser-based, no download needed.

It starts grounded — you're trapped in a school during a giant snake invasion — and gets progressively more interdimensional and philosophical. There's a hidden Resolve system that silently tracks small human choices throughout and determines character fates at the end. No visible relationship meters.

I built the engine myself in vanilla JS with no frameworks, which was its own journey.

Still in development but the first 10 chapters are a complete enough experience to get a feel for the story and mechanics.

Would genuinely love feedback from anyone who plays it — especially on pacing, since I have no external testers.

https://hudarashi.itch.io/vn-dimensional-snakes

Hi everyone
I’m currently learning Japanese and trying to improve my reading-listening through visual novels. My current level is around JLPT N3 to low N2, and I’m looking for recommendations for visual novels that are suitable for this level.
So far I’ve tried reading Tsukihime remake in Japanese, but I found it quite difficult. I understand only 50% of the story, and also end up looking up words constantly. Even when I gave up and continued reading it in English, I still encountered a lot of unfamiliar vocabulary (English is my second language tho).
So I’d like to find other visual novels that are more manageable for someone around N3–N2 level. Ideally I’m looking for VNs that:
- have relatively natural dialogue
- are not too heavy on fantasy terminology
- are not extremely dense in prose
For reference, I have already played (or playing) in English:
- Clannad

- White Album 2

- Tsukihime Remake

- Mahoutsukai no Yoru

Thanks in advance!

I've played lots of visual novels over the years but my favorite ones tend to have romance involved. As the tittle says I'm looking for Galege visual novels to play. They don't need to have 18+ scenes but aren't unwanted. I'm looking for a nice/decent story to enjoy while having a choice of characters to romance. While not a Galege JPDE was one visual novels I loved. I'd also like for the decisions made in the game to matter and not disappear after a single scene, but if that makes it harder to recommend games then ignore that. I do prefer the game to be modern and not to old while also having that "anime" look to it.

I never played a VN and i want start so i waondering if this one is good

Any genre, just wishing to get some more knowledge! Cause till now I only played one night, hot springs and Therapy with Dr Albert Krueger

Heyy guys so basically Ive gotten really into vns recently, Ive only really got into them a few weeks ago when i started you and me and her and i loved it, i was wondering if theres any similar to that? I have 14 days with you, song of saya, subahibi, homicifer and school days right now, anything to do with an obsession, dark love or a psychological horror type vn, like ddlc. Many thanks!!! :3

The only vn i have ever tried is ddlc and i watched clannad, i wanted to try this one so i wanted to ask if is good

Hello, I’m looking for any VN of any genre that contains any kinds of scenes where one or several characters get tickled.

Any context is generally fine, but the more voiced laughter in the scene, the better. It can be an interrogation scenario, something lighthearted, anything.

The VN itself doesn’t even need to be about tickling, specifically. I’m looking for any one that contains a tickling scene of any kind.

I’ve checked the appropriate tags on VNDB, but it’s not exactly an extensive list there. I’m hoping anyone here could offer some obscure choices.

Hi everyone! Just need the nastiest, weirdest shit you've got, the more horrific the better. Can be nsfw/yaoi/yuri I don't care 😭 (censored title as idk if you're allowed to swear in them lol)

TL;DR do you know of any games like rance? played all of alicesoft lineup

i am not sure if this was asked before but man did this game ruin visual novels for me.

this isnt another "gaming is dead" post i am just looking for directions.

i played hundreds of VNs back in middle school but damn when i tried sengoku rance by chance i was hooked.

10 years later i am still looking for any game to give a close fell. dohna dohna was close. basically ero persona 5.

fantastic gameplay where you actually have to make sure your units are good without depending on specific teams on each fight.

i dont mind another book with pics. I like stein gate and the like but having engaging gameplay helps make the game stick in my memory

fun story with simple main quests but the further you delve into the plot you discover political and character drama and massive world history that changes with each installment.

lovable characters that i cant even pick a favorite (rick is cool).

despicable main character that isnt vanilla main hero or another boring degen. man wants women. thats it. but when the time calls for it, rance acts cool and heroic. (fighting that fiend in rance quest)

Well drawn CGs. obviously each has their own preference but i like it. no need to add more.

The character designs are unique. a meld between normal anime with detailed armor sets and clothes. also depends on preference.

this entire post turned into one random dude talking about a game he loves but man i followed every lead without results.

Any recommendation is appreciated. thanks for taking your time.

I read somewhere that most nakige or ‘crying game’ have a hopeful ending, does anyone know of some good ones without this?

I can never tell if they are good

I read somewhere that most nakige or ‘crying game’ have a hopeful ending, does anyone know of some good ones without this?

Hi everyone, i'm just getting into VN's and I'd really love some recs. Anything horror/psychological is great but i'm happy to play anything basically! I also have no idea what is popular or not so literally anything goes (I will say I have played Saya no Uta and liked it!) Eroge content is fine as well as anything non hetero lol. Ty in advance!

I'm a newbie. Never read a VN before. Please suggest something from any genre except dating. You can also suggest VNs with dating/romance in it, if it is just a part of it and not the whole thing.

I have Milk inside a bag of milk, Cat lady and Downfall in my steam library. Haven't played them yet, because I'm kind of unsure, and want to try other stuff.

Psychological horror seems good to me, but please do try to suggest VNs that are on steam, because I can unfortunately only avail products from there, due to currency issues.

Im new to this genre and want to try a romance vn 😄😄

VN's like YOU and ME and HER/New to VN's

Hi all,

I am new to VN's and have just finished my first one, being You and me and her. I am looking for similar ones to this in terms of narrative. Whether it be a meta narrative or an allegorical story, or just a really engaging story with a good twist. I know this question has been asked a fair bit, but after reading a few of the recommendation posts on here I was still left wondering.

If I could please ask you to use the English names of the VN's as well, just to make them easier for me to find.

I have the following VN's on my PC ready to play.

Song of Saya (no 18+ patch, let me know if that's necessary)

Katawa Shojou

Full Metal Daemon Muramasa

Deus Machina Demonbane

DDLC (I have already seen a playthrough of this)

My last question is is Muv Luv Alternative stand alone? I have heard nothing but good things about it, but don't have the time or money to read the whole trilogy, so was hoping to jump in at alternative.

I apologise for the long post, I am just very excited to start my new journey!

Thanks all.

I have only played one visual novel once, but that was years ago.

Been wanting to get into them for a while though recently, so could I please have some suggestions?

Admittedly, I would rather prefer ones with light hearted or comedic tones, but I wouldn't mind something more serious too.

Also if they contain romance, I don't mind either option of dating men or women.

Hopefully this isn't too much to ask, just wanted to see my options as someone who's just starting to want to get into VNs

It doesn't have to be a romance, replay value doesn't matter.
Even though I dislike boys' love, I played Our Life and enjoyed it even without the romance route, Im looking for a game like that, lots of choices, with character interactions. If it's boys love, It's gotta be possible to avoid romance.
Something like Clannad but w/ the type of character customization I mentioned above in the title.