#Narrative game

[bloomdigital]

It feels slightly wrong to bite the hand that feeds, but yes the VN fest this year feels like this was tacked on at the end of Next Fest and is sadly overlapping with the Women's Day sale - which really sort of suggests Valve didn't feel it necessary to give either event breathing room.

There are charming ways you can connect VNs with lit-culture. For example the visual novel reading room set up by @christinelove at Pax West in 2019 was delightful and definitely put the emphasis on reading, without sounding as thoughtless as that tag line does.

Steam's 2025 Visual Novel Fest is abysmal.

for the past few years, perhaps as a way to appease the thousands of visual novel developers for the poor search abilities on Steam or perhaps to get more money from the thousands of porn games on the platform, Valve has hosted an annual Visual Novel Fest, a week-long event "promoting" visual novels on Steam. this event has always been questionably helpful to developers, but this year I believe takes the cake.

context: I'm a visual novel developer. I also help other VN studios with steam stuff. so I interface with steam's backend and these sorts of things.

first off, the requirements. if we go to their publicly available steamworks documentation, we can see the eligibility requirements here:

basically:

Reading is the primary gameplay

The player cannot walk around, and can typically only look around from a static position

There is no combat - if there is fighting, the gameplay loop is a small portion of the game. Multiple outcomes leading to different plot events is allowed.

makes sense, right? except some fantastic visual novels like of the Devil, Date Time, and others were rejected from the festival.

okay, so maybe they're being incredibly strict with their definition of a visual novel—

as usual from previous years, some games that are wildly not visual novels are included in the festival. well, there's probably a thousand or so games in the festival, so some will always slip through the cracks, but at least the rest of the festival is alright, right?

the main tabs for the festival up top are:

Featured

Browse Games

Browse Adult Only Games

Free to Play

Free Demos

Upcoming

every tab except for Free to Play and Upcoming only feature games that are for sale AND discounted. if your game is released and in the festival but not discounted, it is shown nowhere unless a steam user scrolls through the giant wall of "All" games (which is mostly filtered by popularity).

Free Demos? no, that only shows discounted games as well. (a lot of the games in this fest are daz 3d "visual novels")

well, at least there's an "Upcoming" tab to share visual novels that haven't been released, right? no. that big, main tab only has 1 widget - Popular Upcoming. for some reason, they didn't populate the tab with any other widgets like the others, which have sections for Horror, Otome, LGBT+, etc.

this also means that only 22 unreleased games are actually getting space in the entire festival.

now, there is one exception to this - if users scroll all the way down on any of the tabs, there's a "Browse Games" widget that lets them filter and see every game in the festival. but this is just the Steam search section, nothing groundbreaking.

but it does allows users to see all of the visual novels in the festival and not just the featured few - mine can only be seen if you do some filtering in this search section.

so this VN Fest has become nothing more than a VN Sale - I don't know why they don't just call it that. nowhere in the documentation did it say you have to discount games in order to be actually featured in it, and as usual indie devs are given the shortest end of the stick from Valve.

...all of this is to say....

go play visual novels on itchio

35k+ visual novels on itchio!! can you imagine playing even half that many? and so many of them are free and made lovingly by sickos. go find some wonderfully weird or creatively romantic visual novels to play today.

[qwertyprophecy]

You are the Dark Queen—the most powerful being of your entire universe. Your lair is breached by an aspiring hero—a pitiful thing, easily crushed.

Except they keep coming back.

PLAY ON ITCH.IO

[twoandahalfstudios]

Introducing Florian, the first potential love interest you'll meet in our newly announced shop-running game, The Willowmist Emporium of Antiques & Curiosities!

Though a little moody, beneath his complaints you might find a heart of gold (get a shovel, we're gonna be digging) 🥰

Go wishlist The Willowmist Emporium of Antiques & Curiosities on Steam if you like running a store, rolling some dice and smoochin' some people 😎

[norapotwora]

Some time ago I had the pleasure of working with jonoldblood /Oldblood Games on an amazing project. It was a wonderful collaboration - thanks Micah! - in which I was tasked in designing 15 rabbit characters for Moonbriar - a narrative-driven, dark fantasy visual novel.

Here are five of the characters: Piper, Aster, Sedge, Salvia and Sola.

It was a wonderful experience to be part of the team building a larger project of this kind. Character desing is definitely a field I'd like to explore more in the future.

Will you dare to take part in the adventure? You can follow and wishlish the game on Steam!

Swipe for more characters 🐾

🐇 Let me know which one is your favourite and why! 🐇

[forsythiaproductions]

Ending Soon! 😱💖

All your support means the world, thank you for being here with us! Of Sense and Soul is our Queer Victorian Romance visual novel and it has...

Two lives, one love story 🎩👓

Victorian setting 🕰️

Soft queer romance 🌈

Slow burn pining 🔥

Happily ever after 💖

Help us make Of Sense and Soul a reality and back our campaign here! 💪

(Backing is just one way to support the game; you can reblog & like this post to help us with our community challenges, too!)

Play our demo | Get our newsletter | Send us an ask 💌

[thehallstara]

The A.D.A.P.T. Entries is an episodic game in 12 parts from @staradavid. Equal parts interactive fiction and narrative adventure, what will ensue is a space thriller about Judiasm, the building and falling of communities, the necessity of resisting dehumanization, and how even the best of intentions can be twisted in the face of systemic corruption and unaddressed prejudices. The first entry will release January 30th, with the consecutive entries releasing on the last Thursday of each month in 2025.

The A.D.A.P.T. Entries follow Rivkah Kadish, a Jewish woman born in what was once west Montreal but raised on The Ostera, the final flagship on the AQA Inaugural Expansion fleet making a forty year journey to the TRAPPIST-1 system. As the ship’s path nears it’s end, join her as she explores her upbringing, falling in love, the less-than-savoury choices she’s had to make as a member of AQA’s adaptation team, and the secrets she’s uncovered over the years. It will be found at staradavid.itch.io, and updates can also be found at staradavid.bsky.social and adapt-aqa.bsky.social.

The past year of my life has been spent planning, researching, and beginning to develop this project, and I'm so excited to start sharing these stories with the world, in whatever forms that may take.

[neuroticboyfriend]

Sometimes I wanna play a game but need something simple but interesting... So I wanted to share my favorite itch.io games (click the link if you don't wanna read the post, I'll update it as I play more!). Some of these games mean a lot to me and have helped me through rough spots. They're all free to play on your web browser <3

Six Cats Under by Team Bean Loop "A little point-and-click puzzle game where you rescue your herd of cats by directing them with your poltergeist powers."

Good Morning! by cnnmon "A short morning routine simulator about starting your day right. Play through a few colorful minigames and puzzles until you're ready to take on the day."

Lookouts by paranoidhawk *** "A romance visual novel about two gay trans masc outlaws in the old west, finding refuge in each other, and a little hope for a better life."

Goodnight Meowmie by DDRKirby *** "A narrative game combining elements of both the virtual pet and horror genres."

Goodbye Doggy by Picogram "A browser game made in HTML5. Help your family cope with your death as a ghostly dog!"

Soft Underbelly by Rosa *** "A browser narrative game made in HTML5. Take a break. Talk to your cat about friendship, trust & care."

Purrgatory by Niv *** "A visual novel about passing time in an afterlife where nothing really matters. explore a whimsical point-and-click world, befriend seven charming characters, and remember — furever's not so bad!"

B-e-e-t-l-e by Loafy Co. "A typing game minus the chaos and the anxiety. Type at your leisure and enjoy a chill, relaxing adventure filled with retro scenery."

Happy Cat Tavern by Courier Cat Studio "A cat themed typing game" -- tip: for calm playing, use practice mode! there is still a word & time counter though, you're not on any time limit or combo constraint <3

---

Anyway that's all. Asterisk'd (***) are my top favs. Have fun, explore itch.io, and mind the trigger warnings where applicable <3

[doodlemancy]

just dropped a big update for Iron Company, my big WIP visual novel project. the current demo is the whole first chapter, about 2 hours' worth of story, and i think even in its unfinished state you will have a good time :)

At the climax of a desperate war for farmland, John Sykes and Petra Raskoph fought a duel to the death. Dragged away to safety by their comrades, both of them survived. A year after the end of the war, they meet again by chance; Sykes, directionless, depressed, and running low on cash, and Raskoph with a dangerous but lucrative job offer that neither of them can afford to turn down.

platforms: pc, mac, linux, playable in-browser on mobile genre: mid-apocalyptic / horror / comedy / fantasy / enemies-to-friends / found family is there gay stuff?: who do you think i am. (disregard previous sentence if you don't know who i am.) of course there's gonna be gay stuff!!

it's free on itch.io!!

[letmeremindyouvn]

And here's the game I've been working on for Pirate Software's game jam!! :D

You work as a researcher for the mysterious Daedalus Laboratory. You send plants into different worlds to see how the worlds affecting them. However, recently you noticed that most of your coworkers have disappeared, including your lab supervisor.

Still, you have to keep working to prevent termination. Will you be able to balance work and communicating with the employees who remain?

[Warning: This game contains brief depictions of blood and gore. Viewer discretion is advised.]

This game is part of the Let Me Remind You series that I am working, which are games about art, nostalgia, guilt, and memory.

This game also features some new characters to the Let Me Remind You universe and...Zecharias in a new outfit? Hmm.

Due to the deadline, the game is a demo and has a few issues I need to fix. I will try to fix them in the next update. As it is, the game is completely playable, and I hope you will enjoy it. ^^

[toadlett]

New book is here! I'll have this book of 5 rituals for TTRPG, all based off pre-christian traditions in the British Isles, at Tabletop Scotland next weekend!

It's also up on my itch in digital form!

[amadeusgame]

Amadeus: A Riddle for Thee ~ Episode 1 ~ Waltz

Feature-complete demo is OUT NOW! (Mac | PC | Linux)

✨ 4 scenes of hybrid visual novel + point-and-click ✨ big braining encouraged

All links here. Available on Steam and itch.io!

Play as Amadeus, a young werewolf struggling to understand his condition, as he navigates a tale woven by Witches. In desperation, he sells his own memories for a notebook and a promise...

Play & Wishlist on Steam | Play & Follow on itch.io

[velveteen-mango]

By the way! I wrote a fun lil narrative TTRPG game called the Emperor's procession, where you stitch together the story of a fearsome and magical emperor journeying through their land - from the point of view of their citizens who are all like fairytale protagonists in their own right.

Please have a look and if it suits you, I hope you give it a try!

[catslilypad]

‼️ Extended Demo is OUT NOW ‼️

Do you believe in gods? In monsters? We've got 2/2 for you in our extended demo for The Inn Between!

The extended demo follows the common route up to chapter six! Experience more of our story, and finally meet our shark-toothed goat Solas!

Get stuck in to ~50,000 words of story (half our common route!) Juuuust don't call Solas a goat....

[petgolemgames]

🚨IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM BABA THE CUTE PIGLET🚨

[lovebirdgames]

You know him, you love him, you got traumatized by his bad ending: Join the developers of Band Camp Boyfriend on our Steam page on Monday, February 17th & Wednesday, February 19th at 7pm EST to play Tom's route!

Make in-game choices to determine Tom's fate, ask questions during the livestream, and even catch a glimpse into our next game, Heartbreaker, when we reach the in-game Easter egg that resides in Tom's route (this will most likely happen towards the end of the first night's stream). Both streams will be held during The Storyteller's Festival, a celebration of games with a strong narrative, so be sure to check out everything the festival has to offer!

Hope to see you there!

Set a reminder for the Feb 17 event here!

Set a reminder for the Feb 19 event here!

[hasellia]

Was watching a friend stream the start of 1000xresist when this edit popped into my brain.