- #1 Runeous: Part One
97% matchMostly Positive75% of 142 reviews2016
Dev: Novel Tea GamesPub: Lost Fables
Windows · Mac
Median: 18 minMean: 17.7 hrs≥1hr: 10%
Join our heroes in a world ravished by the wars of it's past in this exciting Visual Novel experience!
Why similar: Visual Novel 43.3%, Indie 29%, Adventure 20%, Story Rich 7.7%
- #2 Survivor
96% matchMixed64% of 115 reviews2019
Dev: Reija Meriläinen
Windows · Mac
Outwit, Outplay, Outcast.
Why similar: Adventure 36.4%, Indie 26.5%, Interactive Fiction 26.1%, Story Rich 10.9%
- #3 One's Own Exile
94% matchVery Positive100% of 394 reviews2025
Dev: Updog Software
Windows
Follow Sybil in her pursuit for survival, having to sacrifice everything - her culture, her identity, her values - to achieve a single objective: escape from a place that is constantly trying to kill her. A short game about persecution and identity.
Why similar: Visual Novel 34.2%, Adventure 30.2%, Story Rich 18.1%, Interactive Fiction 14.6%, Indie 2.9%
- #4 Say Goodbye
96% matchMixed52% of 229 reviews2017
Dev: morojenoe's empire
Windows
Median: 2.2 hrsMean: 9.4 hrs≥1hr: 87%
This visual novel about an ordinary man with his typical problems. Suddenly, you got a report that your distant cousin died in a car crash. Fortunately, her daughter wasn't with her. You take the girl under your wing. But soon, something starts to go wrong...
Why similar: Visual Novel 49.9%, Indie 26.6%, Adventure 23.6%
- #5 Elsewhere High: Chapter 1 - A Visual Novel
95% matchMixed65% of 81 reviews2017
Dev: Horizon Studio
Windows · Mac
Median: 1.3 hrsMean: 17.5 hrs≥1hr: 68%
Welcome to Elsewhere High, "a school for exceptional children." In this visual novel, players are able to immerse themselves in the world of the outcast. Each student at Elsewhere High has fallen short of expectations at their original high school; they've flunked out, skipped class, wrote threatening notes, or grew to be a...
Why similar: Visual Novel 51.3%, Adventure 48.7%
- #6 Epimutation
93% matchVery Positive95% of 63 reviews2025
Dev: Barbieronpa
Windows · Mac · Linux
399 days ago, the world ended. Epimutation is a horror visual novel that follows seven survivors as they attempt to navigate life in the apocalypse. Make life or death decisions, form bonds with your fellow survivors, and attempt to unravel the mystery behind the outbreak.
Why similar: Interactive Fiction 40.1%, Visual Novel 36.7%, Adventure 12.3%, Story Rich 11%
- #7 The Bottom of the Well
94% matchVery Positive85% of 584 reviews2016
Dev: Red Nettle Studio
Windows
Median: 42 minMean: 18.4 hrs≥1hr: 36%
Play as Alice who has just had an unsettingly life-like dream about the end of the world, and is retelling it to her friend. A single play-through might take as little as 20 minutes, but experiencing all the possible paths Alice can take through the ruins of her city will take you many hours.
Why similar: Visual Novel 62.6%, Interactive Fiction 37.4%
- #8 Lake of Voices
92% matchOverwhelmingly Positive95% of 620 reviews2018
Dev: GB Patch Games
Windows · Mac
Median: 30 minMean: 3.5 hrs≥1hr: 36%
A free horror Visual Novel about an ill-fated journey across Sinnlos, a lake where gruesome monsters lurk just beneath the surface. With times being so dire you'll need to decide what, and who, is going to be sacrificed. Anyone can be saved, but not everyone can be.
Why similar: Visual Novel 70%, Indie 30%
- #9 Regeria Hope Episode 1
91% matchVery Positive82% of 375 reviews2016
Dev: Golden Game Barn
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 54 minMean: 17.0 hrs≥1hr: 46%
As Regeria Hope, clear your clients of their crimes, or watch them hang and amass power and wealth. It's up to you.
Why similar: Visual Novel 36.8%, Adventure 34.6%, Indie 28.6%
- #10 Project Vostok: Episode 1
90% matchVery Positive83% of 117 reviews2022
Dev: Natrix
Windows · Mac · Linux
"Project Vostok" is a non-linear horror visual novel about a group of airplane crash survivors finding a mysterious Soviet-era bunker in Altai mountains. Uncover the story full of drama, horrors and decide the fate a of various cast of heroes in this free visual novel.
Why similar: Visual Novel 34.4%, Interactive Fiction 28.3%, Indie 15.2%, Adventure 12.1%, Story Rich 10%
- #11 Rocket of Whispers: Prologue
91% matchMostly Positive77% of 275 reviews2018
Dev: SIGONO INC.
Windows · Mac
Median: 18 minMean: 10.9 hrs≥1hr: 25%
In a chilling cellar below the apocalyptic snow, Fei Lin the witch wakes up from hibernation, and ventures into the forsaken world. Guide her through the process of escaping the cellar, and seeing the changed world for her first time.
Why similar: Adventure 57.9%, Indie 42.1%
- #12 Embers of Magic
89% matchVery Positive83% of 100 reviews2017
Dev: Ithaqua Labs
Windows · Mac · Linux
Embers of Magic is a short, adventure visual novel that tells the story of Liana the witch. She takes an airship down to the surface of the dangerous and corrupt earth beneath her flying city home.
Why similar: Visual Novel 49.7%, Adventure 26.3%, Indie 23.9%
- #13 Garden of Oblivion
89% matchVery Positive87% of 200 reviews2018
Dev: Träumendes Mädchen
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 24 minMean: 5.0 hrs≥1hr: 21%
A short horror point & click game about a teenager trapped in a dream-like garden. Will Reven be able to escape? It's up to you!
Why similar: Visual Novel 62.4%, Indie 37.6%
- #14 the 9th day:第九日
88% matchVery Positive92% of 317 reviews2017
Dev: Lingtan Studio
Windows
Median: 5.6 hrsMean: 14.0 hrs≥1hr: 95%
The story of The 9th Day, that started with the autumn fire incident, begins here…
Why similar: Adventure 36%, Visual Novel 35.5%, Indie 28.5%
- #15 Undying Symphony
86% matchVery Positive84% of 184 reviews2024
Dev: Siberian Koala
Windows
«Undying Symphony» tells a story about challenges that Leningrad people faced during the Siege and shows us one of the most tragic episodes of Leningrad history
Why similar: Adventure 32%, Visual Novel 28.3%, Story Rich 27.2%, Indie 12.5%
- #16 The Far Rings: A Space Opera Visual Novella
87% matchVery Positive84% of 80 reviews2019
Dev: TFR Team - Heiden, aMira, Debbie, and morePub: The Far Rings Team
Windows · Mac · Linux
Play as Doctor Athena, a passionate young woman with mixed alien heritage—and the sole survivor of refugee camp ITOH. Three days remain on the trip 'home'—with only the ship's unsettlingly polite Captain Odysseus and the cryptic alien war criminal Chiron for company. But is everything really as it seems?
Why similar: Visual Novel 53.6%, Indie 29.8%, Story Rich 16.6%
- #17 Perceptions of the Dead
86% matchVery Positive92% of 335 reviews2017
Dev: Ithaqua Labs
Windows · Linux
Median: 1.6 hrsMean: 8.1 hrs≥1hr: 72%
Follow three stories set in a world where the dead linger, and things far worse wait beyond the veil.
Why similar: Visual Novel 47.2%, Adventure 30.2%, Indie 22.7%
- #18 The Imagined Leviathan: Prologue
84% matchMostly Positive78% of 162 reviews2020
Dev: ChardPub: Far Few Giants
Windows · Mac
Imagined Leviathans is a narrative survival game set in a frozen British village. Explore the countryside and unite the survivors to face down your Leviathans together.
Why similar: Interactive Fiction 29.3%, Visual Novel 23.8%, Adventure 20.1%, Story Rich 13.4%, Indie 13.4%
- #19 The Plane Effect Prologue
84% matchVery Positive86% of 160 reviews2021
Dev: Innovina/StudioKikuPub: PQube
Windows
Play the first 30 minutes of a dystopian isometric adventure, following a lonely office worker as he attempts to return home in the face of impossible odds. Experience a remarkable journey expertly brought to life with gorgeous visuals, crafted and tailored by VFX experts.
Why similar: Adventure 80%, Indie 20%
- #20 The NADI Project
85% matchMixed67% of 468 reviews2016
Dev: Monkeys Tales Studio
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 54 minMean: 3.3 hrs≥1hr: 43%
The NADI Project it is a free-to-play, first person graphic adventure, in which you will face various obstacles to escape from your destiny.
Why similar: Adventure 50.6%, Indie 21.3%, Interactive Fiction 16.9%, Story Rich 11.2%
- #21 Everglow
82% matchVery Positive93% of 104 reviews2022
Dev: 7CoreLoops
Windows · Mac · Linux
Experience the story of Glow, a young and naive furry heroine caught between two empires' interplanetary ambitions, forged in tragedy and conspiracy.
Why similar: Visual Novel 46%, Adventure 26.8%, Story Rich 17.5%, Indie 9.7%
- #22 Scorch
83% matchVery Positive83% of 317 reviews2018
Dev: Ellie's Lunchbox
Windows
It's been 30 years since a terrible arson attack erased an entire family. Until today the culprit has been on the loose. You are sent to investigate a similar incident in this narrative exploration game.
Why similar: Indie 100%
- #23 un/FRAGMENT.
81% matchPositive88% of 50 reviews2024
Dev: izakiko paradox
Windows · Mac · Linux
A short 10 minute visual novel about being a fragment in the universe and trying to find a way out of the ****.
Why similar: Story Rich 58%, Adventure 42%
- #24 Lighthouse of Guiding Flames
82% matchVery Positive88% of 68 reviews2019
Dev: TomoToroPub: NARRATIVE NINE LTD
Windows
Ethani lost her way and ended up at the Lighthouse. Where did she come from and where should she go? Explore this fantasy Visual Novel to reveal her past and set sail once more...
Why similar: Visual Novel 39.3%, Adventure 27.6%, Indie 19.1%, Story Rich 14.1%
- #25 Mythic Ocean: Prologue
81% matchVery Positive95% of 94 reviews2019
Dev: Paralune LLC
Windows
Get to know the gods! This preview will give you a first glimpse into the world of Mythic Ocean, a narrative exploration game where your choices shape the fate of the cosmos.
Why similar: Adventure 50.5%, Indie 30.4%, Visual Novel 19.1%
- #26 Burn Me Twice
80% matchVery Positive82% of 266 reviews2020
Dev: Null Reference Studio
Windows
A narrative adventure that combines the exploration and investigation of the enigmatic town of Düstenburg and its people, with trials that test your knowledge about the case.
Why similar: Interactive Fiction 42.1%, Adventure 28.8%, Story Rich 16.9%, Indie 12.2%
- #27 Knell of St. Godhrkar
77% matchVery Positive94% of 1,530 reviews2021
Dev: 二律背反Pub: 旅人计划
Windows · Mac
In this game, you can watch as 7 protagonists come to a crossroad, facing their own destiny. You will witness their own choices and the blood-splattering consequence they have on one another. There is no way out except to plunge them into the abyss...
Why similar: Visual Novel 33.6%, Adventure 22.5%, Interactive Fiction 19.4%, Story Rich 14.7%, Indie 9.9%
- #28 Cinderella Phenomenon - Otome/Visual Novel
78% matchOverwhelmingly Positive96% of 4,111 reviews2017
Dev: Dicesuki
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 2.3 hrsMean: 25.0 hrs≥1hr: 75%
The Fairytale Curse was only the beginning...
Why similar: Visual Novel 72.3%, Story Rich 13.4%, Indie 11.7%, Adventure 2.6%
- #29 Together We Live
79% matchVery Positive97% of 194 reviews2017
Dev: Water PhoenixPub: KEMCO
Windows
This is a visual novel game without player selections. To atone for the sins of humanity, the girl continues to die.
Why similar: Adventure 38.2%, Visual Novel 34.1%, Indie 27.7%
- #30 The Mildew Children: Chapter 1
76% matchVery Positive86% of 324 reviews2023
Dev: The Growing StonesPub: Valkyrie Initiative
Windows
Median: 36 minMean: 1.7 hrs≥1hr: 31%
Featuring a blend of 2D adventure and visual novel. Chapter 1 is the very beginning of the grim tale about a village inhabited only by children who follow savage pagan traditions. A young witch Kyrphel, along with her sisters, are bound to perform a macabre Ritual in order to save their village.
Why similar: Visual Novel 44.7%, Adventure 33.6%, Story Rich 21.7%
- #31 Mystic Destinies: Serendipity of Aeons
79% matchVery Positive82% of 398 reviews2016
Dev: Aeon Dream Studios
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 2.0 hrsMean: 17.0 hrs≥1hr: 61%
During your first year of university, immense magical powers are forced onto you, thus revealing the supernatural world hidden within ours. But you must learn to control your powers with the help of a partner or risk destroying everything around you. Will your new fate be one of tragedy or serendipity?
Why similar: Visual Novel 62.3%, Adventure 19.8%, Indie 17.9%
- #32 How We Got Here
77% matchVery Positive85% of 544 reviews2021
Dev: Euphoric Brothers
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 1.2 hrsMean: 3.6 hrs≥1hr: 57%
You wake up on a floating island with no idea how you got there. Find ways to reach new and strange islands and meet other survivors all while uncovering the story of how you all got there.
Why similar: Interactive Fiction 39.5%, Adventure 25%, Indie 18.7%, Story Rich 16.9%
- #33 Molytropia: Cloud in Shape of Hurt
75% matchVery Positive95% of 128 reviews2022
Dev: Alice Nowak
Windows · Mac · Linux
The first of seven chapters, which will tell an amazing story about the adventures of a girl and her friends. Colorful landscapes and warm sunny atmosphere. Also, they will find the real door! And take part in the contest! Can you imagine?
Why similar: Visual Novel 50.6%, Adventure 21.6%, Story Rich 18%, Indie 9.8%
- #34 Dark Light
73% matchVery Positive94% of 53 reviews2024
Dev: UsagygyPub: ZNT Productions
Windows
Mio is a young girl surrounded by death, and after an unexpected accident, she finds out where people go after they die. Maybe Heaven, or Hell...or an Underworld full of demons and mysteries.
Why similar: Visual Novel 33.3%, Interactive Fiction 21.8%, Adventure 18.7%, Indie 13.2%, Story Rich 13%
- #35 Lucid9: Inciting Incident
76% matchVery Positive90% of 1,038 reviews2016
Dev: Fallen Snow Studios
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 1.8 hrsMean: 12.1 hrs≥1hr: 71%
Lucid9 is a visual novel focused on a web of intricate mysteries set in the fictional 2018 metropolis of Isamu. Lucid9: Inciting Incident is the first part of the story, focused on a string of disappearances that occur at a prestigious, uppity boarding academy.
Why similar: Visual Novel 71.3%, Story Rich 17.7%, Indie 11%
- #36 Apotheorasis • Lab of the Blind Gods | Prologue
74% matchVery Positive95% of 96 reviews2021
Dev: Tall Guy Productions
Windows
An FPS with ZERO graphics!? Yes, you heard right ! Run • Blast • Escape • Survive, through sound alone, as you challenge your makers and unravel the mysteries of your existence. You may be blind, but you're far from helpless !
Why similar: Story Rich 40.6%, Adventure 33.2%, Indie 26.2%
- #37 Once upon a time
78% matchMostly Negative40% of 63 reviews2017
Dev: Bruno MARTIOL
Windows
Median: 36 minMean: 9.0 hrs≥1hr: 35%
« Once Upon A Time » is an adventure game in which a young woman, finds a magic book and is instantly teleported inside. Each chapter of the book is one single tale in which you will have to solve riddles in fairy tale designed settings. Magic and nature will be friends and foes.
Why similar: Adventure 57.9%, Indie 42.1%
- #38 Silver Creek Falls: Chapter 1
74% matchVery Positive86% of 637 reviews2015
Dev: Sapphire Dragon Productions
Windows
Median: 36 minMean: 4.2 hrs≥1hr: 28%
Two city detectives are sent to a small idyllic town in North Carolina called ‘Silver Creek Falls” to investigate a strange series of events that the local sheriff can’t seem to get his mind around. What initially seems like an open-and-shut case unfolds into a truly terrifying mystery that will leave the detectives wondering what is...
Why similar: Adventure 54%, Story Rich 46%
- #39 SORE
75% matchMixed67% of 343 reviews2017
Dev: Bazitov Mikhail
Windows
Median: 42 minMean: 2.9 hrs≥1hr: 31%
Mystical puzzle quest game in a gloomy minimalism style will tell you a story of a person who's got himself into a camera, and from which there is no way out it seems. Experimental gameplay diluted with a pinch of a philosophy, that's what SORE is.
Why similar: Indie 50.8%, Adventure 49.2%
- #40 Harmony: The Fall of Reverie
71% matchMostly Positive73% of 269 reviews2023
Dev: DON'T NOD
Windows
The fate of humanity is at stake. Use your gift of clairvoyance to see into the future and stop an apocalypse that threatens the balance between your world and the deities'.
Why similar: Visual Novel 29.5%, Interactive Fiction 29.2%, Adventure 18.1%, Story Rich 11.9%, Indie 11.3%
- #41 Don't Let Me Fade
67% matchVery Positive99% of 127 reviews2025
Dev: AinkOink
Windows
Don't Let Me Fade is an interactive adventure about memory, identity, and loss. Piece together fragments of a life - even if a simple teddy bear is the last symbol of connection to oneself in a world without time.
Why similar: Interactive Fiction 30.1%, Adventure 29.9%, Visual Novel 23.9%, Indie 9.9%, Story Rich 6.3%
- #42 A Flicker of Light
71% matchVery Positive84% of 137 reviews2022
Dev: 饺子社
Windows
In this visual novel, experience the story of Ethan Syfran, who by an accident got him and his family caught in a whirlpool of crime in a catastrophe-swept world. How would he struggle to get out and save everything he cherished... or carry up all the sins he'd done and keep going?
Why similar: Visual Novel 41.5%, Adventure 29%, Story Rich 16%, Indie 13.5%
- #43 PRICE
70% matchVery Positive94% of 5,134 reviews2016
Dev: YETU GAME
Windows
Median: 1.2 hrsMean: 7.9 hrs≥1hr: 59%
The hero Ivry wakes up from a nightmare and finds himself in a weird room. To escape from fear and darkness, he has to search and explore on his own until he discovers the truth and finds his sister Iva.A puzzle game 《PRICE》
Why similar: Visual Novel 31.9%, Indie 30%, Adventure 28.9%, Story Rich 9.1%
- #44 The Average Everyday Adventures of Samantha Browne
72% matchVery Positive82% of 1,224 reviews2016
Dev: Lemonsucker Games
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 48 minMean: 44.0 hrs≥1hr: 35%
An interactive story about a painfully introverted college student who must find a way to make some oatmeal in the communal kitchen of her dorm. One simple task, can you help her complete it?
Why similar: Visual Novel 57.5%, Indie 42.5%
- #45 CAFE 0 ~The Sleeping Beast~
72% matchVery Positive83% of 53 reviews2016
Dev: ROSEVERTE MYSTERYPub: ROSEVERTE
Windows · Mac
Median: 4.2 hrsMean: 7.2 hrs≥1hr: 95%
A supernatural mystery visual novel. What kind of fate will the heroine face after she relives the last seven days before her death?
Why similar: Interactive Fiction 33.2%, Visual Novel 32.7%, Adventure 13.3%, Story Rich 11.8%, Indie 8.9%
- #46 Serafina's Crown
73% matchMostly Positive74% of 54 reviews2016
Dev: Woodsy StudioPub: Thesis Games
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 4.0 hrsMean: 4.2 hrs≥1hr: 98%
Serafina’s Crown is a visual novel with elements of fantasy, adventure and romance. You play as Odell Perin, the newly-appointed regent of Darzia as she tries to solve the murder of the queen and a host of other domestic and international crises.
Why similar: Adventure 45.5%, Indie 33.1%, Visual Novel 21.5%
- #47 Deluge: Threnody of Crashing Waves
69% matchVery Positive85% of 252 reviews2022
Dev: leavesPub: socah
Windows · Mac · Linux
In the not so distant past, the Isle of Abbot underwent a mysterious evacuation event. Delve into the secrets of this unsettling place and elicit the girls' tragic fate. An interactive visual novel with psychological and lovecraftian undertones.
Why similar: Visual Novel 78.3%, Story Rich 21.7%
- #48 Into The Unknown
71% matchMostly Positive70% of 100 reviews2016
Dev: FYRE Games
Windows · Mac
There's nothing scarier than waking up in the middle of the forest alone... or so it seems. Taking control of Rachel in this short, story driven, exploration game, you must find out where you are, why you're there, and most importantly, how to get out. What will you uncover when you delve into the unknown?
Why similar: Adventure 58.9%, Indie 41.1%
- #49 Children of Silentown: Prologue
67% matchOverwhelmingly Positive96% of 1,048 reviews2020
Dev: Elf GamesPub: Daedalic Entertainment
Windows · Mac
Median: 30 minMean: 3.7 hrs≥1hr: 22%
Prologue to Children of Silentown, a dark adventure game that tells the story of Lucy, a young girl growing up in a village deep into a forest inhabited by monsters. People disappearing is nothing uncommon in the village, but this time, Lucy is old enough to investigate on her own. Or so she thinks.
Why similar: Story Rich 60.4%, Adventure 39.6%
- #50 Sonata Theory
68% matchVery Positive93% of 74 reviews2021
Dev: Mayj Studios
Windows
2D/3D story-adventure game
Why similar: Interactive Fiction 86.8%, Adventure 13.2%
- #51 Gods of Savvarah | Part I
66% matchVery Positive98% of 165 reviews2023
Dev: ST Sinovar
Windows
Gods of Savvarah is a visual novel with the philosophy of a classic fantasy RPG. Defeat enemies, explore countries, make friends, and find your place in Savvarah.
Why similar: Visual Novel 33.6%, Interactive Fiction 33.4%, Adventure 19.4%, Story Rich 13.6%
- #52 The Descendant
68% matchVery Positive89% of 7,313 reviews2016
Dev: Gaming Corps ABPub: Microids Indie
Windows · Mac
Median: 3.2 hrsMean: 10.7 hrs≥1hr: 90%
In THE DESCENDANT, the end of the world is only the start. With what remains of humanity protected in underground Ark facilities, your mission is to keep survivors alive, while discovering a far greater conspiracy buried within Ark-01.
Why similar: Adventure 98.9%, Story Rich 0.8%, Indie 0.3%
- #53 The Outcast Lovers
69% matchMixed66% of 85 reviews2020
Dev: ChardPub: Far Few Giants
Windows · Mac
Driving home late one night you encounter a refugee in distress. They are looking for salvation. Do you hand them over to violent authorities? Or risk sheltering them yourself?
Why similar: Interactive Fiction 31%, Visual Novel 28.1%, Adventure 24.5%, Story Rich 16.4%
- #54 Miss Fisher and the Deathly Maze
70% matchVery Positive81% of 72 reviews2018
Dev: Tin Man Games
Windows · Mac
Episode 1 and 2 of the award winning murder mystery, visual novel adventure in which you become the Honourable Miss Phryne Fisher, the glamorous and stylish detective!
Why similar: Visual Novel 33.4%, Adventure 32.5%, Indie 21.7%, Story Rich 12.4%
- #55 After the Inferno
65% matchVery Positive91% of 759 reviews2022
Dev: Classy Lemon
Windows
Median: 1.5 hrsMean: 6.3 hrs≥1hr: 60%
An adult visual novel set in an original fantasy world. Featuring animated and voice acted scenes, both NSFW and SFW.
Why similar: Visual Novel 63.3%, Adventure 26.7%, Story Rich 10.1%