- #1 Scarlet Hollow
97% matchOverwhelmingly Positive98% of 4,469 reviews2021
Dev: Black Tabby Games
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 7.6 hrsMean: 13.6 hrs≥1hr: 83%
Your aunt’s dead, your cousin hates you, and you’re stuck in the dead-end town of Scarlet Hollow. Choose your path through a branching narrative so dense that you'll see less than 1/5 of the game on a single playthrough. You won't be able to save everyone. Good luck, and welcome home.
Why similar: Visual Novel 15.2%, Choices Matter 14.4%, Psychological Horror 13.2%, Dating Sim 11%, Interactive Fiction 8.4%
Why You'll Like It: From the same creators, it delivers the same hand-drawn style, branching dialogue, and horror built around tense relationships and repeated discoveries across playthroughs.
- #2 Doki Doki Literature Club Plus!
96% matchOverwhelmingly Positive97% of 30,488 reviews2021
Dev: Team SalvatoPub: Serenity Forge
Windows · Mac
Median: 5.9 hrsMean: 79.9 hrs≥1hr: 79%
Welcome to the club! Write poems for your crush and experience the terror of school romance in this critically-acclaimed psychological horror story.
Why similar: Psychological Horror 25.4%, Visual Novel 22.8%, Dating Sim 16.5%, Romance 12.7%, Interactive Fiction 5.7%
Why You'll Like It: Another choice-driven visual novel that weaponizes dating-sim intimacy and asks you to question both the characters and the rules of the story itself.
- #3 BAD END THEATER
96% matchOverwhelmingly Positive98% of 9,533 reviews2021
Dev: NomnomNami
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 1.6 hrsMean: 3.5 hrs≥1hr: 71%
select your protagonist and explore a variety of terrible fates!
Why similar: Visual Novel 28.4%, Choices Matter 24.8%, Choose Your Own Adventure 18.4%, Romance 11.8%, Story Rich 11.7%
Why You'll Like It: Its whole design is about replaying short tragic routes from different perspectives to uncover how choices reshape every ending.
- #4 YOU and ME and HER: A Love Story
95% matchOverwhelmingly Positive95% of 6,464 reviews2020
Dev: NitroplusPub: JAST
Windows
Median: 7.7 hrsMean: 128.2 hrs≥1hr: 85%
YOU and ME and HER: A Love Story is the visual novel medium in its purest form. Will Shinichi choose Miyuki, the beautiful queen bee of the school, or the endearingly awkward misfit Aoi? With art by Tsuji Santa, these beautifully rendered romances will stay with you forever.
Why similar: Visual Novel 32.1%, Psychological Horror 26.3%, Romance 14.3%, Horror 6.8%, Dating Sim 6.6%
Why You'll Like It: It begins like a romance visual novel and then uses player choice, repetition, and meta-fiction in a way that closely mirrors Slay the Princess’s reality-bending structure.
- #5 Who's Lila?
94% matchVery Positive95% of 3,515 reviews2022
Dev: Garage Heathen
Windows
Median: 3.5 hrsMean: 4.7 hrs≥1hr: 78%
A reverse-detective adventure, where you control your character's face
Why similar: Psychological Horror 13.6%, Visual Novel 13.4%, Choose Your Own Adventure 12.8%, Lore-Rich 12%, Choices Matter 10.9%
Why You'll Like It: This surreal horror adventure makes every conversation feel loaded and wrong, with branching outcomes that slowly reveal a deeper nightmare behind the surface.
- #6 The Coffin of Andy and Leyley
94% matchOverwhelmingly Positive96% of 36,042 reviews2023
Dev: Kit9 Studio
Windows
Median: 4.2 hrsMean: 12.3 hrs≥1hr: 87%
Walk-n-talk adventure with light puzzling. Brother and sister practice cannibalism after witnessing a botched satanic ritual.
Why similar: Visual Novel 26.1%, Choices Matter 24.9%, Story Rich 14.9%, Horror 14%, Hand-drawn 12%
Why You'll Like It: If you liked Slay the Princess at its most toxic, intimate, and disturbing, this offers similarly oppressive character-driven horror with multiple paths.
- #7 Cooking Companions
93% matchVery Positive94% of 1,183 reviews2021
Dev: Deer Dream StudiosPub: Serenity Forge
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 3.6 hrsMean: 4.5 hrs≥1hr: 94%
Unravel the mystery in this cute psychological horror VN, set deep in the woods of the Tatras Mountains. Will you wind up on the chopping block?
Why similar: Visual Novel 18.2%, Lore-Rich 17.3%, Psychological Horror 15.6%, Dating Sim 14.6%, Choose Your Own Adventure 13.2%
Why You'll Like It: It pairs cute presentation with manipulative psychological horror, relationship tension, and multiple endings that get darker the more you probe it.
- #8 The House in Fata Morgana
92% matchVery Positive95% of 6,041 reviews2016
Dev: NOVECTPub: MangaGamer
Windows
Median: 6.4 hrsMean: 27.3 hrs≥1hr: 84%
A gothic suspense tale set in a cursed mansion. "The House in Fata Morgana" is a full-length visual novel spanning nearly a millennium that deals in tragedy, human nature, and insanity.
Why similar: Visual Novel 24.7%, Psychological Horror 18.9%, Romance 16.7%, Choices Matter 15.1%, Horror 10.8%
Why You'll Like It: Its gothic mystery, tragic romance, and layered revelations about identity and truth make it a superb thematic match even with less interactivity.
- #9 Raging Loop
91% matchOverwhelmingly Positive96% of 9,674 reviews2017
Dev: KEMCO
Windows
Median: 23.9 hrsMean: 58.6 hrs≥1hr: 84%
The feast has begun, can you escape the village alive?
Why similar: Visual Novel 46.9%, Psychological Horror 27.9%, Story Rich 11.9%, Adventure 5%, Horror 4.4%
Why You'll Like It: A looping horror visual novel where knowledge from prior runs opens new routes and exposes the hidden logic of a deadly ritual story.
- #10 PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo
90% matchOverwhelmingly Positive96% of 6,520 reviews2023
Dev: Square Enix
Windows
Median: 8.6 hrsMean: 10.1 hrs≥1hr: 87%
How far would you go to bring someone back from the dead? Discover the depths that some will go to in this horror-adventure game.
Why similar: Visual Novel 26.7%, Hand-drawn 14.9%, Horror 13.8%, Choose Your Own Adventure 10.6%, Point & Click 9.5%
Why You'll Like It: A supernatural branching mystery that rewards experimentation and route knowledge as you untangle a cursed narrative.
- #11 Saint Maker - Horror Visual Novel
91% matchVery Positive86% of 252 reviews2023
Dev: Yangyang MobilePub: Neon Doctrine
Windows · Mac
A haunted convent. Statues that move on their own. A buried past. Welcome to Saint Idelora’s convent, where becoming a saint comes with a price.
Why similar: Visual Novel 20.8%, Psychological Horror 18.6%, Choose Your Own Adventure 13.8%, Interactive Fiction 12.4%, Choices Matter 11.6%
Why You'll Like It: A short but potent horror VN centered on personal dread, unsettling relationships, and choices that steer a very focused nightmare.
- #12 Mouthwashing
88% matchOverwhelmingly Positive95% of 36,133 reviews2024
Dev: Wrong OrganPub: CRITICAL REFLEX
Windows
Median: 2.8 hrsMean: 3.4 hrs≥1hr: 91%
The five crew members of the Tulpar are stranded in the empty reaches of space, shrouded in perpetual sunset. God is not watching.
Why similar: Psychological Horror 41.4%, Horror 20.3%, Story Rich 14.4%, Dark Humor 12.3%, First-Person 7.3%
Why You'll Like It: It is less choice-driven, but its claustrophobic psychological horror and poisonous character dynamics hit a very similar emotional register.
- #13 Sucker for Love: First Date
89% matchOverwhelmingly Positive98% of 2,933 reviews2022
Dev: AkabakaPub: DreadXP
Windows
Median: 2.3 hrsMean: 5.2 hrs≥1hr: 69%
Put the 'love' in 'Lovecraftian horror'! Perform terrifying rituals to win the affections of eldritch horrors and smooch 'em... at any cost!
Why similar: Visual Novel 14.9%, Psychological Horror 14.1%, Romance 13.6%, Dating Sim 12.6%, Horror 9.4%
Why You'll Like It: Like Slay the Princess, it mixes flirtation with monstrous danger and turns knowingly terrible choices into much of the appeal.
- #14 The Letter - Horror Visual Novel
89% matchVery Positive86% of 1,500 reviews2017
Dev: Yangyang MobilePub: Neon Doctrine
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 6.6 hrsMean: 11.1 hrs≥1hr: 90%
When seven people fall prey to a vicious curse, they will discover that horror rests not from the shadows lurking about, but within themselves. To what ends will one go in order to survive?
Why similar: Visual Novel 31.2%, Choices Matter 18.5%, Horror 18.1%, Psychological Horror 13.7%, Interactive Fiction 7%
Why You'll Like It: Its route-heavy structure, shifting viewpoints, and choice-based deaths make it a strong fit for anyone who wants horror with major narrative consequences.
- #15 The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood
86% matchVery Positive94% of 5,842 reviews2023
Dev: DeconstructeamPub: Devolver Digital
Windows
Median: 4.7 hrsMean: 5.9 hrs≥1hr: 77%
Immerse yourself in an enchanting narrative experience as Fortuna, a fortune-teller Witch condemned to exile on her asteroid home. Craft your own Tarot deck, regain your freedom, and shape the fate of the cosmic Witch society.
Why similar: Visual Novel 30.7%, Choices Matter 27.2%, Interactive Fiction 26.4%, Story Rich 10.6%, Adventure 3.8%
Why You'll Like It: Though less horrific, it scratches the same itch for intimate supernatural conversations, fate-altering choices, and multiple narrative outcomes.
- #16 CORPSE FACTORY
87% matchVery Positive80% of 855 reviews2022
Dev: RIVER CROW STUDIO
Windows
Median: 4.3 hrsMean: 6.7 hrs≥1hr: 94%
Discard your sense of morality and enter the world of CORPSE FACTORY. An obscure website allows users to request a death. Victims supposedly receive a photograph of their own corpse before they are killed! With English voice acting by an all-star cast.
Why similar: Visual Novel 30.3%, Psychological Horror 27%, Interactive Fiction 15.1%, Horror 12%, Story Rich 9.7%
Why You'll Like It: This psychological horror VN leans into identity collapse, moral ugliness, and a growing sense that reality is coming apart around the cast.
- #17 GNOSIA
86% matchVery Positive94% of 4,733 reviews2022
Dev: Petit DepottoPub: PLAYISM
Windows
Median: 7.2 hrsMean: 15.4 hrs≥1hr: 90%
The Gnosia lie. Pretending to be human, they’ll get in close, trick and deceive, and then eliminate one victim at a time...
Why similar: Visual Novel 37.9%, Psychological Horror 28.9%, Story Rich 14.9%, Simulation 7.3%, Adventure 4.4%
Why You'll Like It: Its loop-based structure turns each run into another attempt to decode a hostile reality, making player knowledge as important as in Slay the Princess.
- #18 Little Goody Two Shoes
85% matchOverwhelmingly Positive95% of 2,301 reviews2023
Dev: AstralShiftPub: Square Enix
Windows
Median: 3.6 hrsMean: 8.1 hrs≥1hr: 79%
Venture into the woods as you play Little Goody Two Shoes, a phantasmagorical horror narrative adventure where all your decisions matter!
Why similar: Dating Sim 23.7%, Choices Matter 22.1%, Horror 18.8%, Romance 12.6%, RPG 8.4%
Why You'll Like It: It blends romance, fairy-tale aesthetics, and horror into a narrative adventure full of secrets, dread, and bad outcomes.
- #19 Milk inside a bag of milk inside a bag of milk
83% matchOverwhelmingly Positive97% of 32,921 reviews2020
Dev: Nikita KryukovPub: Nikita Igorevich Studio
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 24 minMean: 7.2 hrs≥1hr: 11%
A short story about what sort of challenges everyday little things can be. Help the girl buy milk, be the first not to disappoint her.
Why similar: Visual Novel 34.3%, Psychological Horror 29.2%, Horror 14.7%, Interactive Fiction 14.4%, Story Rich 4%
Why You'll Like It: Short and abstract, it offers a similarly unsettling closeness to a fractured mind and a deliberately uncomfortable conversation-heavy structure.
- #20 MiSide
81% matchOverwhelmingly Positive98% of 136,956 reviews2024
Dev: AIHASTOPub: IndieArk
Windows
Median: 5.8 hrsMean: 21.1 hrs≥1hr: 92%
Let's imagine that you have a game in which you care for a character. But could you imagine one day getting into that game yourself?
Why similar: Psychological Horror 41.4%, Horror 19.1%, Story Rich 14.2%, First-Person 11.3%, Simulation 4.6%
Why You'll Like It: Its cute-to-disturbing relationship horror taps into the same fear of being trapped inside someone else’s version of the story.
- #21 The Sekimeiya: Spun Glass
84% matchVery Positive86% of 279 reviews2021
Dev: Trinitite Team
Windows · Mac · Linux
An intricate mystery visual novel. Search text, piece together clues, and jump around the story to unravel the tangled events within the sealed tower.
Why similar: Visual Novel 64.4%, Story Rich 25.4%, Adventure 6.6%, Singleplayer 3.7%
Why You'll Like It: Its intricate route structure and dense mystery-solving appeal to the same desire to piece together a hidden narrative system across repeated runs.
- #22 Zero Escape: The Nonary Games
84% matchVery Positive93% of 6,967 reviews2017
Dev: Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd.
Windows
Median: 6.5 hrsMean: 21.7 hrs≥1hr: 88%
Kidnapped and taken to an unfamiliar location, nine people find themselves forced to participate in a diabolical Nonary Game by an enigmatic mastermind called Zero. Why were they there? Why were they chosen to put their lives on the line? And more importantly, who can be trusted?
Why similar: Visual Novel 31.6%, Choices Matter 22.1%, Psychological Horror 18.6%, Story Rich 11.9%, Point & Click 7.3%
Why You'll Like It: A classic branching thriller where timeline-hopping and route knowledge are essential to understanding the full story.
- #23 The Shell Part I: Inferno
82% matchVery Positive91% of 1,325 reviews2023
Dev: Innocent GreyPub: Shiravune
Windows
Median: 10.7 hrsMean: 110.2 hrs≥1hr: 70%
Unravel a string of gruesome murders terrorizing Tokyo in this mystery-thriller visual novel. The secrets of a case from six years prior may just be the key to the current unending cycle of tragedy—and the thing that cracks this woeful world’s shell may be one girl’s smile.
Why similar: Visual Novel 27.2%, Psychological Horror 20.2%, Choices Matter 20%, Romance 17.3%, Choose Your Own Adventure 9.8%
Why You'll Like It: A dark literary mystery with gruesome imagery and layered character revelations that will appeal if you want a more grounded but equally haunting VN.
- #24 Milk outside a bag of milk outside a bag of milk
81% matchOverwhelmingly Positive97% of 21,266 reviews2021
Dev: Nikita Kryukov
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 2.6 hrsMean: 7.6 hrs≥1hr: 79%
A sequel to Milk inside a bag of milk inside a bag of milk. Dive into demented and bizarre world once again and help the girl become a little happier.
Why similar: Visual Novel 36.6%, Psychological Horror 35.9%, Story Rich 8.2%, Horror 6.8%, Choices Matter 6.5%
Why You'll Like It: An experimental, intimate VN that traps you in a fragile perspective where every small interaction feels unstable and deeply revealing.
- #25 MAMIYA
82% matchVery Positive93% of 444 reviews2021
Dev: Kenkou LandPub: Fruitbat Factory
Windows · Mac
Median: 4.2 hrsMean: 12.1 hrs≥1hr: 86%
MAMIYA is a captivating, dark mystery visual novel in which a group of young men struggle against existential dread before the end of the world.
Why similar: Visual Novel 28.6%, Psychological Horror 26.9%, Choices Matter 19%, Horror 11.9%, Story Rich 11.2%
Why You'll Like It: Bleak, introspective, and psychologically unstable, it explores desire and death with the same sense of unsettling emotional proximity.
- #26 In Stars And Time
79% matchOverwhelmingly Positive97% of 8,095 reviews2023
Dev: insertdisc5Pub: Armor Games Studios
Windows
Median: 4.5 hrsMean: 11.3 hrs≥1hr: 82%
Live with the ever-present burden of being trapped in a time loop only you can know about in this turn-based RPG. Create a better future for you and your friends. Find hope where there is none left. Pray to the stars and free yourself from time.
Why similar: Lore-Rich 23.6%, Psychological Horror 23.5%, Story Rich 15.4%, Choices Matter 13.6%, Hand-drawn 12.7%
Why You'll Like It: It is not primarily horror, but its looping structure, character intimacy, and gradual reframing of repeated scenes echo Slay the Princess’s replay-to-understand appeal.
- #27 Beacon Pines
80% matchOverwhelmingly Positive98% of 4,195 reviews2022
Dev: Hiding SpotPub: Fellow Traveller
Windows
Median: 4.4 hrsMean: 9.0 hrs≥1hr: 67%
Beacon Pines is a cute and creepy adventure set within a mysterious book. Sneak out late, make new friends, uncover hidden truths, and collect words that will change the course of fate!
Why similar: Visual Novel 29.7%, Interactive Fiction 17.2%, Horror 12.1%, Hand-drawn 11%, Story Rich 10.6%
Why You'll Like It: This branching storybook adventure is built around retrying different narrative turns, capturing that same fascination with exploring every possible path.
- #28 Sucker for Love: Date to Die For
78% matchVery Positive95% of 1,247 reviews2024
Dev: AkabakaPub: DreadXP
Windows
Median: 4.3 hrsMean: 4.5 hrs≥1hr: 82%
Put the ‘love’ in 'Lovecraftian horror!' Avoid the fanatical cultists and survive dangerous rituals to escape the Black Woods with your life in this 90’s anime inspired visual novel!
Why similar: Visual Novel 18.5%, Dating Sim 15.8%, Hand-drawn 11.8%, Horror 10.4%, Psychological Horror 9.1%
- #29 The Excavation of Hob's Barrow
78% matchVery Positive92% of 3,008 reviews2022
Dev: Cloak and Dagger GamesPub: Wadjet Eye Games
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 3.3 hrsMean: 4.5 hrs≥1hr: 91%
The Excavation of Hob's Barrow is a folk horror narrative-driven adventure. Explore the isolated moors of rural Victorian England as you uncover the mysteries of Hob's Barrow. The answers lie in the soil...
Why similar: Point & Click 34.7%, Horror 24.6%, Interactive Fiction 22.5%, Story Rich 9.7%, Adventure 6.3%
Why You'll Like It: If the hand-drawn art and mounting dread were major draws, this folk-horror point-and-click offers a similarly oppressive narrative descent.
- #30 Cabernet
76% matchVery Positive95% of 1,924 reviews2025
Dev: Party for IntrovertsPub: Akupara Games
Windows
Median: 4.5 hrsMean: 8.1 hrs≥1hr: 85%
Cabernet is a 2D narrative RPG set in a 19th century Eastern European inspired world, with a modern twist. Guide Liza, a young vampire in her new unlife among the unsuspecting townsfolk. Will you retain your humanity or descend further into the horror you have become?
Why similar: Choices Matter 12.4%, Visual Novel 11.2%, Psychological Horror 9.7%, Choose Your Own Adventure 9.5%, Romance 8.7%
- #31 Landmine Princess
77% matchVery Positive94% of 72 reviews2025
Dev: Jeistar
Windows
Meet Mina! She's a landmine girl! That means she's cute on the outside, but dangerous on the inside! But maybe she's the kind of danger you've always been looking for. This is a rogue fast-love dating sim. And the only sim that teaches you to be nice to girls. Or else.
Why similar: Psychological Horror 16.4%, Visual Novel 15.7%, Dating Sim 13.3%, Dark Humor 12.2%, Romance 10.5%
- #32 The NOexistenceN of you AND me
76% matchVery Positive93% of 19,673 reviews2024
Dev: 0x0Real StudioPub: Nino Games
Windows · Mac
Median: 2.5 hrsMean: 15.7 hrs≥1hr: 70%
Use "game" as a medium to showcase the world of "you/girl". Explore the truth of "you/girl/world" through the form of a "visual novel".
Why similar: Visual Novel 31.7%, Psychological Horror 24.3%, Interactive Fiction 14.5%, Dating Sim 9.9%, Story Rich 8.9%
- #33 No, I'm not a Human
74% matchVery Positive93% of 26,830 reviews2025
Dev: TrioskazPub: CRITICAL REFLEX
Windows
Median: 3.8 hrsMean: 5.7 hrs≥1hr: 92%
WARNING. Stay inside. Lock your doors. Close the blinds. Only let humans in. Eliminate all Visitors. An anxiety horror about paranoia in the End of Times.
Why similar: Psychological Horror 27.8%, Choices Matter 27%, Horror 19.2%, Story Rich 11%, First-Person 8.1%
- #34 Spirit Hunter: NG
79% matchVery Positive90% of 280 reviews2019
Dev: EXPERIENCEPub: Aksys Games
Windows
Median: 5.3 hrsMean: 20.5 hrs≥1hr: 72%
Beware the Creeping Horror... Face nightmares you thought were merely urban legends. Uncover a dark mystery, making deadly decisions just to survive. Play this chilling companion story to the award-winning Spirit Hunter: Death Mark game and bring the terror home.
Why similar: Visual Novel 56.9%, Horror 31.2%, Adventure 12%
Why You'll Like It: It delivers route tension, supernatural dread, and relationship-driven horror choices that can end very badly for the people around you.
- #35 Doki Doki Literature Club!
77% matchOverwhelmingly Positive96% of 219,150 reviews2017
Dev: Team Salvato
Windows · Mac
Median: 3.0 hrsMean: 38.2 hrs≥1hr: 74%
The Literature Club is full of cute girls! Will you write the way into their heart? This game is not suitable for children or those who are easily disturbed.
Why similar: Psychological Horror 28.1%, Visual Novel 24.6%, Dating Sim 15.6%, Romance 11.1%, Horror 10.9%
- #36 I Hate My Waifu Streamer
75% matchVery Positive93% of 769 reviews2025
Dev: Nozori Games
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 6.6 hrsMean: 10.4 hrs≥1hr: 94%
Get the streamer's attention at any cost before someone else does. Write comments, chat, and make donations to your waifu, but do not dare to hate her!
Why similar: Visual Novel 15.1%, Psychological Horror 13.3%, Choose Your Own Adventure 12.3%, Romance 11.4%, Dating Sim 10.1%
- #37 Kill Ralph
75% matchVery Positive100% of 58 reviews2025
Dev: Andrii Tuzenko
Windows · Mac · Linux
"Lies, treachery, and a bounty worth dying for. You’re no warrior, just a cunning hunter—will your wits be enough to catch Ralph Devour?"
Why similar: Visual Novel 17%, Choices Matter 15.3%, Choose Your Own Adventure 12.7%, Interactive Fiction 11.4%, Comic Book 10.7%
- #38 SAEKO: Giantess Dating Sim
74% matchVery Positive88% of 678 reviews2025
Dev: SAFE HAVN STUDIOPub: HYPER REAL
Windows · Linux
Median: 2.9 hrsMean: 4.1 hrs≥1hr: 77%
You opened your eyes to find a giant girl looking down at you. Experience the fate of Saeko and the little people in this cruel yet captivating story with avant-garde art.
Why similar: Psychological Horror 14.8%, Visual Novel 14.8%, Choices Matter 13.1%, Choose Your Own Adventure 11.8%, Dating Sim 11.3%
- #39 Sultan's Game
71% matchOverwhelmingly Positive95% of 32,886 reviews2025
Dev: Double CrossPub: 2P Games
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 12.1 hrsMean: 23.2 hrs≥1hr: 85%
Survive a mad Sultan's reign in this brutal resource management RPG. Draw a card every seven days and complete its challenge. Make dreadful choices to stay alive: will you die a loyal servant, become a kingslayer, or call down the gods' judgement?
Why similar: Lore-Rich 16.9%, Psychological Horror 15.9%, Choices Matter 15.5%, Choose Your Own Adventure 14.9%, Dark Humor 14.5%
- #40 OMORI
73% matchOverwhelmingly Positive97% of 85,929 reviews2020
Dev: OMOCAT, LLC
Windows · Mac
Median: 10.9 hrsMean: 24.5 hrs≥1hr: 84%
Explore a strange world full of colorful friends and foes. When the time comes, the path you’ve chosen will determine your fate... and perhaps the fate of others as well.
Why similar: Psychological Horror 46.2%, Story Rich 17.7%, Hand-drawn 16%, Horror 12.9%, RPG 7.2%
- #41 Class of '09
73% matchVery Positive95% of 8,293 reviews2021
Dev: SBN3
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 2.3 hrsMean: 3.8 hrs≥1hr: 76%
This is the anti-visual novel. Instead of playing as some guy magically able to score with beautiful anime girls, YOU play the anime girl and create mass chaos in the lives of your potential "suitors". Earnest comedy, social accuracy, and late 2000's aesthetic await you in Class of '09!
Why similar: Choose Your Own Adventure 37.6%, Visual Novel 33.9%, Psychological Horror 10.3%, RPG 9.7%, Story Rich 7%
- #42 Slay the Alice
72% matchVery Positive98% of 174 reviews2025
Dev: SUZUMIHARAPub: BARON DU JUVÉNILE
Windows
A short visual novel presented with pixel art and cute animations. Chasing after a rabbit, Alice found herself in a land of talking plants. Now, it's time to go on a tiny little adventure.
Why similar: Visual Novel 22.3%, Choose Your Own Adventure 20.2%, Point & Click 14.1%, Dark Humor 12.5%, Horror 11.5%
- #43 SIGNALIS
71% matchOverwhelmingly Positive97% of 31,986 reviews2022
Dev: rose-enginePub: Balor Games
Windows
Median: 5.4 hrsMean: 9.0 hrs≥1hr: 79%
A classic survival horror experience set in a dystopian future where humanity has uncovered a dark secret. Unravel a cosmic mystery, escape terrifying creatures, and scavenge an off-world government facility as Elster, a technician Replika searching for her lost dreams.
Why similar: Psychological Horror 87.3%, Adventure 6.8%, Singleplayer 5.9%
- #44 ghostpia Season One
72% matchVery Positive94% of 923 reviews2023
Dev: ChosuidoPub: room6
Windows · Mac
Median: 8.0 hrsMean: 8.3 hrs≥1hr: 84%
"In my dreams, I can get out. In my dreams, I can fit in." 'ghostpia' mixes the adorable art style of an illustrated book with glitches-and-noise effects. There are no choices to be made. There's only a lonely girl in a ghost town and her story full of mystery, friendhood...and a bit of violence.
Why similar: Visual Novel 10%, CRPG 9.5%, Psychological Horror 9.3%, Choices Matter 8.7%, Choose Your Own Adventure 8.4%
- #45 Cut to the Core
73% matchVery Positive93% of 165 reviews2022
Dev: Plasma PressPub: AAD Productions
Windows · Mac · Linux
How much of someone can you cut away before there's nothing left? Find out in this chilling kinetic visual novel - IF YOU DARE!
Why similar: Visual Novel 19.3%, Comic Book 16.9%, Hand-drawn 12.8%, Interactive Fiction 12.4%, Horror 12.1%
- #46 FAITH: The Unholy Trinity
70% matchOverwhelmingly Positive95% of 8,412 reviews2022
Dev: Airdorf GamesPub: New Blood Interactive
Windows
Median: 2.6 hrsMean: 5.1 hrs≥1hr: 73%
What you are about to do has not been approved by the Vatican. As a young priest, struggle against demons, cultists, and your own weakening faith in this pixel horror game inspired by the era of classic 8-bit gaming and the "Satanic Panic" of the 1980s.
Why similar: Psychological Horror 48.1%, Horror 32.6%, Story Rich 15.5%, Adventure 3.8%
- #47 Folie Fatale
71% matchVery Positive86% of 2,482 reviews2024
Dev: Kanmidoko (神海処)Pub: 346lab Localization
Windows · Mac
Median: 4.0 hrsMean: 5.4 hrs≥1hr: 87%
All capture targets are mentally "Jirai"(landmine)!? Meet these eccentric boys, reveal the truth beneath in this Psycho-love-horror VN!
Why similar: Visual Novel 22.3%, Psychological Horror 20.2%, Choose Your Own Adventure 17.3%, Dating Sim 14.9%, Choices Matter 13.8%
- #48 Dispatch
66% matchOverwhelmingly Positive98% of 168,604 reviews2025
Dev: AdHoc Studio
Windows
Median: 9.5 hrsMean: 11.6 hrs≥1hr: 95%
Dispatch is a superhero workplace comedy where choices matter. Manage a dysfunctional team of misfit heroes and strategize who to send to emergencies around the city, all while balancing office politics, personal relationships, and your own quest to become a hero. All episodes out now!
Why similar: Choices Matter 33.4%, Romance 14.9%, Choose Your Own Adventure 14.7%, Story Rich 12.4%, Comic Book 7.7%
- #49 Enelia: Dawn of Madness
70% matchVery Positive95% of 127 reviews2024
Dev: Indra Studio
Windows
Immerse yourself in the enigmatic world of Nauris, where enchanting landscapes hide terrifying secrets: the strange behavior of elders, sinister rituals of priests, and the disappearance of citizens. Madness lurks everywhere – will you master it or become its victim? The choice is yours.
Why similar: Visual Novel 14.4%, Choose Your Own Adventure 10.4%, Choices Matter 10.4%, Interactive Fiction 9.3%, Psychological Horror 9.2%
- #50 The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe
68% matchVery Positive94% of 34,321 reviews2022
Dev: Crows Crows Crows
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 3.7 hrsMean: 6.6 hrs≥1hr: 84%
The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe is an expanded re-imagining of 2013's The Stanley Parable. You will play as Stanley, and you will not play as Stanley. You will make a choice, and you will become powerless. You are not here to win. The Stanley Parable is a game that plays you.
Why similar: Choices Matter 34.9%, Psychological Horror 22.3%, First-Person 11.3%, Dark Humor 10.9%, Story Rich 8.7%
- #51 Yet Another Killing Game
67% matchVery Positive98% of 220 reviews2025
Dev: Soulseer Studios
Windows · Mac · Linux
You wake up in a house, alone with two beautiful girls... But no one is allowed to leave until one of you DIES. Why is this happening? What is the purpose of this “killing game”? But most importantly...WHO SHOULD DIE?!
Why similar: Visual Novel 22.5%, Psychological Horror 20.5%, Hand-drawn 13.2%, Choose Your Own Adventure 13.1%, Point & Click 11.8%
- #52 The Price Of Flesh
69% matchOverwhelmingly Positive96% of 1,072 reviews2022
Dev: Gatobob
Windows · Mac · Linux
An immersive choose-your-own-adventure survival horror with optional adult content featuring hand drawn backgrounds, sprites, and over 150 pieces of full screen art- and 50 endings.
Why similar: Visual Novel 18%, Psychological Horror 17.6%, Choices Matter 15%, Choose Your Own Adventure 11.6%, Hand-drawn 9.8%
- #53 Her Last Piece
68% matchVery Positive98% of 124 reviews2024
Dev: SpiceMerchantsPub: SpiceMerchantsGames
Windows
A choice-based dark gothic romance Visual Novel... Trapped alone in her castle, can you survive a dark yandere queen's schemes? Or will you fall for her charms? Remember... She lies.
Why similar: Visual Novel 45.6%, Story Rich 12.4%, Hand-drawn 12.3%, Horror 11.3%, Romance 8.9%
- #54 Королевская ночь
69% matchVery Positive89% of 144 reviews2023
Dev: SNch
Windows
"Королевская ночь"– нелинейная визуальная новелла в жанре ужасов. Десятки лет одиночества заставят её мыслить иначе..
Why similar: Visual Novel 22.3%, Choices Matter 17.3%, Choose Your Own Adventure 14.5%, Horror 12.2%, Romance 11.9%
- #55 Until Then
66% matchOverwhelmingly Positive97% of 15,382 reviews2024
Dev: Polychroma GamesPub: Maximum Entertainment
Windows · Linux
Median: 7.6 hrsMean: 11.4 hrs≥1hr: 80%
A fateful meeting sets off a chain reaction, upending Mark's life. People disappear and memories prove unreliable. Uncover a hidden truth with Mark and his friends in this narrative adventure and race to unravel the mystery before it's too late.
Why similar: Visual Novel 41.6%, Interactive Fiction 23.5%, Romance 15.9%, Story Rich 15%, Adventure 2.9%
- #56 Bloody Painter Dating Sim
67% matchVery Positive90% of 1,598 reviews2024
Dev: DeluCat Productions
Windows
You have unfortunately been captured by a serial killer, and you must increase your chances of survival within seven days. Your choices will determine how he treats you and the outcome of your relationship. What will your final relationship with him be...?
Why similar: Dating Sim 26.9%, Visual Novel 24%, Interactive Fiction 13.1%, Horror 12.1%, Romance 11.8%
- #57 The Test
68% matchOverwhelmingly Positive97% of 20,124 reviews2020
Dev: Randumb Studios
Windows
Median: 30 minMean: 2.9 hrs≥1hr: 23%
You will answer a series of questions that will reveal truths from deep within. These questions may make you uncomfortable, but with great knowledge comes great sacrifice. Can you make it all the way through The Test, and if you do, are you sure you want the answers you seek?
Why similar: Choose Your Own Adventure 19.7%, Psychological Horror 17.7%, Visual Novel 16.7%, Choices Matter 15.8%, Horror 9.7%
- #58 5omeday
66% matchVery Positive91% of 205 reviews2026
Dev: Indigo IngotsPub: Waku Waku Games
Windows
You have been assigned to guard a dragon girl set to be executed at the end of 5 days and have the ability to kill her instantly at any time with the push of a button in this multi-ending visual novel.
Why similar: Visual Novel 26.3%, Psychological Horror 22.4%, Choices Matter 15.9%, Choose Your Own Adventure 15.4%, Story Rich 8.9%
- #59 Look Outside
65% matchOverwhelmingly Positive98% of 11,497 reviews2025
Dev: Francis CoulombePub: Devolver Digital
Windows
Median: 4.6 hrsMean: 14.9 hrs≥1hr: 76%
Look Outside is a survival horror RPG set in a single apartment building. A mysterious event turns anyone who looks out the window into grotesque monsters, leaving the world in absolute chaos. Scavenge the building to seek food, supplies, and weapons while encountering strange characters.
Why similar: Horror 53.3%, RPG 34%, Adventure 9.3%, Singleplayer 3.4%
- #60 Crimson Gray: Dusk and Dawn
70% matchVery Positive94% of 124 reviews2018
Dev: Sierra Lee
Windows · Mac · Linux
A slice of life visual novel with the emphasis on the slicing. Play as a mentally unstable young woman with blood on her hands trying to adapt to a normal life.
Why similar: Choices Matter 20.3%, Visual Novel 19.8%, Choose Your Own Adventure 10.8%, Interactive Fiction 10.3%, Dating Sim 9.3%
