This is a list of

visual novel A visual novel (VN) is a form of digital interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with static or animated illustratio ...

engines.

Artemis

Artemis, also known as Artemis Engine, is a cross-platform, but closed-source visual novel engine that can work on

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

IOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

, Android,

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...

, and

Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...

. Its scripting uses Lua scripts and has a file structure similar to KiriKiri.

Digital Novel Markup Language

Digital Novel Markup Language (DNML) is one of the first

scripting language In computing, a script is a relatively short and simple set of instructions that typically automation, automate an otherwise manual process. The act of writing a script is called scripting. A scripting language or script language is a programming ...

game engine A game engine is a software framework primarily designed for the development of video games which generally includes relevant libraries and support programs such as a level editor. The "engine" terminology is akin to the term " software engine" u ...

s for creating visual novels, also known as

interactive fiction Interactive fiction (IF) is software simulating environments in which players use text Command (computing), commands to control Player character, characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narrati ...

games. DNML was developed using C++ by a Japanese

programmer A programmer, computer programmer or coder is an author of computer source code someone with skill in computer programming. The professional titles Software development, ''software developer'' and Software engineering, ''software engineer' ...

known by their Internet name, Karin. The initial release was in 1998. The programming structure is similar to

HTML Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) is the standard markup language for documents designed to be displayed in a web browser. It defines the content and structure of web content. It is often assisted by technologies such as Cascading Style Sheets ( ...

, which made it easy to produce dōjin games. DNML was succeeded by software like KiriKiri,

NScripter , officially abbreviated as Nscr, also known under its Working title, production title Scripter4, is a game engine developed by Naoki Takahashi between 1999 and 2018 functioning with its own script language which facilitates the creation of both ...

, and

Ren'Py The Ren'Py Visual Novel Engine (or RenPy for short) is a free software game engine which facilitates the creation of visual novels. Ren'Py is a portmanteau of , the Japanese word for 'romantic love', a common element of games made using Ren'Py; a ...

. There have been various attempts to create a more modern DNML interpreter. However the only known successful project is DNML Midori, a full reimplantation of DNML that has several features of its own. While it is free to use, it is not open source. As of 2021, it was last updated in 2019 and development seems to be concluded.

KiriKiri

is a scripting

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ge ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese developer "w.dee", initially released in 1998. It is almost exclusively used with the KAG (KiriKiri Adventure Game System) framework as a visual novel

. Usually, the package of the two components is regarded as the whole engine, and referenced with major version numbers. Thus, the current version is called KiriKiri2/KAG3. It is available under the

GNU General Public License The GNU General Public Licenses (GNU GPL or simply GPL) are a series of widely used free software licenses, or ''copyleft'' licenses, that guarantee end users the freedom to run, study, share, or modify the software. The GPL was the first ...

, though commercial licenses can be acquired if somebody wishes to expand the software without disclosing the changes. KiriKiri is often used as a more modern and expandable replacement of the older NScripter engine. It has been used in both

dōjin In Japan, a is a group of people who share an interest, activity, or hobby. The word is sometimes translated into English as " clique", "fandom", "coterie", "society", or "circle" (as in " sewing circle"). Self-published creative works pro ...

and commercial visual novels, the most well known of which are

TYPE-MOON Type-Moon (stylized as TYPE-MOON) is a Japanese video game company, best known for their visual novels, co-founded by author Kinoko Nasu and illustrator Takashi Takeuchi. It is also known under the name for its publishing and corporate operation ...

's ''

Fate/stay night ''Fate/stay night'' is a Japanese visual novel game developed by Type-Moon. It was first released for Microsoft Windows, Windows on January 30, 2004. The story takes place over three distinct routes: ''Fate'', ''Unlimited Blade Works'' ...

'' and '' Fate/hollow ataraxia''. Another notable visual novel that is known to be implemented using this engine is . The '' Nekopara'' game series, available on

Steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

, also uses a modified version of Kirikiri. For KiriKiri2 and Kirikiri Z's implementation of KAG there is a module called 鱧天 (Hamotem). which provides a myriad of plugins and a ready made template to build games on. As TyranoBuilder is to TyranoScript, there are several programs which create a graphical editor on top of the KAG script. The most well known of these is NVLMaker, which also has a cloud platform. Due to a lack of updates since October 2010, from 2013 onward the code has been forked and continued as .

NScripter

NScripter is a visual novel

written by Naoki Takahashi. Due to its simplicity and its liberal license (while it is not

open-source software Open-source software (OSS) is Software, computer software that is released under a Open-source license, license in which the copyright holder grants users the rights to use, study, change, and Software distribution, distribute the software an ...

, royalty-free commercial use is permitted), it quickly became popular in Japan, and was used for a number of high-profile commercial and

titles, such as '' HaniHani'' and '' Tsukihime''. ''NScripter'' is closed-source and only available for

Ren'Py

The Ren'Py Visual Novel Engine is a

free software Free software, libre software, libreware sometimes known as freedom-respecting software is computer software distributed open-source license, under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, distribut ...

engine. Ren'Py is a

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

of , the Japanese word for 'love', a common element of games made using Ren'Py; and Python, the programming language that Ren'Py runs on. The easy to learn script language allows anyone to efficiently write large visual novels, while its Python scripting is enough for complex simulation games. Ren'Py has proved attractive to western hobbyists; over 4,000 games use the Ren'Py engine, nearly all in English. Visual novels, kinetic novels, role-playing games, simulation games, and many other games can be made with Ren'Py.

NVList

NVList is an open source visual novel engine that runs on Windows, Mac OS, Linux, Android as well as online (through an

applet In computing, an applet is any small application that performs one specific task that runs within the scope of a dedicated widget engine or a larger program, often as a plug-in. The term is frequently used to refer to a Java applet, a program ...

). It is coded in the Java language, even though the scripts are written in Lua. It is being updated to this day on GitHub. It has all the functionality required for a Visual Novel, and more. It has support for resolution scaling and switching, along with pixel and vertex shaders.

Narrat

Narrat is a free and open source narrative engine designed for

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out ...

s that can also be easily used in the development of visual novels. Narrat uses web technologies to output games that run on Web Platforms, as well as Desktop. Narrat was inspired by games like Disco Elysium in its visual layout and presence of RPG mechanics, as well as dice-based tabletop role playing games style skill checks. It features an easy to learn script language that allows anyone to efficiently write large visual novels that can contain more advanced RPG mechanics like an inventory and quests. It has a system for customising UI based on CSS, which allows game developers to radically change the presentation of their games. The engine has been particularly noticed in the Spanish speaking interactive fiction community. Narrat has also been listed as one of the best free tools for narrative games by Game Developer.

Suika2

Suika2 is a free and open source visual novel engine. It is lightweight, compact, and portable by design. Games created with Suika2 can run on Desktop, Mobile and Web Platforms. Having Japanese and International language options, it is one of the few Japanese Visual Novel Engines supporting multiple languages out of the box. Its simple command based syntax allows for easy creation of Visual Novels, while its GUI system provides the framework for a robust visual experience. The provided Visual Debugger allows easy testing of scripts, and facilitates packaging of game files. Suika2 Kirara, a drag-and-drop development tool for Suika2, is being developed.

TyranoBuilder

TyranoBuilder is a commercial visual novel engine. Projects created in this engine can be compiled for use on Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, and browser-based web apps. Geek & Sundry said it uses "a simple drag-and-drop system and the interface makes it easy to see how the scene will look as you change elements on the fly." The GUI is similar to GameMaker, usually bypassing any need for scripting. TyranoBuilder acts as an interface for TyranoScript, a web-focused engine created in Japanese language (a partial English version exists). TyranoBuilder and TyranoScript use a syntax similar to the scripting language of KiriKirki, although less flexible. Asobu, an independent game development community and shared workspace, hosted a TyranoBuilder Meetup in Japan in January 2020. A small group of developers (including the 'Tyrano Game Festival 2018' 2nd-place winner, Takumi Kato) were in attendance, and the event coordinator said there will be future events.

References

{{Video game engines Visual_novel_engines