Technically it is a game, as brought up by Runey in response to someone else who also did not understand what the definition of a visual novel is.
Here's the definition of Visual Novel: "A visual novel is an interactive game genre, which originated in Japan, featuring text-based story with narrative style of literature and interactivity aided by static or sprite-based visuals, most often using anime-style art or occasionally live-action stills."
While HH isn't a totally linear story like a book, it does technically fall under Visual Novel.
You have choices throughout Harem Hotel which affect the outcome.
It is story driven, with options throughout it, and based on the definition it is an interactive visual novel, which falls under the category of "GAMES".
The goals are hinted at throughout the game, but people have to read the text to get the clues.
Major events either happen spontaneously when everything is right, or more commonly when you click on a girls door and you see the talk option.
If you had not yet met all of the requirements to start that event, a clue of who you need to go to is normally given, or some clue as to what needs to be done.
Wandering around aimlessly infers not reading the story, and therefore not getting the clues...
Here is another longer break down of it.
" Visual novels are a sub-genre of Japanese adventure games and are a form of interactive fiction. The genre is similar to a mix-media digital novel where the focus is mainly on reading text. The presentation of visual novels is usually made up of character portraits on top of background images accompanied by music, sound effects and sometimes voice acting. Some titles have no gameplay whatsoever and simply involve reading a linear story. However, it is more common for visual novels to have branching narratives where the player can experience different routes in a story and obtain different endings by making choices, very similar to
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novels or
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. The genre originates from the Japanese game industry and has seen the most activity on open platforms like the
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but is also prevalent on home consoles and portable devices. In Japan itself, the genre is often classified as "novel games" or simply "adventure games," due to it being a sub-genre. "
