Hello, I am new to the whole Adult game industry. I am looking for great Visual Novel games that does not have a lot of sandbox elements such as Summertime Saga. Aside from that anything that you have played, thank you
Seeking Looking for good VN games
- Thread starter FalconLover420
- Start date
Some recommendations that at least somewhat avoid the whole "you are an 18-21yo man living with your sisters stepsisters roommates and mom stepmom landlady and you live your life while a harem happens" which infects a huge % of the site (even if some of them are still pretty tropey), all of which are written in readable English, in no particular order:
These ones might be too sandboxy for you (they're sort of half-sandbox, if that makes sense) but I recommend at least considering them:
These ones are definitely too sandboxy for you, but if you ever feel like giving sandbox VNs another shot are way better executed in my opinion than Summertime Saga:
On the porn-oriented side of things it's actually pretty hard to give recommendations without some keywords since in my experience a lot of the best stuff is really kink-specific and tends to be otherwise unremarkable or downright bad, meaning it gets medium-to-low ratings from the people who aren't interested in it and falls below all the generic incest slice of life VNs which have really dominated the community ever since Patreon became a thing.
On the purely story-focused side of things, Japanese VNs still have the best production quality if you can handle how, for lack of a better word, Japanese they are (anime tropes etc). It's worth at least trying one out if you haven't since if you end up enjoying them there's more than you're likely to ever work your way through. Rewrite (not on this site) by Key/VisualArts is a decent starting point there if you like comedy/slice-of-life stuff.
- My Catgirl Maid Thinks She Runs The Place: sort of Japanese-style, fairly lighthearted and adorable if that's your thing.
- Power Vacuum: this one is the only parody of the tropey VNs I've tried which actually more or less works and is legitimately funny, rather than just ending up being exactly what it claims to make fun of. It looks sandboxy at first glance but in practice you basically just go through each chapter's events in whatever order so it might as well be linear.
- Once in a Lifetime: some pretty tropey bits but it has a decent enough story by adult VN standards as well and is better executed than most.
- Pale Carnations: just good in general and very distinct from most other stuff.
- Rebirth: if Vampire: the Masquerade is your jam.
- Now & Then: zombie apocalypse.
- Wicked Choices: angels and demons and such.
- Fantasy Valley: nothing really stand-out story-wise but well done and enjoyable nonetheless.
- Tyrant Quest: actually a VN despite being RPGM.
These ones might be too sandboxy for you (they're sort of half-sandbox, if that makes sense) but I recommend at least considering them:
- Love of Magic: the main story stuff is fairly linear and triggers on specific days, but there's a decent amount of generic grind/gameplay between story events.
- The Last Soveriegn: this one is admittedly a real stretch but IMO deserves a mention. It's actually well-executed in comparison to many of the 'sandbox' games, and the writing is about as good as you'll find in the adult game community at the moment. Downside is it's an RPGM game which means there's a lot of RPGM combat, quests and other stuff that might fall into what you'd call a "sandbox," but the RPG format at least provides a lot of structure which "sandbox" VNs like Summertime Saga really lack.
- Kingdom of Deception: another "structured" somewhat sandboxy VN. It isn't hard to figure out what to do next but you're afforded some choice.
These ones are definitely too sandboxy for you, but if you ever feel like giving sandbox VNs another shot are way better executed in my opinion than Summertime Saga:
On the porn-oriented side of things it's actually pretty hard to give recommendations without some keywords since in my experience a lot of the best stuff is really kink-specific and tends to be otherwise unremarkable or downright bad, meaning it gets medium-to-low ratings from the people who aren't interested in it and falls below all the generic incest slice of life VNs which have really dominated the community ever since Patreon became a thing.
On the purely story-focused side of things, Japanese VNs still have the best production quality if you can handle how, for lack of a better word, Japanese they are (anime tropes etc). It's worth at least trying one out if you haven't since if you end up enjoying them there's more than you're likely to ever work your way through. Rewrite (not on this site) by Key/VisualArts is a decent starting point there if you like comedy/slice-of-life stuff.
Rocking Robin is one of the only games that is both a Sandbox game and a Visual Novel. Seriously, it ask you how you want to play right at the beginning. It has a very thought out plot as well. You are not going to start as some rich kid in a house with a bunch of females. You start off homeless and alone. It's up to you to improve your situation. If the plot doesn't hook you the animations will. There is not another game like ROCKING ROBIN. I made sure of it lol. The only thing ROCKING ROBIN doesn't have is support but I am working hard to change that one person at a time
. Good luck with your search.
Last edited:
- Jan 5, 2023
- 668
- 970
Harem Hotel is one of the worst and most confusing sandboxes out there. Skip that one, brother!