In this essential volume for scholars of narrative play, Mark Kretzschmar and Sara Raffel take on the complexity of the form of visual novels, exploring well-known exemplars such as dating simulators alongside hybrids and even less-studied erotic works. Offering this comprehensive survey alongside a detailed ludography of suggested works for play spanning the last several decades, this wide-ranging overview can serve as a guide for exploring these works and the growing significance of visual novels as a global form.

Anastasia Salter, Associate Professor of English at the University of Central Florida, USA

The Visual Novel as a video game genre is widely recognizable and impactful, deceptively simple in its presentation and tricky to truly pin down in its entirety. This book is a great resource for anyone interested in learning more about the rich history of Visual Novels, and how they have through their creators, players, content, media mixing, design, and development made an undeniable mark on modern day video game culture. An interesting read for game scholars, veteran players, and newcomers alike.

Elin Carstensdottir, Assistant Professor of Computational Media, University of California, Santa Cruz, USA