List of VN creation resources

Game design, Writing, and General Resources

Creator	Link	Price/ License	Design	Writing	Resources	Guide	Tool	Details
IronForPistons	LSF	Free			Yes			Collection of resources from VN;Conference.
IronForPistons	Wordpress	Free			Yes			Collection of resources for various aspects of design.
?	Google Drive	Free				Yes		Deprecated FAQ/glossary of visual novel terms. These definitions have been transfered to VNDev Wiki.
n/a	Diagrams.net	Free					Yes	Free flowchart program (formerly known as draw.io).
BaiYu	Itch	Free			Yes			Collection of resources from NaNoRenO 2019
n/a	TimeAndDate	Free					Yes	Lets you personalize list of real time across the world (also weather and sun/moon calculator).
Emily Short	WordPress	Free		Yes		Yes		Emily Short's blog post about how to improve as a narrative designer.
Emily Short	WordPress	Free		Yes		Yes		Emily Short's blog post about types of player relationships with stories.
Jon Ingold	Google Drive	Free		Yes		Yes		Notes on (with link to) an AdvX 2018 talk about writing dynamic dialogue.
Sam Kabo Ashwell	WordPress	Free		Yes		Yes		Sam Kabo Ashwell's blog post about types of player agency in game narrative.
Lunaterra	Itch	Free/Paid			Yes			Collection of assets, tutorials, and tools.
n/a	Windirstat.net	Free					Yes	Windows Directory Statistics Cleanup Tool
Ahoy	Youtube	Free	Yes					Video essay about The Secret of Monkey Island and the history of text adventure games.
Alex Forsythe	Google Drive	Free					Yes	Open source add-on that allows for correctly formatted code and syntax highlighting in Google Docs.
Daniel Cook	WordPress	Free	Yes			Yes		Analysis of social design improving MMO game design.
n/a	Cultural Atlas	Free		Yes		Yes		In depth cultural differences of several dozen countries (of Austrailia's largest migrant populations) compared to an Austrailian standard.
n/a	Toggl	Free/Paid					Yes	Time tracking with reporting to help balance what you're doing too much/too little of.
Brandon Sanderson	Youtube	Free		Yes		Yes		Brandon Sanderson's writing lectures on how to write a good story, plot, characters, and style.
n/a	ShareX	Free					Yes	Open source screen recorder for Windows with customizable settings.
n/a	Notion	Free/Paid					Yes	Project management workspace for individual or team use.
Hello Future Me	Youtube	Free		Yes		Yes		Hello Future Me's video offering advice on place names by analyzing the etymology of real and fictional places.
Cass Phillipps	Youtube	Free		Yes		Yes		GDC talk about designing effective narrative branches and player choices.
Radmatt	Itch	Paid		Yes				Multi-engine tool to design branching dialogue.
Trans Student Educational Resources	TSER	Free				Yes		A glossary of LGBTQ+ terminology from Trans Student Educational Resources.
John H Young	Dropbox	Free				Yes		Dropbox pdf of meanings of flowers and precious stones. Sourced from an 1881 American etiquette guide (Our Deportment - John H Young).
Minute	Itch	Free		Yes			Yes	Ren'Edit is a tool to log notes/corrections while in game and automatically export them in a txt file.
?	Google Drive	Free	Yes			Yes		"The Last-Minute VN", a guide on how to create a VN in a short timespan.
?	Google Drive	Free	Yes			Yes		A simple game design doc template for visual novels.
Entertain the Elk	Youtube	Free		Yes		Yes		Entertain the Elk's "Speilberg: How to Introduce Characters", a short video on how to establish characters.
Innuendo Studio	Youtube	Free		Yes		Yes		Innuendo Studio's four part video essay on storytelling in video games.
Katy133	Youtube	Free		Yes		Yes		Katy133's "How to Make a Story Grid", a short video on how to plan your VN's plot, character arcs, pacing, and themes.
Innuendo Studio	Youtube	Free		Yes		Yes		Innuendo Studio's "The Artist is Absent: Davey Wreden and The Beginner's Guide", a video essay on "Death of the Author" theory and interpreting canon through the game The Beginner's Guide.
Errant Signal	Youtube	Free	Yes			Yes		Errant Signal's "What Does It Mean To Player Character?", a video essay on types of player characters and how they're designed.
n/a	Coggle.it	Free/Paid		Yes			Yes	Coggle is a flowchart/branching tool that allows for real-time collaboration.
n/a	Simplenote	Free		Yes			Yes	Simplenote is cross platform notetaking app with a tag system, backups, and markdown support.
Game Makers Toolkit	Youtube	Free		Yes		Yes		Game Maker's Toolkit's "What Makes a Good Detective Game?", a video essay on how various detective games engage their players in the mystery.
Firgof	Itch	Free/Paid		Yes		Yes		Firgof's "The NPC With a Thousand Faces", a DevTalk+ exclusive free pdf on how to quickly create a complex NPC. Password is "notagoose".
Ebbigal	Twitter	Free		Yes		Yes		A Google Doc collection of resources on how to storyboard on a budget.
Mikhail Panko	Expresso	Free		Yes			Yes	Expresso is a browser app that analyzes your writing and provides metrics about your writing style.
Emma Coats (@lawnrocket)	Imgur	Free		Yes		Yes		.@lawnrocket aka (Ex-Pixar) Emma Coats' 22 Rules of Storytelling.
Inkle	Soundcloud	Free	Yes			Yes		"All About Fail States", an episode from Inkle Studio's narrative games podcast about fail states in mystery games.
Kate Chironis	Twitter	Free		Yes		Yes		Kate Chironis' Twitter thread on how to write barks for a game writing portfolio.
Writing With Color	Tumblr	Free		Yes		Yes		Writing With Color's blog index containing guides on avoiding cultural/racial stereotypes.
Jesse Schell	DeckofLenses	Free	Yes				Yes	Jesse Schell's game design flashcard game. Contains 100+ design principles and ideas.
n/a	GameDevNexus	Free/Paid			Yes	Yes		Game Dev Nexus hosts a collection of game design and business resources (formerly GameDevelop.io).
Hai Nguyen	Mechvibes	Free		Yes			Yes	Play mechanical keyboard sounds as you type on your own keyboard.
Circlejourney	Twitter	Free			Yes	Yes		A blank info sheet to introduce your project.

Art, Characters, Backgrounds and Animation

Creator	Link	Price/ License	Sprites	BG	Animation	Guide	Tool	Details
Klawzie	Youtube	Free				Yes		Playlist of 23 videos with various Clip Studio Paint tutorials.
Kazuki Akamine	Xdomain.jp	Free			Yes	Yes		Details various types of movement used in graphic design.
Red	Itch	Free/Paid	Yes					Collection of sprite sets.
Thomas Romain	Imgur	Free				Yes		Thomas Romain's tutorial on maintaining art perspective.
Mari Costa	Twitter	Free				Yes		Comic tutorial on ambient colors.
?	Google Drive	Free				Yes		Table of facial expressions (eye/mouth combinations) and what moods they convey.
Vice	Vice	Free				Yes		Vice's first stock photo library featuring trans and non-binary models.
Selavi Games	Itch	Paid		Yes				Collection of VN backgrounds.
BaM Animation	Youtube	Free				Yes		Short video on how to improve lineart.
Michael Sexton (@Everblue_Comic)	Twitter	Free/Paid				Yes		List of free/non-subscription alternatives to Adobe products.
Kenney	Kenney	Free	Yes	Yes				Kenney's CC assets.
n/a	StudioBinder	Free				Yes		Guide to camera shots and angles.
n/a	Picrew	Free	Yes				Yes	Picrew character creator. Most creators only allow for personal use (not non-commerical use).
Ingthing	Google Drive	Free				Yes		Cheat sheets for drawing human anatomy.
Sky-morishita	DeviantArt	Free				Yes		Guide on how to maintain proportions in VN background art.
Jake Bowkett	Google Drive	Free				Yes		.@jakebowkett's guide on how to design backgrounds.
n/a	Mr Initial Man	Free				Yes		Compares heights of 2-6 people in metric or imperial measurements.
n/a	Coolors.co	Free					Yes	Color palette generator.
Anatomy For Sculptors	ArtStation	Free				Yes		Anatomy references.
n/a	Wataokiba	Free	Yes					Collection of sprite sets.
n/a	Charat.me	Free	Yes				Yes	Character generators for girls and boys.
n/a	Terawell	Free/Paid					Yes	A 3D modeling software for humanoid figures.
Spiral Atlas	Itch	Free		Yes				Painterly European (regency) VN backgrounds
n/a	Open Culture	Free		Yes				Article linking to the Metropolitan Museum's 600+ free art book collection available online or as PDFs. Links to other museums' art books.
n/a	Reddit	Free					Yes	Subreddit dedicated to real world interior design.
Hass Idriss	Hass Idriss	Free				Yes		Hass Idriss' A/W 2020 runway line of dramatic, pseudo-fantasy dresses.
n/a	Quixel	Free/Paid					Yes	A 3D modeling program.
Akua	Itch	Free	Yes					Bubblegum Boy is a single sprite with customizable expressions.
n/a	Reference.pictures	Paid				Yes		500+ photos of hand references.
eTeks	SweetHome3D	Free		Yes			Yes	Sweet Home 3D is an open source interior design program.
Frederic Delavier	Human Kinetics	Paid				Yes		Strength Training Anatomy is an anatomically detailed fitness book. Contains illustrations of muscular and skeletal anatomy of dynamic positions.
n/a	Line of Action	Free/Paid				Yes		Randomizes photo references for figure drawing practice with timed intervals.
n/a	Hnet	Free					Yes	Online tool to convert PNG files to ICO.
n/a	Cloud Convert	Free/Paid					Yes	Online tool to convert PNG files to ICNS. Free for 25 images/day.
n/a	Adobe	Free					Yes	Adobe's online color palette generator.
Puppsicle	Wayback Machine	Free				Yes		Puppsicle's inforgraphic of skin tones with shading and highlight values (original tweet deleted).
Jacob Geller	Youtube	Free				Yes		Jacob Geller's "Bad Graphics", a short video essay about the sameness of "good graphics" vs unconventional art styles in video games.
Kyle T Webster	Youtube	Free				Yes		Short video tutorial on how to use the "color dynamics" setting in Photoshop to create realistic brush strokes.
William Nguyen	ArtStation	Free					Yes	William Nguyen's 3D lighting reference tool.
n/a	Biodigital	Free	Yes				Yes	Real anatomy 3D human model (requires sign up to use).
Dan Fessler	Dan Fessler	Free				Yes		Tutorial on how to use index painting in Photoshop to turn a painting into pixel art.
Photoshop Tutorials	Youtube	Free				Yes		Short video tutorial on "How to Create Fluid Gradient Cover Art" in Photoshop.
Ctrl+Paint	Youtube	Free				Yes		A Youtube series on making concept art.
Vampbyte	Twitter	Free				Yes		Vampbyte's beginner's guide to Clip Studio Paint.
n/a	Nappy.co	Free				Yes		High quality stock photos of black and brown people in various settings and poses.
n/a	Nicovideo.jp	Free		Yes				Stock gallery with photos, videos, and SFX. Site is in Japanese.
Alex Hanson-White	Itch	Free		Yes			Yes	Crocotile 3D is a tool for creating 3D scenes with tiles.
Eri_duh	Clip Studio Paint	Free				Yes		"Learn Anatomy to Improve Drawing Poses", an illustrated tutorial on basic anatomically correct poses.
Sinx Design	Youtube	Free				Yes		Sinix Design's "Anatomy Quick Tips: Hair", a video tutorial on hair design.
n/a	Home Styler	Free/Paid		Yes			Yes	3D floorplan and interior design tool that uses photo-realistic rendering.
n/a	MyMiniFactory	Free	Yes	Yes			Yes	Scan the World is an open source museum of 3D sculptures/cultural artefacts.
n/a	Pond5	Free/Paid		Yes				Library of high quality stock photos, videos, and music. Includes public domain/historic resources.
Dmitriy Chugai	Texturelib	Free		Yes				Library of free, high resolution textures.
Vampbyte	Twitter	Free				Yes		Vampbyte's masterlist of Clip Studio Paint tutorials.
Clip Studio Paint	Youtube	Free				Yes		"How to: Import 3D Models", a short video tutorial for CSP.
Ikea	Ikea	Free				Yes		IKEA catalogs from 1950 to 2021.
CelestialFang	Twitter	Free				Yes		Thread on how to paint gemstones.
Devin Elle Kurtz	Twitter	Free					Yes	Devin Elle Kurtz's royalty free foliage and grass brush set.
Hanaou_twi	Twitter	Free/Paid					Yes	Various tree/bush/leaf brushes for CSP.
?	Twitter	Free			Yes	Yes		The 12 Principles of Animation.
Clip Studio Paint	Twitter	Free				Yes		Clip Studio Paint's video tutorial of how to use it.
n/a	Pintrest	Free				Yes		Pintrest collection of various art tutorials.
n/a	WordPress	Free				Yes		(NSFW) References for nude artist models. Also contains glossary of figure drawing terms.
Clip Studio Paint	Clip Studio Paint	Free				Yes		Clip Studio Paint's collection of art tutorials.
n/a	FreePhotoMuscle	Free				Yes		Muscle Plus is a stock photo library of muscular people doing everyday things. Site is in Japanese.
Smithsonian	Smithsonian	Free		Yes				Smithsonian Open Access, a CC0 collection of 2.8+ million art works.
Arimia	Arimiadev	Free		Yes				Arimia's free battle CGs.
Kingcholera	Twitter	Free	Yes					kingcholera's resource pack of 200+ 3D models of buff ladies with swords.
Amin Moazzen	Cubebrush	Free		Yes				3D model of a kitchen.
Era7	Cubebrush	Free		Yes				Futuristic anime backgrounds of the sky/space.
Era7	Cubebrush	Free		Yes				Anime landscape backgrounds.
n/a	Shotdeck	Free/Paid				Yes		Shotdeck is a database of screenshots from 1,000+ films used by film industry professionals. Has a free two week trial.
n/a	Twitter	Free				Yes		Thread of graphic design TikToks.
Ostrich Burer Productions	Itch	Free	Yes	Yes				Ostrich Burger Productions' collection of assets.
SethIova	Twitter	Free		Yes				Dropbox pack of 32 patterns.
Watabou	Itch	Free					Yes	Watabou's AI/procedural generator tools to create dungeons, cities, villages, maps, and etc.
MeltyPop	Twitter	Free/Paid		Yes				Royalty free backgrounds available for free or after a ko-fi donation.
Bunbuncita	Twitter	Free				Yes		200 hand reference photos with/without items.
VisuStella	Itch	Paid		Yes				VisuStella's collection of fantasy weapons and magic assets.
Kelly Larkin	Twitter	Free		Yes				28 paper scans in 10k resolution.
M.	Itch	Free		Yes				M.'s iPhone mockup.
n/a	Photopea	Free					Yes	Free online recreation of Photoshop compatible with several file formats.
n/a	Settei Dreams	Free				Yes		Collection of model sheets, color designs, and artbooks for various animes.
Vice	Vice	Free				Yes		Vice's second stock photo library featuring trans and non-binary models.
Torcado	Itch	Free					Yes	Torcado's Opti, a transparent media viewer.
n/a	The Noun Project	Free/Paid		Yes		Yes		The Noun Project is a database of icons and photos.
Pumpkin Spike	Itch	Free	Yes					Pumpkin Spike's "Background Character Sprite Pack" with two customizable sprites.
Potat0Master	Itch	Free/Paid		Yes				Potat0Master's "Free Visual Novel Backgrounds (Mansion Pack)" of 77+ royalty free images
Devin Elle Kurtz	Gumroad	Free					Yes	Devin Elle Kurtz's royalty free cityscape brush set.
Dustyroom	Unity	Paid					Yes	Unity shader pack "Quibli: Anime Shaders and Tools" for anime inspired styles.
Potat0Master	Itch	Free	Yes					Potat0Master's royalty free "Nozomi" character sprite with 19 expressions and 4 outfits.
Potat0Master	Itch	Free	Yes					Potat0Master's royalty free "Ryoko & Madoka" character sprites with 13+ expressions and 2 outfits each.
Brainwash Gang	Twitter	Free					Yes	Brainwash Gang's 380+ free to use "Pixel Art Texturing Brushes"
Potat0Master	Itch	Free	Yes					Potat0Master's royalty free "Kioshi & Haruo" character sprites with 7+ expressions and 2 outfits each.
Potat0Master	Itch	Free/Paid	Yes					Potat0Master's royalty free "Sensai" sprites with 4 free and 3 paid characters with several expressions each.

Audio, Music and Voice

Creator	Link	Price/ License	Music	SFX	Voice	Guide	Tool	Details
(author)	Soundcloud	Free			Yes			Belgerum's CC partial VA samples.
FulminisIctus	LSF	Free		Yes				FulminisIctus' CC audio pack II
(author)	(Link)	Free	Yes					Kevin MacLeod's library of CC music.
(author)	Itch	Free			Yes			Custom voice lines of 15 voices with 100+ lines each.
(author)	(Link)	Free/Paid	Yes	Yes				High quality stock videos, music, and sound effects.
(author)	(Link)	Free				Yes		Guideline for voice acting rates for indie games.
(author)	Bandcamp	Paid	Yes					Sam Haynes' royalty free horror/Halloween music.
(author)	Youtube	Free				Yes		ProZD's "How Do You Get Into Voice Acting", a video with his perspective on how to enter the industry.
(author)	(Link)	Free	Yes					Tom Lehrer, an American musician and satirist, donated all of his music and lyrics into the public domain.
(author)	(Link)	Free	Yes					Royalty free music library. Site is in Japanese.
(author)	(Link)	Free	Yes					Royalty free music of fantasy and modern genres.
(author)	(Link)	Free		Yes				50+ GB of royalty free sound effects.
(author)	Soundcloud	Free	Yes					Royalty free metal, progressive, and alternative music.
(author)	Itch	Free				Yes		Itch devlog "The (Budget-Friendly) Journey to Get Good Music for an Indie Game and Our Experience with iLicenseMusic" by the Minotaur Hotel dev team about the pros/cons of various music licenses and services.
(author)	Twitter	Free		Yes		Yes		Spreadsheet of audio plugins, SFX, and resources.
(author)	(Link)	Free		Yes				Sound Effect Lab's library of SFX.
(author)	(Link)	Free		Yes				Free SFX packs for explosions and guns.
FulminisIctus	LSF	CC	Yes	Yes				Audio pack
FulminisIctus	Patreon	Free	Yes					List of public/free audio assets
Orpheo Fenn	Soundcloud	CC	Yes
Jeff Penny	Tumblr	Free				Yes		Guide to audio files
Jeff Penny	Tumblr	Free				Yes		Guide to audio effects
Bensound	Bensound	Free	Yes					Royalty free music
Arthur Mostovoy	Medium	Free				Yes		Guide to optimize high quality audio for Unity.
midi.city	midi.city	Free					Yes	Online synthesizer with 100+ instruments.
Notion	Notion	Free	Yes	Yes	Yes			Notion page listing 80+ sources of background music, sfx, and VA tracks (with/without singing).
Patricia Taxxon	Bandcamp	Free	Yes
Sideways	YouTube	Free				Yes		Video essay on how a a leitmotif can tell a story
Jake Butineau	YouTube	Free				Yes		Video essay on how glitched music conveys horror
Spotify Code	Spotify Code	Free				Yes	Yes	Create codes that people can scan to instantly hear your VN's OST (if it's on Spotify)
Lee Rosevere	Bandcamp	Free/Paid	Yes					CC license varies per album
MAHO! Cody	YouTube	Free			Yes	Yes		Working with Voice Actors as an Indie Dev (3-part video series)

Programming, UI and Engines

Main article: Visual novel engine

Creator	Link	Price/ License	Programming	UI	Fonts	Guide	Tool	Details
Jaime Scribbles	(Link)	Free	Yes			Yes		Tutorial on how to create customizable characters with layered images in Ren'py.
Lovetospar	(Link)	Free				Yes		Screenshots of game UI.
(author)	(Link)	Free			Yes		Yes	Library of public domain/CC pixel fonts and pixel font creator.
(author)	Twitter	Free			Yes			An OFL (free) Japanse font compatible with Latin fonts.
(author)	Unity	Paid					Yes	Unity narrative tool "Discourse".
FulminisIctus	Youtube	Free				Yes		Video essay on how to make dialogue mechanics more involved than basic skill checks.
minute	Twitter	Free		Yes				minute's accessibility pack for Ren'py to include text, sound, and visual options.
BaiYu	Itch	Free		Yes				A Ren'py GUI template.
(author)	Github	Free/Paid					Yes	Github's documentation tool.
(author)	Github	Free	Yes					Multimokia's DDLC mod that allows a Ren'py game to reflect the player's local weather and sunrise/sunset.
(author)	(Link)	Free			Yes			Korean fonts.
(author)	Google	Free			Yes			OFL Google fonts inclusive of 75+ non-latin based languages.
(author)	Github	Free	Yes					Multimokia's utility that allows a Ren'py game to reflect the player's local weather.
(author)	(Link)	Free	Yes			Yes		Themed lorem ipsum generators (tv, film, pets, food, industry buzzwords, etc)
(author)	(Link)	Free		Yes				VN GUI. Site is in Japanese.
(author)	(Link)	Free		Yes		Yes		Posters with design accessibility guidelines.
(author)	Itch	Free		Yes				Foleso's Bridal Style VN GUI.
(author)	Gamasutra	Free		Yes		Yes		How to design menu screens for visually impaired gamers.
(author)	Apple	Free		Yes		Yes		Apple's guide to UI design
(author)	Twitter	Free/Paid	Yes			Yes	Yes	Everest Pipkin's google doc/github list of open source, experimental, and tiny tools for game dev/design.
(author)	Twitter	Free	Yes				Yes	Oneirocritica Games' free Custom Pronoun System for Ren'py that prompts the player to customize their pronouns.
(author)	Youtube	Free	Yes			Yes		Katy133's tutorial on creating noir lighting in Ren'py.
(author)	(Link)	Free		Yes		Yes		The Game Accessibility Guidelines provide basic/intermediate/advanced suggestions to balance the development cost, gameplay improvement, and player reach of accessible game design.
(author)	Youtube	Free		Yes		Yes		"Make UI That Looks Good in Unity", a video on UI design/implementation in Unity. The broader design aspect is useful for non-Unity UI.
(author)	(Link)	Free			Yes			A free font by the Braille Institute with distinct characters and increased readability for low vision readers.
(author)	Github	Free	Yes					Kinetic (moving) text styles for Ren'py.
(author)	Twitter	Free		Yes		Yes		The Game UI Database contains 30,000+ screenshots from 700+ games.
(author)	Twitter	Free					Yes	npckc's Pronoun Tool for Ren'py.
(author)	(Link)	Free			Yes		Yes	Open source Bitmap Font Generator creates bitmap fonts from TrueType fonts.
(author)	Github	Free	Yes	Yes			Yes	Shawna-p's "Mysterious Messenger", a framework for creating calls, texts, chatrooms, and emails in Ren'py.
(author)	Twitter	Free			Yes			Boba Date, a cutesy font inspired by shojo manga.
(author)	Twitter	Free		Yes		Yes		M.'s short video "How To Make Great Looking UI for Visual Novels" Part 1.
(author)	Itch	Free	Yes				Yes	r3dhummingbird's "Ren'py Rhythm Game", an open source template for rhythm games.
(author)	Twitter	Free		Yes		Yes		M.'s short video "How To Make Great Looking UI for Visual Novels" Part 2.
(author)	Itch	Free	Yes			Yes		J Tuason's "Twine to Ren'py", a tool to convert a Twine html file into a Ren'py rpy file.
(author)	Twitter	Free	Yes					Arcade Spirits' custom pronoun code.
(author)	Twitter	Paid			Yes			Sakeozo's "Secret ASL Font" for personal use.
(author)	Unreal	Paid	Yes				Yes	Unreal Engine plugin for a visual novel framework.
(author)	Notion	Free		Yes		Yes		Library of resources, articles, and videos about UI/UX design.

Production, Business and Marketing

Creator	Link	Price/ License	Production	Business	Marketing	Guide	Tool	Details
(author)	DeviantArt	Free		Yes				Invoice Guide for PayPal
(author)	Shopify	Free		Yes				How to write a freelance contract
(author)	Youtube	Free		Yes	Yes			Portfolio Design - How to Build a Portfolio
(author)	Google Docs	Free		Yes				Spreadsheet of over 400 open calls, residencies, grants, galleries, etc. for creative endeavors (Source (Twitter))
(author)	Tumblr	Free	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes		Dev blog listing processes about targeting an audience, developing the story, project management, game design, and marketing.
(author)	(Link)	Free			Yes	Yes		Short advice for Steam best practices.
Belgerum	Reddit	Free			Yes	Yes		Long advice on how to make a good Steam page.
Coda	(Link)	Free/Paid			Yes		Yes	Service that monitors social media mentions.
Arimia	Gamasutra	Free			Yes	Yes		How to use Youtube to market your games.
Klawzie	Youtube	Free			Yes	Yes		Short video "How to Make an Indie Game Trailer"
(author)	(Link)	Free			Yes		Yes	Infographic of 60 marketing tools.
Arimia	Google Drive	Free			Yes	Yes		Short guide on how to market games on Imgur.
Arimia	Gamasutra	Free			Yes	Yes		Long guide on pre-release Steam marketing.
Arimia	HowToMarketAGame	Free			Yes			Detailed guide on different stages of marketing.
Ertal	Microsoft Word	Free			Yes	Yes		Docx file of sites, tags, reviewers, and subreddits for NSFW games.
Arimia	Youtube	Free			Yes	Yes		GDC talk about using email lists to create a dedicated fanclub.
Arimia	HowToMarketAGame	Free			Yes			Pdf file of the GDC fanclub talk's presentation.
Arimia	HowToMarketAGame	Free			Yes			Analysis of Boyfriend Dungeon's email marketing strategy.
Arimia	HowToMarketAGame	Free			Yes			Paul McCartney's marketing lets fans text him.
(author)	(Link)	Free			Yes	Yes		Article on how to run a Kickstarter campaign.
Arimia	DeviantArt	Free			Yes	Yes		Detailed guide on how to send a PayPal invoice.
Arimia	(Link)	Free			Yes		Yes	Free online marketing courses.
(author)	Shopify	Free		Yes				Article on what to include in a freelance contract.
(author)	Twitter	Paid		Yes	Yes			Not-for-profit Represent Me maintains a list of nonbinary inclusive localizers.
(author)	Dropbox	Free			Yes			PDF of a GDC talk about how to market your game.
(author)	Youtube	Free			Yes			GCAP talk about how to market games on Steam
(author)	Medium	Free			Yes	Yes		How to use IFFF to automate posting tweets in discord.
(author)	Gamasutra	Free			Yes			Breakdown of what time of year is good to release a game.
(author)	(Link)	Paid		Yes	Yes			Professional game localization service.
(author)	Twitter	Free			Yes			Victoria Tran's thread about indie social media metrics.
(author)	Google Drive	Free			Yes			Philomena Schwab's Master's thesis "Community Building for Indie Game Developers" that gives an in depth analysis of the subject.
(author)	Medium	Free			Yes			Gracebruxner's article on when/why/how to make merch for your indie game.
(author)	Youtube	Free		Yes				Extra Credit's video on how to make a game dev portfolio.
(author)	Twitter	Free			Yes	Yes		Twitter list of people working in game press.
(author)	Medium	Free			Yes	Yes		Victoria Tran's guide to "$0" marketing budgets.
(author)	(Link)	Free			Yes	Yes		"Always Up-To-Date" guide to media image sizes for several social networks.
(author)	Twitter	Free		Yes		Yes		Everest Pipkin's spreadsheet of global artist opportunities (residencies, grants, galleries, etc)
(author)	(Link)	Free/Paid	Yes				Yes	Project management tool with a lot of features to customize.
(author)	(Link)	Free			Yes			How to make your Twitter photos stand out. References old Twitter dimensions.
(author)	Itch	Free			Yes			Itch devlog/pdf "How to Get Your Game Noticed: Search Engine Optimization for Itch" tailored for visual novels by the dev team for Minotaur Hotel.
(author)	Reddit	Paid		Yes			Yes	A subreddit of freelance artists looking for work.
(author)	(Link)	Free	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes		A checklist for important factors of commercial VN development.
(author)	(Link)	Free	Yes					40 downloadable pitch bibles for TV shows of various genres.
(author)	Youtube	Free	Yes					"Hang Around People Better Than You", a short video about how to improve game dev skills.
(author)	Youtube	Free		Yes		Yes		Katy133's tutorial on how to make DIY merch (shrink film pins and charms).
(author)	(Link)	Free			Yes		Yes	Social Blade is a public database of social media statistics of any user. Includes Youtube, Twitch, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Tiktok, etc.
(author)	(Link)	Free		Yes			Yes	Contract() is a template work for hire agreement tailored for game devs.
(author)	Youtube	Free			Yes			Howard Ho's "How the Hamilfilm Trailer Works", a short video about how to use music in trailers.
(author)	Youtube	Free			Yes			Short video on how long game trailers should be.
(author)	Twitter	Free			Yes			Twitter image aspect ratios.
(author)	Itch	Free			Yes		Yes	CoMiGo's "Better creator pages at itch.io", a guide to organizing your Itch profile.
(author)	(Link)	Free		Yes		Yes		Eco-friendly methods of shipping pacakges.
(author)	(Link)	Free		Yes			Yes	Work With Indies is a job board focused on indie studios.
(author)	Google Drive	Free/Paid			Yes	Yes		Victoria Tran's collection of marketing and community resources spreadsheet.
(author)	Twitter	Free		Yes			Yes	Publisher Raw Fury's template publishing agreements and legal, financial, marketing, and production documents.
(author)	Itch	Free	Yes			Yes	Yes	Jannik Boysen's "Easy Releasy" provides templates to design Itch pages.
(author)	(Link)	Free			Yes			Arimia's list of "40+ Game Dev Social Media Post Ideas".
(author)	(Link)	Free			Yes	Yes		Arimia's "2020 Social Media Calendar for Indie Games", a cheat sheet of what to post on what day.
(author)	(Link)	Free			Yes	Yes		Arimia's "Social Media Marketing for Indie Games – 2021 Guide", a detailed guide on how to market your game.
(author)	(Link)	Free		Yes		Yes		How to use eco-friendly shipping supplies.
(author)	(Link)	Free	Yes			Yes		Arimia's "Game Development Checklist", a series of questions to ask yourself before/during/after game development.
(author)	Tumblr	Free		Yes				A tutorial on volume commissions for artists: cheap, fast work that is profitable by quantity over quality.
(author)	Twitter	Free		Yes			Yes	Eldritch Crow's "Freelance Work General Contract Template"
(author)	Google Drive	Free		Yes			Yes	Coda's "Asset List & Budget" spreadsheet template to track assets, budget, and shortlist contractors.
(author)	(Link)	Free	Yes				Yes	Workspace with built in templates for moodboards, game design documents, worldbuilding, level design, etc.

VN jam guides

Due to the popularity of jams, ideas, tips, or useful articles pertaining specifically to VN Jams have been created. These usually come in form of "how tos", or specific approaches on jam participation. Common themes include:

• proper planning (including margins)
• adjusting on the fly (e.g. cutting content)
• smart use of resources,
• pacing oneself
• prioritizing finishing over perfection

Below are specific case studies or full guides designed to give insight and support with jam participation or some of its aspects, usually authored by single individuals.

Name	Author	Year / Update	Description	Link
Reflections: Developing for the Long-Term	shibalist	2022	article discussing VN jams and their effect on long-term projects	Link
The ultimate VN jam advice	mikey	2022	short article about the concept of planning under the assumption the jam is half its actual length	Link
How to survive NaNoRenO	Vimi	2022	video showing two teams with different planning approaches and what happens when disrupting events occur	Link
Enamored Risks Postmortem	Arimia	2020	article detailing the planning, coordination, production and promotion of a NaNoRenO VN	Link
The last-minute VN	mikey	2015	article on how to create a very short VN by focusing on location first, and characters last	Link