Solo Dev

A Solo Dev or Solo Developer is an individual creator who takes on most, if not all, development team roles required to produce a full visual novel.

Solo devs often begin developing visual novels with pre-existing familiarity in one or more major skills used in development, such as writing, illustration, or programming, and take on additional skills and responsibilities as development continues.

They may outsource work to others or find existing stock assets for one or more aspects of development, such as for music and sound effects or background art.

Depending on the scope of a project, Solo Devs may shift to leading a development team either at the start of or during development, instead of developing the full game alone.