List of VN creation resources
From VNDev Wiki
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. | ||||
| LemonChan | Google Drive | Free | Yes | FAQ/Glossary of visual novel terms. | ||||
| Ashe | (Link) | Free | Yes | Free flowchart program. | ||||
| BaiYu | Itch | Free | Yes | Collection of resources from NaNoRenO 2019 | ||||
| (author) | (Link) | Free | Yes | Lets you personalize list of real time across the world (also weather and sun/moon calculator). | ||||
| PentagonBuddy | WordPress | Free | Yes | Yes | Emily Short's blog post about how to improve as a narrative designer. | |||
| PentagonBuddy | WordPress | Free | Yes | Yes | Emily Short's blog post about types of player relationships with stories. | |||
| PentagonBuddy | Google Drive | Free | Yes | Yes | Notes on (with link to) an AdvX 2018 talk about writing dynamic dialogue. | |||
| PentagonBuddy | 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. | ||||
| (author) | (Link) | Free | Yes | Windows Directory Statistics Cleanup Tool | ||||
| Nai | Youtube | Free | Yes | Yes | Video essay about The Secret of Monkey Island. | |||
| (author) | Google Drive | Free | Yes | Open source add-on that allows for correctly formatted code and syntax highlighting in Google Docs. | ||||
| Liita | (Link) | Free | Yes | Yes | Analysis of social design improving MMO game design. | |||
| (author) | (Link) | Free | Yes | Yes | In depth cultural differences of several dozen countries (of Austrailia's largest migrant populations) compared to an Austrailian standard. | |||
| (author) | (Link) | Free/Paid | Yes | Time tracking with reporting to help balance what you're doing too much/too little of. | ||||
| (author) | Youtube | Free | Yes | Yes | Brandon Sanderson's writing lectures on how to write a good story, plot, characters, and style. | |||
| (author) | (Link) | Free | Yes | Open source screen recorder for Windows with customizable settings. | ||||
| (author) | Notion | Free/Paid | Yes | Project management workspace for individual or team use. | ||||
| (author) | Youtube | Free | Yes | Yes | Hello Future Me's video offering advice on place names by analyzing the etymology of real and fictional places. | |||
| (author) | Youtube | Free | Yes | Yes | GDC talk about designing effective narrative branches and player choices. | |||
| (author) | Itch | Paid | Yes | Multi-engine tool to design branching dialogue. | ||||
| (author) | (Link) | Free | Yes | A glossary of LGBTQ+ terminology from Trans Student Educational Resources. | ||||
| (author) | Free | Yes | Dropbox pdf of meanings of flowers and precious stones. Sourced from an 1881 American etiquette guide (Our Deportment - John H Young). | |||||
| (author) | Itch | Free | Yes | Yes | Ren'Edit is a tool to log notes/corrections while in game and automatically export them in a txt file. | |||
| (author) | Google Drive | Free | Yes | Yes | A guide on how to create a VN in a short timespan. | |||
| (author) | Google Drive | Free | Yes | Yes | A simple game design doc template for visual novels. | |||
| (author) | Youtube | Free | Yes | Yes | Entertain the Elk's "Speilberg: How to Introduce Characters", a short video on how to establish characters. | |||
| (author) | Youtube | Free | Yes | Yes | Innuendo Studio's four part video essay on storytelling in video games. | |||
| (author) | 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. | |||
| (author) | 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. | |||
| (author) | 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. | |||
| (author) | (Link) | Free/Paid | Yes | Yes | Coggle is a flowchart/branching tool that allows for real-time collaboration. | |||
| (author) | (Link) | Free | Yes | Yes | Simplenote is cross platform notetaking app with a tag system, backups, and markdown support. | |||
| (author) | 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. | |||
| (author) | 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". | |||
| (author) | Free | Yes | Yes | A Google Doc collection of resources on how to storyboard on a budget. | ||||
| (author) | (Link) | Free | Yes | Yes | Expresso is a browser app that analyzes your writing and provides metrics about your writing style. | |||
| (author) | Imgur | Free | Yes | Yes | .@lawnrocket aka (Ex-Pixar) Emma Coats' 22 Rules of Storytelling. | |||
| (author) | Soundcloud | Free | Yes | Yes | "All About Fail States", an episode from Inkle Studio's narrative games podcast about fail states in mystery games. | |||
| (author) | Free | Yes | Yes | Kate Chironis' Twitter thread on how to write barks for a game writing portfolio. | ||||
| (author) | Tumblr | Free | Yes | Yes | Writing With Color's blog index containing guides on avoiding cultural/racial stereotypes. | |||
| (author) | (Link) | Free | Yes | Yes | Jesse Schell's game design flashcard game. Contains 100+ design principles and ideas. | |||
| (author) | (Link) | Free/Paid | Yes | Yes | GameDevelop.io hosts a collection of game design and business resources. | |||
| (author) | (Link) | Free | Yes | Yes | Play mechanical keyboard sounds as you type on your own keyboard. | |||
| (author) | Free | Yes | Yes | A blank info sheet to introduce your project. |
Art, Characters, Backgrounds and Animation
 | This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. |
| Creator | Link | Price/ License |
Sprites | BG | Animation | Guide | Tool | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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) | 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) | 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 | 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) | 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) | Free/Paid | Yes | Yes | Yes | Everest Pipkin's google doc/github list of open source, experimental, and tiny tools for game dev/design. | |||
| (author) | 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) | Free | Yes | Yes | The Game UI Database contains 30,000+ screenshots from 700+ games. | ||||
| (author) | 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) | Free | Yes | Boba Date, a cutesy font inspired by shojo manga. | |||||
| (author) | 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) | 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) | Free | Yes | Arcade Spirits' custom pronoun code. | |||||
| (author) | 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 | 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) | 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) | 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) | 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) | 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) | 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) | 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) | 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) | 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 |
