q.u.q.
A crude girl drags a giant gun across a red-sky desert in this surreal visual novel.
94% of 1,885 Steam reviews are positive$1.99
Visual novels like Journal
Loved how hand-drawn and emotional Journal can get? These visual novels are worth a look next.
Until Then
A slow, tender visual novel that turns strange: you follow Mark, a Filipino high-schooler, through school days, chats with friends, and small routines, until people vanish and memories stop adding up. Read on, keep going past the first ending, and piece together what is really happening.
Emotional, Story-driven, Atmospheric
96% of 16,275 Steam reviews are positivePlayers online now: 133$19.99Lost Words: Beyond the Page
A short, fully voiced, story-first adventure across two worlds. Rearrange words into platforms in Izzy’s diary, then wield word magic to shape your path in the fantasy she writes. Gentle puzzles, watercolour wonder, and a bittersweet story of family, loss, and healing.
Hand-drawn, Emotional, Story-driven
94% of 639 Steam reviews are positive$14.99SEASON: A letter to the future
Leave home on a bicycle to record a world before a cataclysm ends the season. You meet people, photograph and tape what matters, and build a journal for the future. Slow, tender and strange, it suits visual novel readers who come for story, characters and quiet reflection more than plot twists.
Hand-drawn, Emotional, Story-driven
93% of 1,850 Steam reviews are positivePlayers online now: 2$24.99The Diary
Several diaries gradually reveal the thrilling story of a missing case; after multiple deductions, are the answers in the past or present? With frequent plot twists, you never know which is the truth and which is the unexpected; in a dense fog, time buries the past, but the marks remain.
Hand-drawn, Emotional, Story-driven
65% of 147 Steam reviews are positive$15.99Hindsight
What if the physical objects of everyday life, the possessions we hold close, were actual windows to the past? Peer into distant memories and unseen futures in Hindsight.
Hand-drawn, Emotional, Story-driven
80% of 152 Steam reviews are positive$14.99The Quiet Things
Step into a fractured 00s childhood in the South of England. Inspired by the developer’s real diaries, this autobiographical narrative adventure invites you to uncover Alice’s story by piecing together evocative memories, and following in the footsteps of a young girl’s journey through adolescence.
Emotional, Story-driven, Atmospheric
80% of 35 Steam reviews are positivePlayers online now: 1$14.99Night in the Woods
College dropout Mae Borowski returns to crumbling Possum Springs, where old friends have grown up and something stirs in the woods. You wander, talk, and choose who to spend time with in a hand-drawn town full of sharp, funny dialogue and a slow-building mystery worth reading to the end.
Hand-drawn, Emotional, Story-driven
94% of 18,197 Steam reviews are positivePlayers online now: 136$19.99Hazy Mind
You can't remember anything, and all you can see is HER. Delve into your story and uncover the truth behind what happened to you and your parents.
Hand-drawn, Emotional, Story-driven
85% of 327 Steam reviews are positivePlayers online now: 2$9.99q.u.q.
A crude girl drags a giant gun across a red-sky desert in this surreal visual novel. You read, choose, and die in stupid ways until you find one of 9 endings. Short, strange, funny and sad, with retro pixel art and a soundtrack worth staying for.
Hand-drawn, Emotional, Story-driven
94% of 1,885 Steam reviews are positive$1.99GOODBYE WORLD
"GOODBYE WORLD" is a narrative adventure game. Play through 12 stages of a puzzle platformer while following the two protagonists through 13 chapters of their story.
Emotional, Story-driven, Atmospheric
84% of 769 Steam reviews are positive$11.99Sumire
One Day, One Life. Sumire is a magical narrative adventure about choices made, and dreams lost and found. Embark on a mysterious journey to help Sumire achieve her deepest wishes, before the day ends and the sky turns to twilight.
Hand-drawn, Emotional, Story-driven
95% of 892 Steam reviews are positive$5.99Leila
Leila is a heartfelt, hand-animated narrative game about the small yet significant struggles we all face. Solve story-driven puzzles, relive fragile memories, and discover a deeply personal journey that may feel more familiar than you expect.
Hand-drawn, Emotional, Story-driven
86% of 551 Steam reviews are positive$11.99
Cheaper than Journal
Sumire
One Day, One Life. Sumire is a magical narrative adventure about choices made, and dreams lost and found.
95% of 892 Steam reviews are positive$5.99
Looking Up I See Only A Ceiling
A short psychological story about a stressed student buried in books and study, who becomes fixed on exploring her ceiling.
87% of 3,445 Steam reviews are positivePlayers online now: 1$1.99
outside the door
Outside the door is a mystic visual novel set within one office.
93% of 771 Steam reviews are positive$1.99
Retention
This game is about a person who kept running through his life, never looking back at the past. Once during a trip, he gets into trouble.
49% of 215 Steam reviews are positive$0.99
I Did Not Buy This Ticket
Weep for the dead! In this short psychological horror story, play as a professional mourner travelling between funerals.
86% of 351 Steam reviews are positive$7.99
Demons Never Lie
Demons Never Lie is a creepy graphic adventure made with voxel and low-poly where even your soul is at stake!
92% of 429 Steam reviews are positive$3.99
The NOexistenceN of you AND me
A short surreal visual novel where a mysterious girl appears in your room and your only real job is to say hello.
93% of 20,760 Steam reviews are positivePlayers online now: 66$1.99
Once Again
Make up for lost time with Once Again, If you could travel through time, who’s the first person you’d meet?
90% of 952 Steam reviews are positivePlayers online now: 1$1.27
7Days Origins
7Days Origins is a single-player story game where the storyline changes based on the player's choices.
86% of 316 Steam reviews are positive$8.99
Another Adventure
Four short stories about ordinary dreamers: a student who sleeps through his 6 a.m. alarm, a programmer who wants to change the world, a quitter…
91% of 4,139 Steam reviews are positive$1.99
Mandemon
Crumbling school buildings in Japan. A string of bizarre incidents. The eerie legend of Mandemon. Lies and truth intertwine.
86% of 353 Steam reviews are positivePlayers online now: 1$2.99
Hidden gems like Journal
lily's world XD
You find Lily's laptop from 2004 and start reading. Her diary, her blog, her messages to childhood friends — each file pulls you closer to why she…
96% of 1,808 Steam reviews are positivePlayers online now: 10$11.99
Perfect Tides: Station to Station
A narrative adventure about the momentum and whiplash of young adulthood. Explore the big city through 18-year-old Mara's eyes.
97% of 240 Steam reviews are positivePlayers online now: 1$19.99
Everyday Devil
A short, linear story game of a random demon guy's life.
95% of 349 Steam reviews are positiveFree
Alice's World
Alice's World is a story-driven 2D adventure puzzle game. Amidst desolate ruins and deserted cities in a world filled with death, the young girl…
89% of 339 Steam reviews are positive$13.99
I Wanna Be A Game Dev!
Live out your school days as you navigate the rocky world of game development! Can you make an amazing game, or will something get in the way?
95% of 237 Steam reviews are positiveFree
outside the door
Outside the door is a mystic visual novel set within one office.
93% of 771 Steam reviews are positive$1.99
Leila
Leila is a heartfelt, hand-animated narrative game about the small yet significant struggles we all face.
86% of 551 Steam reviews are positive$11.99
q.u.q.
A crude girl drags a giant gun across a red-sky desert in this surreal visual novel.
94% of 1,885 Steam reviews are positive$1.99
It gets so lonely here
A yandere yuri visual novel about a girl running through a dark forest from someone who loves her to death.
94% of 2,410 Steam reviews are positivePlayers online now: 6Free
SEASON: A letter to the future
Leave home on a bicycle to record a world before a cataclysm ends the season.
93% of 1,850 Steam reviews are positivePlayers online now: 2$24.99
Hazy Mind
You can't remember anything, and all you can see is HER. Delve into your story and uncover the truth behind what happened to you and your parents.
85% of 327 Steam reviews are positivePlayers online now: 2$9.99
Beacon Pines
Beacon Pines is a cute-creepy story told inside a mysterious book, where you are both the reader and Luka, a kid poking around strange happenings at…
97% of 3,116 Steam reviews are positivePlayers online now: 10$19.99
Newest visual novels like Journal
The Doll Shop
The Doll Shop is a hand-drawn narrative game – part romance, part horror – set in the Japanese countryside.
93% of 94 Steam reviews are positivePlayers online now: 3$12.99
lily's world XD
You find Lily's laptop from 2004 and start reading. Her diary, her blog, her messages to childhood friends — each file pulls you closer to why she…
96% of 1,808 Steam reviews are positivePlayers online now: 10$11.99
The Quiet Things
Step into a fractured 00s childhood in the South of England.
80% of 35 Steam reviews are positivePlayers online now: 1$14.99
Perfect Tides: Station to Station
A narrative adventure about the momentum and whiplash of young adulthood. Explore the big city through 18-year-old Mara's eyes.
97% of 240 Steam reviews are positivePlayers online now: 1$19.99
Everyday Devil
A short, linear story game of a random demon guy's life.
95% of 349 Steam reviews are positiveFree
Alice's World
Alice's World is a story-driven 2D adventure puzzle game. Amidst desolate ruins and deserted cities in a world filled with death, the young girl…
89% of 339 Steam reviews are positive$13.99
Mobile Murder Mystery
Follow the story of the Unseen Narrator, whose repetitive life falls apart when their co-worker decides to quit on a whim.
97% of 78 Steam reviews are positivePlayers online now: 1Free
The Diary
Several diaries gradually reveal the thrilling story of a missing case; after multiple deductions, are the answers in the past or present?
65% of 147 Steam reviews are positive$15.99
Leila
Leila is a heartfelt, hand-animated narrative game about the small yet significant struggles we all face.
86% of 551 Steam reviews are positive$11.99
The NOexistenceN of you AND me
A short surreal visual novel where a mysterious girl appears in your room and your only real job is to say hello.
93% of 20,760 Steam reviews are positivePlayers online now: 66$1.99
I Wanna Be A Game Dev!
Live out your school days as you navigate the rocky world of game development! Can you make an amazing game, or will something get in the way?
95% of 237 Steam reviews are positiveFree
Until Then
A slow, tender visual novel that turns strange: you follow Mark, a Filipino high-schooler, through school days, chats with friends, and small…
96% of 16,275 Steam reviews are positivePlayers online now: 133$19.99