The visual novel is an interesting genre in gaming. It is, in fact, a game, but visual novels don’t play like normal games. The game play mechanics are simplified down to the bare essentials and the game’s narrative takes the front seat for the entire game. Some of them do have some mechanics, but they exist almost solely to push the game forward. It’s a relaxing genre and it’s great for people who just want to hang out and watch a story unfold. It is a Japanese invention so most Android visual novels are Japanese. Still, you have some excellent choices. Here are the best visual novels for Android. We’d also like to give an honorable mention to Joe Dever’s Lone Wolf Complete that would totally make this list if its last update wasn’t three years ago.
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Ace Attorney
Price: $19.99 each
Capcom has four Ace Attorney ports on Android and they’re all pretty good. Ace Attorney is a mystery-drama series about Phoenix Wright, a lawyer who solves cases. There are also hidden object and point-and-click adventure elements as well. Basically, you start a case, collect the evidence, interview people, and smash your opponents in court. The pacing is quite good and there are in-game mechanics to make sure you don’t forget anything. Each game is rather expensive at $19.99 each, but you get the full game with no additional in-app purchases or advertisements. We have Capcom’s developer page linked at the button so you can browse for all four games.
Florence
Price: $2.99
Florence is a delightful visual novel about Florence. Florence feels stuck in her routine when she meets a Krish. You play through the game as you experience the relationship blossom and mature. The game has some light puzzle and point-and-click mechanics but it’s otherwise very easy to play. It had a bit of help in its early days since it is from the lead designer of Monument Valley (another excellent game for a list like this). This one runs for $2.99 with no in-app purchases or ads.
Gris
Price: $4.99
Gris is a puzzle game with more than enough visual novel elements. You play as Gris, a girl lost in her own world. You help her navigate that world, get in touch with her emotions, and navigate reality. The game has no death or danger so you can play at your own speed. There are some light puzzle mechanics to engage the player as they drift through the game. The art style is good and there is a surprisingly small amount of text as the story is mostly told through visual elements. It runs for $4.99 with no in-app purchases or ads.
If My Heart Had Wings
Price: Free to play
If My Heart Had Wings is a relatively standard visual novel experience. The game has a lot of good features as well, including full offline support, plenty of stories to play through, and more. There is also a comment feature that lets you leave comments on scenes for others to read later. The game is very much the same as the PC version. You can play the first half for free and you pay for the rest of it later. There is also a central arc with branching side stories about each character.
Life is Strange (two games)
Price: Free to play
Life is Strange is a visual novel style game from Square Enix. You play as Max Caulfield, a high school girl with the ability to rewind time in short bursts. Players make decisions, think better of them, and rewind time to redo specific parts of the game. You use this ability to uncover various things in the game. There is also a prequel to the game, Life is Strange: Before the Storm. Both games are free to download and play for a bit and then you have to pay for the rest of the chapters in the game. These were a little better on game consoles, but they translated to mobile well.
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Mysterious Forum and 7 Rumors
Price: Free / $2.99
Mysterious Forum and 7 Rumors is another fairly typical visual novel. This one is fairly short at about two hours and it’s a horror experience. Players make decisions to influence parts of the game and there are several different endings to achieve. The whole thing takes place on a forum run by some local high school kids. There are some stories posted on there that become reality and not in a good way. It is a short title, but it’s also cheap at $2.99. This one is an excellent little time killer and the story is cheesy, but fun.
OPUS (three games)
Price: Free to play
OPUS is a small series of exploration games. Players explore space as they make their way through the game’s main narrative plot. The second title returns the player to a dystopian Earth to help a witch find her way. The two games are not thematically linked, so you can play them in any order and each story is completely unique. OPUS: The Day We Found Earth is the first title in the series followed by OPUS: Rocket of Whispers. There is also a third game, the very short (and entirely free) Rocket of Whispers: Prologue that tells of the events before the second game. These are very strong showings in the visual novel space and excellently adds in elements of open world, sandbox, exploration, and adventure.
Oxenfree
Price: $4.99
Oxenfree is a horror-thriller with adventure, puzzle, and exploration elements. It starts when a bunch of high school kids unwittingly open a ghost rift and mayhem ensues. It takes a lot of its cues from 1980’s teenage horror films. The writing is, frankly, outstanding and the game play elements fit the theme of the game very well. This is technically a port of the PC game and both versions have high ratings from players. This one hasn’t seen an update for a while so be sure to test it inside of the refund time to make sure you don’t waste your money.
Telltale Games titles (eight games)
Price: Free / Varies
Telltale Games was the undisputed champ of the visual novel genre for several years on Google Play. The studio went down, but all of its games are still available on Google Play. The visual novels usually take place in the same universe as already popular properties and there are four The Walking Dead games, two Batman games, and more. There used to be a Minecraft title and a Borderlands title but both of them are gone from the Play Store. In any case, each game plays about the same. You play through the story by making decisions and using point-and-click adventure mechanics. The games are all free to start with optional chapters available as in-app purchases. You can find The Walking Dead games here and the Batman games are available at the button below.
To the Moon
Price: $4.99
To the Moon is a touching game with some light adventure and RPG mechanics. It’s about two doctors who give people the memories they wish they had, but can only perform the surgery while the patient is on their deathbed. Their patient asks to go to the moon for his final request and the doctors dive in to find out why he wants it. This was one of the best Android games of 2017 and it remains one of the best visual novels to this day. It runs for $4.99 with no in-app purchases or ads.
If we missed any great visual novels for Android, tell us about them in the comments! You can also click here to check out our latest Android app and game lists!