Glossary

Adult Visual Novel (AVN)

A genre of video games that combine elements of traditional visual novels with adult content, often featuring explicit sexual scenes and themes. These games usually involve player choice and branching narratives, where decisions made by the player can lead to different story outcomes or paths, including various romantic or sexual encounters with in-game characters.

AVNs generally refer to indie or Western creations and have a distinctly separate community from Japanese visual novels. Japanese VNs are occasionally referred to as JAVNs, eroges, or simply VNs.

Branching

A storytelling technique in visual novels where player choices can lead to different story paths or outcomes, resulting in multiple possible endings or variations in the narrative.

BDSM

BDSM is short for Bondage, Discipline, Dominance, Submission, Sadism, and Masochism and refers to a range of sexual practices involving power exchange, restraint, and sensory stimulation.

Route

A narrative path within a visual novel that focuses on developing the relationship between the player character and a specific in-game character.

Computer Graphics (CG)

Refers to a variety of artistic styles and techniques, including hand-drawn images, 3D renders, or AI-generated graphics. They are used to enhance storytelling and provide visual representation of important events or character interactions within the game's narrative.

Dating Sim

A genre with gameplay mechanics that simulate dating and relationships, including activities such as gift-giving, date planning, and relationship-building with in-game characters. Games that include these mechanics are said to include "Dating Sim Elements".

Daz

Daz Studio is a 3D modeling and rendering software developed by Daz 3D. It provides users with tools for creating and customizing digital characters, props, and environments for use in various creative projects, including visual novels. It is widely associated with having "Western", or "Realistic" graphics, compared to other popular tools like Koikatsu and Honey Select.

Easter Egg

Hidden or secret content, references, or inside jokes hidden within a visual novel for observant players to discover.

Eroge

Short for "erotic game", eroge refers to a genre of video games that contain explicit sexual content and primarily originating from Japan.

Futanari (Futa)

A Japanese term used to describe a female character with male genitalia.

Femdom

Short for Female Dominance, which refers to a genre or theme in adult content where women take on dominant roles, and exert control or power over their male partners. Femdom can involve various forms of domination, such as BDSM, humiliation, or other forms of submission.

Free Roam

F95Zone

F95Zone is a pirating website for adult games. While mentioning this website is banned on various ## (?)## to combat pirating, many devs ironically host their own threads for their games on these sites in order to increase visibility and traffic for their games and maintain control over the thread regarding their game.

Graphical User Interface (GUI)

The user interface elements displayed on the screen during gameplay, including menus, dialogue boxes, character portraits, and interactive buttons. Displays that are always on during gameplay is more specifically known as an HUD (Heads Up Display).

Harem

A genre or subplot in games where the main character is romantically or sexually involved with multiple characters simultaneously.

H-Scene

Short for "hentai scene," refers to a sequence within a visual novel that depicts explicit sexual content between characters. It refers to all sex scenes even if the characters are not made using anime models.

Honey Select (HS)

A 3D eroge developed by Illusion, Honey Select offers extensive character customization and explicit content. Some developers use its features to create visual novels with rendered graphics and animations, taking advantage of its tools for character creation and intimate scenes.

Kinetic Novel

A type of visual novel characterized by it's lack of player choice or branching narratives. Different from traditional visual novels, kinetic novels feature a linear storyline where the reader's interaction is limited to progressing through the predetermined narrative without making choices that affect the outcome.

Landlady

A method of naming MC's mother to bypass the Patreon incest restrictions. Some games will let you change the title of this roommate to retain immersion, while other games will directly search and replace "mother" for "landlady". As a result, many games will reference how taboo it is to 'have sex with your landlay', confusing those not in the know. See Roommate for siblings.

Localization

The process of adapting a visual novel to a specific region or language, including translation, cultural adaptation, and formatting changes.

Love Interest (LI)

A character within a visual novel who serves as a potential partner or love interest for the main character.

Male Dominance (Maledom)

Refers to a genre or theme in adult content where men take on dominant roles, and exert control or power over their female partners. It can involve various forms of domination, such as BDSM, humiliation, or other forms of submission.

Main Character (MC)

The player-controlled protagonist in an adult visual novel, around whom the narrative revolves. The MC interacts with other characters, makes decisions that influence the story's progression. The MC's personality, background, and motivations vary depending on the specific visual novel, and readers typically assume their role to experience the story from their perspective.

Minigame

Gameplay segments or activitie within a visual novel that deviate from the main story, offering readers opportunities to engage in different types of challenges, puzzles, or interactive sequences.

Muncher

A player who particularly enjoys oral sex scenes in AVNs.

NTR

NTR is an abbreviation for a Japanese term that actually encompasses 3 separate but related fetishes: Netorare, Netorase, and Netori.

Netorare is where a character is being cheated on and cucked against their wishes.
Netorase is where a character shares their SO with others aka "hotwife".
Netori is where a character is the one who is "stealing" or "snatching" away the partner of another.

The nuance of this term is not widely known so NTR is often used as a synonym for cuckolding, or even non-consensual sex.

CONTROVERSIAL

The topic of NTR can be polarizing, which has led devs to label games as having NTR or explicitly not having NTR. Both camps have a passionate base of very vocal players that actively search for or avoid games that have NTR. No matter what your stance is, this can be a divisive topic.

NSFW

An abbreviation for "Not Safe For Work," used to denote content that isn't safe for viewing in professional or public settings, due to its explicit or sexual nature.

Trap

A term used to describe a character who is biologically male but presents themselves as female.

WARNING

While trap is used casually in online communities, it may be interpreted as a slur or transphobic by others in Western communities.

Render

Rendering refers to the process of generating a 2D image from a 2D or 3D model via some computer graphics program. The rendering process can be either instantaneous or take an enormous amount of time (hours, days, or even weeks) depending on your tools, model optimization, and your hardware.

Many players and devs will refer to rendered images as "renders" and each one refers to a uniquely rendered image.

Romance

A genre within AVNs that focuses on building emotional connections and romantic relationships between characters, often with a focus on character development, dialogue, and emotional intimacy.

Roommate

A method of naming MC's sibling to bypass the Patreon incest restrictions. Some games will let you change the title of this roommate to retain immersion, while other games will directly search and replace "sister" for "roommate". As a result, many games will reference how taboo it is to 'have sex with your roommate', confusing those not in the know. See Landlady for mother/child.

Scripting

The process of writing, coding, or implementing the script and dialogue for a visual novel, including branching narratives, dialogue trees, and event triggers.

Slice of Life

A genre in which the AVN focuses on the player character's day-to-day, ordinary life.

SFW

An abbreviation for "Safe For Work", used to denote content that does not contain graphic imagery.

Polish

The process of refining and enhancing various aspects of a visual novel to improve its overall quality, presentation, and user experience.

Quality Assurance (QA)

Testing the game's mechanics, user interface, narrative consistency, and technical performance to identify and address any issues or bugs before release.