Are Visual Novels Video Games?

[Bubba]

Fo sho mo fo

It's not a style I enjoy personally but it's definitely a game.

[Shauna]

From a technical standpoint - there is very little differentiating a digital comic and a straight linear click-til-you-win VN. But then I think that's where creator intent comes in. If someone created it to be a VN, then it's a VN and is technically a video game. If it was created to be a comic, then it's a comic.

[Midgar Mist]

I would say if they are a game if its multiple choice and different outcomes

[Mirage]

They're as much a game as the "make your own adventure" books are (which in my opinion means not in any meaningful way). I just wish there was an easy way to filter them out on Steam. I don't really get why it's so important to call them games. Isn't it good enough to be called a visual novel?

I think games need a sort of failure state. A way to lose in some form. Not getting the best ending doesn't count as losing in my opinion. That's like saying that getting the worst prize in a lottery is the same as losing.

Gambling such as lotteries are more game-y than most VNs, and I don't even consider lotteries to be proper games.

I also think the term "visual novel" is a bad term. Is not a graphic novel also visual? It's not the visuality that sets it apart, it's the interactivity. They should be called interactive novels, which could also include the non-digital counterpart of this type of medium.

[Ayen]

No. They're a toaster.