Hello jammers! I'm likely not able to participate in the jam but I did promise a wealth of resources from my bookmarks and collections, so I'm sharing them here so they don't get lost in the Fluxer chat. I will do my best to only share engines & tools that I know are/were stable enough to make stuff that's mostly bug-free out of the box, but there will be a few whimsical/tiny engines that are definitely still in active development that I'll toss in here because I like the cut of their jib.
Disclaimer 1: If you're looking at this thread and thinking, "Wow, this looks oddly familiar in the way its formatted, is this a plagiarism?" then hi it's literally me, the same guy updating a years-old thread of things I found on the ground/internet.
Disclaimer 2: Especially when it comes to the engines & tools, I make no guarantee that the programs on this list are actively maintained or still function on modern OSes. Do your research as per usual, etc. etc.
VN Engines & Frameworks
- Ren'Py (Free, Open Source, Dedicated VN Engine) [Win, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, HTML5]
- Light.vn (Free, Open Source, Dedicated VN Engine) [Win, iOS, Android, HTML5]
- Godot + Dialogic 2 (Free, Open Source, General Engine) [Win, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, HTML5, Consoles Possible*]
- Videotome, Videotome ADV, Super Videotome, Videotome Heartbreak (Free) [HTML5]
- Narrat (Free, Dedicated Narrative RPG Engine) [Windows, iOS, Android, HTML5]
- SEEVN 2 (Free, Dedicated VN Engine) [Win, Mac, Linux]
- NVList (Free, Dedicated VN Engine) [Win, Mac, Linux, Android]
- VNMaker (Paid, Dedicated VN Engine) [Win, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, HTML5]
- TyranoBuilder (Paid, Dedicated VN Engine) [Win, Mac, HTML5, Android, iOS]
- GameMaker + VNgen (Free, General Engine) [Win, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, HTML5, Consoles Possible*]
- Unity + Naninovel OR Utage OR Fungus (Free/Paid, General Engine) [Win, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, HTML5, Consoles Possible*]
- Unreal Engine + Visual Novel Framework (Free/Paid, General Engine) [Win, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, HTML5, Consoles Possible*]
* Indicates that support for these platforms may involve more work
Other Engines
- Twine 2 (Free) can make Interactive Fiction games. I highly recommend The Twine Grimoire series by Grim Baccaris!
- Bapalon (Free) makes "SOUP-like rooms" where players explore a 3D space, sort of like a museum gallery
- plano (Free) is a flatgame engine where players explore a 2D space
- wareware (Free) is a block-based 3D game engine for lo-fi games
- Whimtale (Free with Paid Tiers) is a series of small game engines with a fantasy console for making interactive stories where you can navigate the worlds you create and talk with stuff. Very bitsy-like.
- bitsy (Free), the classic lo-fi game engine for building rooms with interactable objects and characters
- windowpane (Free) is a tool for linking up different HTML5 games together for "strange sequential art"
- RPG Paper Maker (Free, Paid License for Commercial Games) makes 2.5D RPGs
- EasyRPG (Free) is "a community project to create a free, open source, role playing game creation tool, compatible with RPG Maker 2000/2003 games."
Art Programs
- FireAlpaca (Free, Drawing) [Win, Mac]
- Krita (Free, Drawing) [Win, Mac, Linux]
- MediBang Paint Pro (Free, Drawing) [Win, Mac, iOS, Android]
- Paint Tool SAI (Paid, Drawing) [Win]
- Photopea (Free with Ads) [HTML5]
- Corel Painter (Free, Drawing) [Win, Mac]
- Inkscape (Free, Vector Graphics) [Win, Mac, Linux]
- Clip Studio Paint (Paid, Drawing) [Win, Mac]
- GIMP (Free, Drawing, Graphic Design) [Win, Mac, Linux]
- Sweet Home 3D (Free, 3D Interior Design) [Win,Mac, Linux]
- SketchUp (Free/Paid, 3D Interior/Exterior Design [Web, Win, Mac]
Audio Programs
- Audacity (Free, Audio Recorder and Editor) [Win, Mac, Linux]
- Bosca Ceoil (Free, Music Composition) [Win, Mac, Linux]
- Image to Music (Free, Music Toy) [Win]
- LabChirp (Free, SFX Generator) [Win, Linux]
- GarageBand (Free, Music Composition) [Mac]
- LMMS (Free, Music Composition) [Win, Mac, Linux]
- MuseScore (Free, Music Composition [Win]
Writing Programs
- Ellipsus (Free) [Web-based]
- FocusWriter (Free) [Win, Mac, Linux]
- LibreOffice (Free) [Win, Mac, Linux]
- Manuskript (Free) [Win, Mac, Linux]
- Screeniver (Paid) [Win, Mac]
- The Guide (Free, Information Organizer) [Win]
Code Editors
- jEdit (Free) [Win, Mac, Linux]
- Sublime Text (Paid, unlimited Free Trial) [Win, Mac, Linux]
- Visual Studio Code (Free) [Win, Mac, Linux]
Fonts (Please check individual licenses!)
- GoogleFonts (Commercial Use OK)
- Google Noto (Commercial Use OK)
- FontSquirrel (Commercial Use OK)
- itch.io fonts (Check individual licenses)
- FontMeme (Commercial Use OK for fonts in this category)
- 1001Fonts (Commercial Use OK for fonts in this category)
Pre-Made Assets & Misc
- Natasha Luna's "Visual Novel Assets, Tutorials, and Tools" Collection (Various)
- deaddeaddeath's Photo Gallery "Hurt Nullified Catgirls For Fun!" (Photos)
- Fisher's Resources (for Ren'Py, mostly) (another Resource list)
- SONNISS GDC Packs (Free, SFX)
- Mannequin (Paid, Character Generator) [Win, Mac, Linux]
- Red's Art Assets (Free, Character Sprites, Items)
- Konett's Art Assets (Free/Paid, Character Sprites, Backgrounds, Items)
- Deji's Art Assets (Free/paid, Character Sprites)
- mugenjohncel's 3D BGs (Free, Backgrounds)
- LSF Resource Catalogue (Various)
Last Updated: April 12, 2026