Here we go....
Some of these are easier to implement then others and you may end up not being able to do some of them because of the game engine you are using but there isn't a single one that won't enhance the game experience and they require a lot more animation and game overhaul but I promise you the end result will be worth it in the end.
The gameboard MUST be overhauled from the ground up. It is the thing players will see for 95% of the length of the game. Your artwork quality is absolutely spectacular it must extend to the gameboard it just has to.
Add Icons to the spaces themselves change the hue of the pink and orangish red spaces I absolutely get the retro feel of 8 or 16 bit colors only being available but you are using way more than that many hues in your artwork so there is no reason to be a stickler for that on the gameboard. Overhauling the look and feel of that board should be the very first visual related thing you do. No one will get to round 22 without doing so most won't even get to round 10.
The gameboard itself must evolve over time
You need to add 10x more tongue in cheek nostalgia references it could be quite a bit more than that.
The player must interact with the board in some way
You MUST have penalty's on the board significant ones. You have a handful in your wild cards but there needs to be some seriously steep ones.
Because this is a visual novel you don't need a game over. You can have very severe consequential narrative shifts in the story (that are temporary until back in the black) FOR losing all of your money. As Mary Jane is the main character and you play from her perspective on the game board itself depending on that pure or perv character trait (for either Mary Jane and/or the player character the consequences should be reflecting. A more pervy Mary Jane would try to turn tricks with or without telling you in order to make the money back (you don't HAVE to animate EVERYTHING I see firsthand just how long those animations take you. How long did that Mercedes animation in Round 22 take? two weeks a month? It is so damn good. Those kind of animations should be reserved for extraordinary checkpoints in the game but you have to get to them quicker. A more pure Mary Jane would sell her own possessions because she doesn't want to trouble you come to you crying and apologizing and you would console her. Its that straightforward. Two specific "negative ends" that can absolutely go back to the
The pure/perv narrative I genuinely think is the most important improvement you can make and I have absolutely no idea how you can implement it I have plenty of experience playing individual games but none making them. I don't know how this can possibly be done on ren'py I really don't. And since this is your 2nd game and you mention Game Development isn't your main job and you are taking considerable time to getting better at coding (hence the main reason you decided to add gameplay elements to your next visual novel to get more experience with it directly) if you feel that kind of Gameplay mechanic is going to be too difficult to implement then I strongly recommend seeking outside help. Be it from more experienced developers in the gaming community or straight up having another developer handle that specific part for you. The only way I can think of to make it work Is to prompt the player with a big ass warning right in the middle of the screen once the reach a certain amount of perv or innocence (again whatever the hell you want to call it that this will permanently effect the story path for the duration of your current playthrough. Then you have an initial story (maybe to round 10 which should equate to about an hour to an hour and a half of gameplay at the absolute most that) you can then shift to either Story A or Story B without ever having to worry about a random line of pervy dialogue sneaking its way into overlapping into the pure or innocence route. This is the only way I think it can be done without it drastically increasing the development time and bug checking needed to implement. A permanent change that the player knows is going to happen at which point the board itself changes to be more pervy or more innocent. (Still sex (which means you need a ton of gentle sex animations too) but more of falling in love with her trying to protect her while redeeming your name in the industry kind of thing.
While your perv plot is already pretty great as it is. Round 22 and Round 23 make a very specific revelation that I kind of already saw coming but you finally spell out for the player and the dialogue choices you use to do so are top tier scriptwriting lvl so again well done there! But I won't mention it because I don't want to spoil the surprise for the player.
The player being a shadow works perfect for the darker pervier route but you should choose a different hue for the more romantic purity route. I don't know what that hue is research how different colors evoke different emotions but whether justified or not a "Black Shadow" (which shouldn't be a race thing under any circumstances but unfortunately is often attributed as such) is the absolute perfect (form) of the "grooming" route. "Mysterious/Dangerous/Anonymous/Sinister. But I have absolutely no idea what the protagonist should look like for a less "sinister" vibe as making the avatar "whiter or lighter in hue which is usually whether fairly or not attributed to more of the "good guy" The whole western bad guy wears the black hat and the good guy wears the white hat trope.
90s references Make more. When you think you have enough add more. and More and more. This tongue in cheek little jokes will add some levity to the absolutely heartbreaking story I sense you have crafted here. Its 4th wall stuff so it shouldn't take away from the story IF it takes place in rounds where "nothing happens or is unlocked" if you have great 90's references every few rounds and/or reference them through the game board chance cards themselves players WILL stick around for a round or two that isn't "lewd" and they will do it OVER and OVER again as long as you keep the hits coming.
So the starcraft II screen as cute as it is with the text "I love playing videogames it is the only thing I can do while being forced to stay here" or whatever it says. doesn't suffice. You need to directly "but probably through parody 4th wallish form make as many references as you possibly can.
So far in 4 hours of gameplay I have seen about 15 or 20. The types of clothes people wear. Downloading a porn picture. Starcraft/ Halflife/ Ultima? VHS/ Pager/ CRT TV/ Old as dirt Computer YTK and....that is about it. This is actually of everything I complained about before my own secret beef with your game. The whole reason I checked out your game was to expect cheesy 90's references alongside the porn. That is the entire reason I clicked download. And there is no way I am the only one.
I am going to time myself right now and type out as many references for you as I can 3 minutes for evil grooming route and then 3 minutes for saving the girl while redeeming yourself route. You could probably add (some of these or a good half of these as internal dialogue and some of them should involve the other characters as well. You will know the ones I am talking about as you see them. But with the barrage of suggestions I am about to give you even if you used every single one of them It still won't account for even 10% of the references you need. My honest opinion would be to set aside a week to do nothing but research 90's pop culture. Draw your own experiences look at major news events which tv shows were popular events that happened etc. If it is in the 90's you need to TRANSPORT ME THERE. I have to FEEL like I am in 1999 not read it. It's a game therefore the actual experience has to feel lived. This comes from experience.
I am actually a writer myself and a comedian but my work ethic is trash unfortunately. It is always so much easier to give advice and criticism to others then to finish your own work right? I am bad at about 99% of things in this world but writing and comedy are not one of them. Making people laugh cry and express rage through writing is as easy as breathing to me. If I give you advice on writing or comedy I STRONGLY suggest you take it. I don't have the credibility because I haven't finished a single damn project But I have more unfinished projects in journals harddrives and audio files then I would ever feel comfortable admitting. I am entirely aware it comes off as egotistical and arrogant and I will own that entirely its the one thing in the world I am good at and I will scream it from the top of a mountain with an intercom. I have thought of being a motivational speaker but I don't have any finished works so it is pretty contradictory. Anyway here are your 90's references.
I am only guessing based off of how long it took to get to the point it did in game (which you really really really need to decrease significantly. (just show more dialogue in between rounds and lower the round count) I think you expect your game to be a visual novel that takes about 15-20 hours to complete everything. You probably didn't start off with a number that high but as your story expanded more and more it got there. You need a 90's reference whether serious, sarcastic, humorous or 4th wall breaking like every 5 to 10 minutes worth of gameplay. They don't all have to be from the player perspective but they need to be happening constantly through the whole game. The most important rule of comedy is that a laugh a minute isn't nearly enough. laugh a minute applies to MOVIES. Comedies are the most harshly judged films and yet they are the hardest to write and act in. Anyways enough rambling (90% of my comedy material is just making fun of my many many random thoughts and idiosyncracies) on to the actual suggestions I said I would give you 5 paragraphs ago.
bop it joke
watching fuzzy porn on tv
rule 34
leisure suit larry (once praising it/ once making fun of how easy the age question is to circumvent/ once making fun of how terrible it looks or how tedious it is (poking fun at the state of the games in the adult industry in the 90s. Also known as the 5 games that had ever released.
jacking off to a porn magazine secretly while mary jane or another character knocks on the door you drop the magazine in the toilet in surprise and it starts overflowing
you've got mail
phone calls to america online begging them to give you a few more hours to have internet/ and or stealing america online trail discs from neighbors
blue screen of death
going to our website is as easy as typing http://www.mindspring.com/mail/inbox/user.php
(lol of course it turned into a link ><)
AOL instant messenger
at least 20 videogame references at least 10 movie references and at least 10 tv show references a handful of newspaper articles.
pure (gonna save the girl and win her heart route)
sleepless in seattle
friends
titanic
sonic
mario
(evil grooming her to do your bidding route)
Nighttrap sega cd game
silence of the lambs
mortal Kombat
Deliverance
Misery
(Sexual joke about the Shining sisters "come play with us")
tetris
(themes of manipulation basically)
PARENTAL ADVISORY EXPLICIT
I PERSONALLY would also throw in a ton of political jokes but that WILL divide your audience BUT I also see from your other game that you go out of your way to make it inclusive which leads me to believe you slant a certain way anyway. And to put it in plain english
Your game is text heavy and is a slow burn for the porn
That other audience you lose is not going to be interested in investing the time to get to the meat of the story.
Make fun of the art of the deal
buy random nonsense off of QVC
Make fun of the hypocrisy of the church
reference the church calling D&D/Pokemon/Mortal Kombat (satanic and evil)
(pure route)
be trolled in one of the game references
(evil route) troll someone in one of the game references
(random stuff Mary Jane can come across)
Slap Bracelets
Bedazzling
Tupperware Parties (could be a cover for escort service?)
Pogs
Hairspray
(Oh right you gotta reference the hell out of MTV too)
I would also put a direct reference to Heavy Metal and "Take on Me" in there since you are clearly inspired by both in your artwork unknowingly or otherwise.
There that is like 30 something references. You still need a few hundred more.
I know you can do it because as a writer myself your narrative is spectacular! I want as many people as possible to be able to read your story that just keeps getting better and better and they won't if they abandon it do to lack of feeling invested in it.
and of course keep the porn coming