Dating sims are a type of VN. Those count right? Even if they have a lot of gamey mechanics.
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Oops, super late response, but dating sims count as VNs. There's some fuzzy area, since VNs are typically classified as 2D text-heavy games, and it's probably possible to make a 3D procedurally generated dating sim with a shooting element or something, but generally speaking, yes, dating sims count.