Ranking by genre

The best visual novel games.

75 games compete in this selection. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney tops it with 1,889 points: the ranking comes from player votes alone, and moves with every duel settled.

  1. 1 Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney 2005 · Visual novel 1,889
  2. 2 Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair 2012 · Visual novel 1,731
  3. 3 Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations 2007 · Visual novel 1,694
  4. 4 Doki Doki Literature Club! 2017 · Visual novel 1,692
  5. 5 Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc 2010 · Visual novel 1,680
  6. 6 Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All 2006 · Visual novel 1,678
  7. 7 Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony 2017 · Visual novel 1,648
  8. 8 Clannad 2004 · Visual novel 1,619
  9. 9 Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice 2016 · Visual novel 1,617
  10. 10 Steins;Gate 2009 · Visual novel 1,611
  11. 11 Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney 2007 · Visual novel 1,595
  12. 12 The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures 2015 · Visual novel 1,580
  13. 13 The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog 2023 · Visual novel 1,570
  14. 14 Emily is Away 2015 · Visual novel 1,567
  15. 15 Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward 2012 · Visual novel 1,563
  16. 16 Hatoful Boyfriend 2011 · Visual novel 1,552
  17. 17 Virginia 2016 · Visual novel 1,548
  18. 18 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim 2019 · Visual novel 1,543
  19. 19 Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! 2021 · Visual novel 1,538
  20. 20 Orwell: Keeping an Eye on You 2016 · Visual novel 1,532
  21. 21 Helltaker 2020 · Visual novel 1,532
  22. 22 Hotel Dusk: Room 215 2007 · Visual novel 1,528
  23. 23 Steins;Gate 0 2015 · Visual novel 1,524
  24. 24 Milk Inside a Bag of Milk Inside a Bag of Milk 2020 · Visual novel 1,507
  25. 25 VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action 2016 · Visual novel 1,498
  26. 26 Corpse Party 2010 · Visual novel 1,484
  27. 27 Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors 2009 · Visual novel 1,483
  28. 28 Saya no Uta 2019 · Visual novel 1,481
  29. 29 The Red Strings Club 2018 · Visual novel 1,479
  30. 30 Milk Outside a Bag of Milk Outside a Bag of Milk 2021 · Visual novel 1,477
  31. 31 The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante 2021 · Visual novel 1,474
  32. 32 Gyakuten Kenji 2 2011 · Visual novel 1,472
  33. 33 Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth 2009 · Visual novel 1,471
  34. 34 Tails Noir 2021 · Visual novel 1,468
  35. 35 Blue Archive 2021 · Visual novel 1,467
  36. 36 Dagon 2021 · Visual novel 1,457
  37. 37 Home 2012 · Visual novel 1,457
  38. 38 Emily Is Away Too 2017 · Visual novel 1,450
  39. 39 Death and Taxes 2020 · Visual novel 1,444
  40. 40 Nekopara Vol. 1 2014 · Visual novel 1,440
  41. 41 Coffee Talk 2020 · Visual novel 1,439
  42. 42 Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2009 · Visual novel 1,438
  43. 43 Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma 2016 · Visual novel 1,432
  44. 44 Nekopara Vol. 0 2015 · Visual novel 1,430
  45. 45 Monster Prom 2018 · Visual novel 1,429
  46. 46 The Silver Case 2016 · Visual novel 1,429
  47. 47 Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney 2013 · Visual novel 1,426
  48. 48 The House in Fata Morgana 2012 · Visual novel 1,426
  49. 49 Ghostwire: Tokyo - Prelude: The Corrupted Casefile 2022 · Visual novel 1,423
  50. 50 Orwell: Ignorance is Strength 2018 · Visual novel 1,418
  51. 51 Slay the Princess 2023 · Visual novel 1,417
  52. 52 Everlasting Summer 2014 · Visual novel 1,417
  53. 53 The Ratchelor: A Rat Dating Sim 2021 · Visual novel 1,416
  54. 54 Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth 2017 · Visual novel 1,415
  55. 55 Ever17: The Out of Infinity 2002 · Visual novel 1,415
  56. 56 Venba 2023 · Visual novel 1,413
  57. 57 Simulacra 2017 · Visual novel 1,412
  58. 58 Snatcher 1992 · Visual novel 1,412
  59. 59 This Is the Police 2 2018 · Visual novel 1,410
  60. 60 Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies 2013 · Visual novel 1,405
  61. 61 AI: The Somnium Files 2019 · Visual novel 1,405
  62. 62 Tangle Tower 2019 · Visual novel 1,401
  63. 63 The White Door 2020 · Visual novel 1,392
  64. 64 Night Call 2019 · Visual novel 1,386
  65. 65 The Coffin of Andy and Leyley 2023 · Visual novel 1,385
  66. 66 Missed Messages. 2019 · Visual novel 1,384
  67. 67 Your Turn to Die: Death Game by Majority 2017 · Visual novel 1,383
  68. 68 Beacon Pines 2022 · Visual novel 1,383
  69. 69 2064: Read Only Memories 2014 · Visual novel 1,360
  70. 70 Aviary Attorney 2015 · Visual novel 1,355
  71. 71 AI: The Somnium Files - Nirvana Initiative 2022 · Visual novel 1,348
  72. 72 Steins;Gate Re:Boot 2026 · Visual novel 1,331
  73. 73 Long Live the Queen 2012 · Visual novel 1,330
  74. 74 Needy Streamer Overload 2022 · Visual novel 1,319
  75. 75 Sovereign Tower 2026 · Visual novel 1,288

Filter, combine and travel back in time in the full ranking

Other rankings

Best action RPG games Ranking of action-adventure games Greatest adventure games All-time best arcade games Top beat 'em up games Best card and board games Greatest fighting games Best FPS games All-time best horror games Best JRPG games All-time best Metroidvania games All-time best platformer games Ranking of point-and-click games Best puzzle games Greatest racing games All-time best rhythm games Top roguelite games Best RPG games Ranking of sandbox games Top shoot 'em up games Greatest simulation games Best sports games Greatest strategy games Greatest survival games Ranking of TPS games

In detail

The best visual novel games, what this ranking says

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney leads this selection with 1,889 ELO points, ahead of Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations. The 75 games competing in it have played 7,425 duels.

This selection in figures
Games competing in this selection 75
Duels played by those games 7,425
Game in the lead Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (2005)
Score of the leading game, in ELO points 1,889
Point gap between 1st and 10th 278
Best represented decade 2010s
Last reading September 18, 2026

The best visual novel game of every decade

A selection is not read in one block: here is what leads each of its brackets.

The best visual novel game of every decade
Decade Games competing In the lead ELO score Duels played
2000s 11 Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney 1,889 243
2010s 41 Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair 1,731 175
2020s 22 The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog 1,570 82

What moved this week

The ranking changes with every duel settled. Over the past seven days, the score of 73 games in this selection moved.

What moved this week
Game Points gained in 7 days ELO score
Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward +79 1,563
Missed Messages. +77 1,384
Blue Archive +54 1,467

The most contested match-ups

These pairs of games have faced each other more than any others in this selection.

The most contested match-ups
Wins Against Duels played Win rate
Steins;Gate Doki Doki Literature Club! 10 60%
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All Doki Doki Literature Club! 8 50%
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Doki Doki Literature Club! 8 63%
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations 7 71%
Doki Doki Literature Club! Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations 7 86%

How this ranking is established

No jury, no press score, no sales figures: two games face off, players vote, and every vote updates an ELO score. This page is a view of the world ranking, never a standing kept apart.

Understand the method in detail →

FAQ

What players ask

What is the best visual novel game?

According to community votes, the best visual novel game is Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, with 1,889 ELO points in the world ranking. It stands ahead of Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations, and its place is replayed with every duel.

How many visual novel games are ranked?

75 games of this selection take part in the duels, and they have played 7,425 of them so far. The full site catalogue is much wider: only games kept for their fame enter the running.

Which visual novel game is climbing right now?

Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward is the strongest climb in this selection over the past seven days, with 79 ELO points gained. Over the same period, the score of 73 games in the selection moved.

Vote on a duel