Visual Novels are a niche medium closely related to both video games and anime. They tend to focus on storytelling without any significant form of gameplay, though the line between them and video games can become blurry or downright arbitrary. Though popular in Japan, they're only slowly catching on in the West. However, despite the small community, there's a reasonable amount of fanspeak terms that see little to no use in other mediums.
- Charage: A charage is a visual novel that, while generally avoiding darker themes or actions, nonetheless may contain a reasonably serious plotline or characterization. The 'chara' comes from the word 'character' due to the focus on developing the characters and relationships. The line between a charage and a moege can be blurry.
- Chuunige: A chuunige is a visual novel that likes to concern itself with things like dark, mysterious organizations, magic, Power Levels and various similar concepts; i.e. the kind of things that would appeal to a chuuni. While sometimes used as an insult like moege, some of the most popular visual novels like Fate/stay night and Dies Irae fall into this category.
- Eroge: Eroge is a very broad level term. It simply means 'erotic game' and thus encompasses any game or visual novel containing sexual content. While this lends itself well to the romance or porn-based works which dominate the industry, there are also a sizable number of works that include sexual or romance themes as a sideplot; it's not unheard of for these to receive later "all ages" releases which remove or replace the adult content entirely.
- Ichaicha: Ichaicha, literally flirting, is the term used for cute romantic moments that occur after a relationship is established. Works that fail to provide these moments can aggravate fans who feel like the buildup to the relationship had no payout after the inevitable Love Confession.
- Kamige: 'God(-tier) game' - a frequently used term used to describe any great Visual Novel. Naturally, this type of classification is somewhat dependent on the taste of the person using the term, but it's often backed up by things like sale numbers or ratings. What's considered great can change with time, as well. For example, when CLANNAD was first translated, it was considered the pinnacle of translated Visual Novels. However, it's a common opinion that the work has aged somewhat poorly and is no longer as exceptional as it once was.
- Kusoge: Literally, 'Shit game.' Generally used in a joking manner, it's a term used for any work that is perceived to be of low quality, frustrating or is simply unpopular.
- Lolige: Put bluntly, a lolige is an eroge that focuses exclusively on underaged or underaged-looking girls. By definition, these visual novels are definitely banned due to the site content policy.
- Moege: A moege is a common type of visual novel that is generally lacking in serious drama and has nothing major at stake. Instead, it tends to focus on romance and cute girls. At the extreme end, they may have no appreciable conflict or plot whatsoever. The line between a charage and a moege can be blurry.
- Nakige: A nakige could be considered a kind of utsuge lite. While they can be very sad and are indeed designed to evoke tears – which is where the 'naki' part comes in – they will usually have more optimistic endings and themes.
- Nukige: A term for a Visual Novel that is largely or solely devoted to sex. These can have decent or even good stories (such as ClockUp's Euphoria), but the primary purpose is just to be pornography, with most of them being Porn Without Plot. By definition, these types of visual novels are essentially banned due to the site content policy.
- Plotege: A game with a heavy emphasis on drama and action, literally the opposite of Moege. They can cross over with other genres, such as Nakige, Kamige, Utsuge, etc. Tends to not be an exact genre but more used for classification purposes. Tends to have a Fandom Rivalry with Moege as one of these games prevents Moege from being translated and vice-versa, with very little fan overlap.
- Utsuge: Utsuge is one of the more commonly used classifications. However, it is often applied incorrectly. While the term means depressing game, it's often applied more loosely. More accurately, it is used for stories that have only sad/downer endings or require a great deal of hardship to reach a good ending.
