Yes this is outside the scope of “Adventure” and “Point-and-Click” games, not really sure if the Narrative genre would be something different from visual novel.
I played two games by NeiLei on itch.io that were a little over an hour long each. Funny and the art was nice. Most of the games were watching the dialog, there was very limited player input but it was there.
Any suggestions for similar games that are 99% story, with different endings?
I just got Citizen Sleeper, and I’m really enjoying it. It’s a little more interaction than you’re describing, life-sim stuff, but it never feels like it’s getting in the way. The art is top notch and the writing is enthralling. It’s one you want to keep playing just to get to know the characters.
The Coles are experimenting with making visual novels-- see Summer Daze: Tilly’s Tale. Mostly because it’s well suited to their artist’s art style and (in theory) quicker and simpler to produce. Long Live The Queen, Dream Daddy, and Loren Amazon Princess were inspirations.
Not sure how much crossover the VN community has with adventure games in general.
I’m totally blanking on if they have multiple endings but I love Digital: A Love Story and If Found. I also liked We Know The Devil and A Summer’s End - Hong Kong 1986, which do have multiple endings, but are a little more adult. All are fairly short. Ladykiller in a Bind is more comedic since you’re looking for something along those lines and each playthrough is fairly short although that has more player input than the other games I mentioned.
Those are my favorite ones.
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Raging Loop
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Yu-No
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AI: The Somnium Files
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Zero Escape trilogy
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Danganronpa trilogy
Most don’t really have multiple endings, but some of those titles have a story branching mechanic that might be of you interest.
Edit: Here’s a visual novel database if you are interested. This is the same site with the multiple endings tag applied.
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