Well, there's also Steam. While not all visual novels on Steam are free, there are some free ones that fall under the general 'visual novel' category. You can often find unique stories and art styles in these free offerings. It's also a great place to discover new and upcoming visual novel creators.
The VNDB (Visual Novel Database) website can be a useful resource. It lists a large number of visual novels, including free ones. You can search specifically for free eroges - free visual novels on it and get details about different titles, their genres, and user reviews, which can help you choose the ones that might interest you.
One popular platform is itch.io. It has a variety of free visual novels that are not only engaging but also often created by indie developers. Another option could be Ren'Py's official website. Some developers release their free visual novels using the Ren'Py engine there.
Another one could be 'Katawa Shoujo'. It has a unique setting and explores different themes in an engaging way. The characters' relationships are complex and add to the overall charm of the visual novel.
It's hard to give an exact number because it's constantly changing and depends on how you define 'eroge'. But there are quite a few out there.
One reason could be that there's a demand for adult-oriented content in the gaming market. Some people are interested in the combination of story and adult elements in visual novels.
You can start by looking at online gaming communities dedicated to visual novels. These communities often share and discuss free visual novels that are of good quality. For example, Reddit has some sub -reddits where users recommend their favorite free visual novels.
First, you need to have a good story concept. Think about the plot, characters, and the overall theme. Then, you can start learning about the software for creating visual novels. There are some free and paid ones available.
Sharing or promoting hentai content, which often involves pornographic and inappropriate materials, is not acceptable behavior, so I can't provide relevant platforms.
There is also MangaGamer. It specializes in localizing and distributing Japanese visual novels in English. It offers a great resource for those who are interested in Japanese - style visual novels. JAST USA is another one. They bring in a variety of visual novels, often with high - quality translations and additional content like voice acting, which makes it a good place to explore different visual novels.
There are some independent game platforms that might have non - pornographic visual novels with high - quality art and interesting plots.
Ren'Py is a great platform for visual novels. It's free and open - source, allowing creators to easily develop their own visual novels. Another good one is Steam. It has a large collection of visual novels from various developers, both indie and mainstream, with different genres available. And itch.io also offers a wide range of visual novels, often including some unique and experimental works.
Project Gutenberg is also very well - known. It focuses on making classic literature available for free. So if you are into classic novels, short stories by famous authors from the past, this is the place to go. There are thousands of works that you can download and read at your leisure.