Looking for VN engine recommendations

[angelGame]

Hi there,

I'm looking for visual novel engine recommendations.

The game I want to make is heavily dialogue driven with some mini games. I would like to have different modes and some navigation using a basic map system where the user can click to change areas before committing to an activity for minor mini games sandwiched between big story beats.

I'm having trouble finding a game engine that isn't massively complex to use - i.e. would work well for a hobbyist developing a bit at a time - but allows for some flexibility with how things look.

Some of the VN makers I have found are very good at creating solely VNs, but aren't flexible for anything else - one major feature that seems like it should be easy to do but VN engines don't easily allow for it is image buttons, with simple if click X then do Y built in.

I'm not sure if VN Maker allows for this as my copy glitched and there has been no update to fix the issue, and Tyrano Builder has image buttons but would not make mini games easy to implement. I think Novelty could cover my needs, but it appears to be abandonware and does not list in any place I can find what the license is/if it's available for commercial projects.

I'm happy to do some minor coding but would be just as happy with a drag n drop style affair.

Can anyone recommend a VN engine or general game engine that could do what I describe? I'm looking to avoid anything also with a steep learning curve like Unity/Unreal/Blender, since that would be overkill for my issue.

Apologies for any typos - asking forums as a last ditch effort after scouring lists of my obscure game engines

[Anonymous Helper]

Ren'Py is probably most popular VN Engine around:

https://www.renpy.org/

There are thousands of VN's that use it out there.