What is an Otome?

OtomeorOtome Games (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otome_game)specifically refer to games created for a female audience where the female-identifying player character pursues male-identifying love interests (via routes or events) and opts for a romantic ending with the chosen character. Otomes are oftenVisual Novels (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_novel)or VN-Hybrids such as RPGs and simulation games.

The key parts include:

• Female Protagonist (protagonist can be choosable but a fem option must be available)
• Romance (You have to end up with one of the characters in some way romantically)
• Male Love Interest(s) (Female, nonbinary, and other ones optional but not necessarily included, the focus is still at least having one male love interest)

Image 2: Cupid's Bargain by miseri (https://miseri-accordion.itch.io/cupids-bargain)

Cupid's Bargain stars a (self-proclaimed) matchmaker who summons a pair of demonic deities to spruce up her dying club! What could possibly go wrong?!

Popular examples of Otome:

• Mystic Messenger (https://mystic-messenger.fandom.com/wiki/Mystic_Messenger_Wiki)
• Jack Jeanne (https://english-otome-games.fandom.com/wiki/Jack_Jeanne)
• Dark Nights (https://store.steampowered.com/app/2143340/Dark_Nights/)
• Even If Tempest (https://otomekitten.com/2022/07/07/even-if-tempest-review-nintendo-switch/)
• Cinderella Phenomenon (https://dicesuki.itch.io/cinderella-phenomenon)

And Otome Jam Entries such as: Heartstop Tour (https://comfortkuma.itch.io/heartstop-tour) (2025),Good Lord! Everyone at the Reunion For My Religious All-Girls School Is a Trans Man... And They're Hot?! (https://whatnames.itch.io/good-lord)(2024),Karamu (https://chattercap.itch.io/karamu)(2023),Diffraction (https://raindropletatelier.itch.io/diffraction)(2022),Blooming Panic (https://robobarbie.itch.io/blooming-panic)(2021)

If you're looking for a team or team members, be sure to join the Otome Jam Meet and Greets inAprilon theOtome Development Server (https://discord.gg/V3NukSJ)[12th April, 8AM EST] andDevtalk Discord Server (https://discord.gg/VzM6DeQ)[18th April, 2PM EST]. Devtalk is a community we collaborated with previous years and welcomes indie visual novel developers and people wanting to work on visual novels!

Alongside Otome Jam we also have**Josei Jam (https://itch.io/jam/josei-jam-2026), a jam for any women-oriented games!And next January 24th to February 14th 2026 there will beShoujosei Jam again**!

Main Rules

To have your project allowed for submission, it must adhere to these rules

• The game has to feature afemale identifying (she/her, she/they) protagonist (chooseable protagonists are fine)
• **Must have at least one male identifying love interest!**Note, if you don't want to make a game focused around male love interest(s),feel free to join Josei Jam!
• The gamemust have some focus on romance and/or establishing a romantic relationship with a love interest in one of the endings.

Rules Extended

1.R18 projects are allowed. However, please tag and label your game properly for any content not appropriate for minors, as well as any triggering and sensitive content. This applies to both SFW and NSFW submissions.If found out to be an unlabelled NSFW submission, the submission will be removed.

1. Previously started on otome games are allowed to be worked on and submitted as entries as long a considerable portion of the final game is developed during the jam. Otome demos and unfinished projects are also allowed to be submitted as long as they’re in a playable state with reasonable playtime. Any finished games with no significant content updates that get released before the jam will be removed.We will check the upload date of the latest update.
2. You can make your entry pay what you want or commercial later on as long as you provide a demo. We discourage using volunteers working for free or rev-share on a commercial project – pay your team if the product will be a paid game.
3. You can submit up to three games per group/project leader/creator. You can still work with other teams as a teammate. The more, the merrier, after all!

5.Use of Free to use, Public Domain and Creative Commons Licence resources are allowedand encouraged if you can’t fill in a position in your team, such as artists or composers. You can always update the game later on with updated materials and a new team.AI generated content is not allowed.

1. You can submit and finish your entry in another jam as long the rules of the other one allow it. Make sure to tag your game with**#Otomewhen submitting it. Similarly, you can submit games that fit these jam’s submission rules from other jams if they run alongside the time of this one or started before Otome Jam. Feel free to also submit your game toJosei Jam (https://itch.io/jam/josei-jam-2026)!**

6.1.Josei Jam is a game jam running alongside Otome Jam that is there to promote Joseimuke / shoujosei games and games for a female audience. Otome Jam entries automatically qualify as submissions for Josei Jam! If you would rather create BL games for women or Girl’s Love only, Josei Jam is for you! Read more aboutfurther down this page [What is Joseimuke?].

1. Feel free to use the logo in your game to brand it as a product for the Otome Jam (Right Click + Save As) and credit Cal as the logo artist. Additionally, you should credit your team in the game or on the game’s page. If you use resources, do check if they require credits or not to prevent license issues from happening.
2. An email will be sent out a few days before the jam ends as a reminder to make sure your game adheres to the above rules and has all the submission requirements fulfilled.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) - PLEASE READ BEFORE ASKING

Q: Can I get started early?

A: Yes, but we don't allow previously finished games in the jam – you need to work on your game at least partially (not just a few days) during the jam.

Q: What engines can I use?

A: Any engine you'd like. Some engines that are good for visual novels are listed in theVisual Novel Development Resources thread.

Q: Will there be ratings? Is this ranked?

A: No and no.

Q: Can I make an 18+ otome?

A: Yes.

Q: Can I use generative AI assets (such as assets made with Stable Diffusion, Midjourney, etc.) in my game?

A: No.

Q: Can I submit a demo or WIP game?

A: Yes.

Q: Can I make something that isn't anime-style?

A: Yes.

Q: Can I make something that isn't a dating sim or romance game?

A: No, as one of the core tenets of our definition of otome games is being able to romance characters. If you’d like to submit an otome-esque game without romance, please enterJosei Jamwhich is going on at the same time.

Q. Can I make an otome with only 1 love interest?

A: Yes, an otome with only 1 route is acceptable as long as it follows our other requirements- the love interest must be male and the player must be able to either play as a female character or choose to play as female.

Q: Why do I have to include screenshots of my game on the itch.io page?

A: We do this because it's the bare minimum for us to see if it's a real game or not and if it's a visual novel. Players are also wary of games that don't have any screenshots as they could be viruses. You've spent two months making an entire game, you can spend 2 minutes taking and uploading screenshots.

Q. Where can I find teammates?

A: You can make a post in the community section here, join the Otome Development Discord or join the DevTalk Visual Novel Development Discord.

Q. Can I submit a boys love story? Girls love? Or a game where you can’t play as a woman?

A: No, as that doesn’t fit definition of an otome this jam is for making otome games. BL, GL, non-romance games and more are accepted inJosei Jam, though. If you do not want to make an otome, please consider joining a jam other than Otome Jam.

Q: Does the game have to be in English?

A: No, we welcome and support all indie developers of any language.

What is Joseimuke? Every Otome is a Joseimuke.But not every Joseimuke Game is an Otome. Joseimuke is an umbrella term for media and games directed towards a female audience and this includes non-romantic content.

If the game has a female protagonist and male characters, but no actual romance or romance as part or direct influence of the storyline but directed towards a female audience, it's a Joseimuke. (E.g. Obey Me, Mr. Love: Queen’s Choice, A3!)

If the game has romance and a female protagonist, but no male love interests, that'snotan otome game. (LGBTQ+ Games with a queer female protagonist with other queer characters that exclude any male identifying ones)

If the game has romance and male love interests, but no female protagonist as an option, but still has a major female audience, that'snotan otome game andpossible also nota Joseimuke. (Barais commonly gay games for gay men, for example, and would not count as a Joseimuke)

Often other Joseimuke can be distinguished that the dates or romantic bits are locked behind cards or gacha and have no influence on the main story or the characters and thus canonical never happened. Thus, they lack the essence of an otome game where you obtain an actual ending versus the known “husbando” collector games that are about gathering more cards and events rather than a conclusion.

Joseimuke also includes:

• Sapphic/ WLW content (e.g. Heaven Will Be Mine, Please Be Happy)
• BL directed at mostly a female audience (e.g. DRAMAtical Murder, Hashihime of the Old Book Town)
• Stories about male protagonists for a largely female audience (commonly distinguished through the art style, e.g. ENIGMA: by Fruitbat Factory, My Dear Frankenstein)

Popular Joseimuke / Non-Otome Romance Games:

• Chronicles of Tal’Dun: The Remainder (https://nimphradora.itch.io/chronicles-of-taldun-the-remainder)
• The Divine Speaker (https://www.twoandahalfstudios.com/the-divine-speaker)
• Please Be Happy (https://store.steampowered.com/app/844670/Please_Be_Happy/)
• Disney Twisted Wonderland (https://disneytwistedwonderland.com/)

If you think that you would rather create a game for an overall female audience, you might want to look into ourJosei JamorShoujosei Jam instead!

Josei Jam is a jam that runs the same time as Otome Jam but is intended for the wider area of shoujosei games, games intended for women audiences. This includes otome games but also includes joseimuke media like BL, GL, and non-romance games.

For any more information, please ask on the Discord server.

Developer Communities

Discord Servers

Otome Development (https://discord.gg/V3NukSJ)- The Host Server,Otome Jam,****Josei Jam and soon to be Shoujosei Jamhappen there!

DevTalk (https://discord.gg/VzM6DeQ)- A general VN Development Server and our collaborator for Meet and Greets.

Boys Love Development (https://discord.gg/8nKKGTw)- Our sister server for games that include a male protagonist and male love interests

Amare Dev Server (https://discord.gg/GwKYA6SxQR)- The Western term for inclusive relationships and individuals in games and visual novels

Forum

Lemmasoft Forums (https://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/)- A Forum filled with indie VN developers and enthusiasts. Big source of coding and assets.

VN Dev Wiki (https://vndev.wiki/index.php/Main_Page)- An ongoing wiki project that has a wide collection of resources, guides, and more specifically for visual novel development

Credits

Thumbnail by Bobbert (https://bobbert.carrd.co/)

Banner drawn by Asobinge (https://vgen.co/Asobinge)of Transparent Games (https://www.transparent.games/)

Logo by Cal (https://calnite.itch.io/)

Itch.io Page byCal (https://calnite.itch.io/)

Translations

Thai TL byKaritha-01 (https://karita0101.itch.io/)

Updated French TL by Karamelow

Japanese TL by H9O6 (Hinata Yoyo & Sakuraba Oki)

Spanish TL by Vanrobami

German TL by Akua

Korean TL by Merri

Chinese TL by Placebo

Portuguese TL byNierty (https://bsky.app/profile/tainaotoge.bsky.social)

Polish TL by Gall Anonim

Indonesian TL by「 NKD. (https://x.com/enkadenka)

Ukrainian TL by Dillaya Art (https://dillayaart.itch.io/)

Russian TL by YUKIREI (https://yukireinomoney.itch.io