Game Engines:

• Ren'Py: Free, open source, and specifically designed for visual novels.  Uses Python and an in-house scripting language.
• Visual Novel Machinery(via Unreal Engine): A visual novel engine with emphasis on visual programming using Unreal engine.  Uses Unreal BluePrints, and Unreal uses C++.
• NaniNovel (via Unity): A fully featured scripting oriented visual novel plugin for Unity.  NaniNovel uses an intuitive, extendable and well documented scripting language.  Unity uses C#
• RPG Maker: Great for visual novels looking to add more hybrid-style features related to RPG mechanics.  Uses a combination of scripting and visual editing.  Programming languages used depends on version of RPG Maker.
• Godot: Open-source game engine with a visual scripting language and strong community support.  Godot inherently supports C/C++ and C#, but can be extended to use other languages via GDNative.

Useful Programming Related Resources:

• (RenPy) Visual Novel Design with Vimi: Covers general visual novel design with specific videos for RenPy. https://www.youtube.com/@vimi
• (NaniNovel) Elringus's Youtube Channel, the official Youtube channel for the NaniNovel Documentation:  https://www.youtube.com/@Elringus
• (NaniNovel) Ida's Github provides a visual scene editor extension for NaniNovel and a scripting extension to add high powered post processing effects. https://github.com/idaocracy
• (RenPy) Fenik's website contains useful tutorials for getting started and getting the most out of RenPy. https://feniksdev.com/