@Yatsufusa unless something flashy occurs in the first minute(i.e. a quick time event), or there's an interesting gimmick(i.e. DDLC or Cooking Companions being horror under the guise of wholesome) the average person won't care, especially if you're making it for a game competition
Yatsufusa
Visual novels without "adult content" are a tough sell these days. I don't know how the ratings came together, but if every itch.io-user could participate, those who were actually looking at the contest entries might likely have skipped the longer games.
RosieUV
ah, such is life.