Help & Support

Only a short sample story of its own. Narra doesn't sell or download games; it plays the Ren'Py games you already have, such as the PC or Mac versions you got from their creators.

Narra is a one-time purchase; the App Store shows the price for your region. The optional supporter subscription unlocks the animated background themes. Tips don't unlock anything; they're simply support.

Yes, through your own iCloud, even while you play. Turn it on or off in Narra's Settings, under Saves & iCloud. The developer can't see your iCloud data.

Tap Add Game in your library, then choose a Ren'Py game folder or a ZIP archive. You can pick several at once and Narra adds them one by one.

Narra comes with a short sample story, Narra's First Story. While your library is empty, tap Add Sample Game; you can also add it any time from the More menu at the top of the library. It takes a few minutes, shows how the controls work and can be deleted like any other game.

Download the PC or Mac version of the game, or copy it from your computer with AirDrop, iCloud Drive or Finder. Once it appears in the Files app, add it from Narra. You can leave it zipped; Narra unpacks it for you.

A Ren'Py game has a “game” folder with .rpa or .rpyc files inside. Choose the folder that contains “game”, or a ZIP of it. Narra also looks a couple of folders deeper, so an extra wrapper folder is fine.

You can add game folders and ZIP, RAR (RAR4 and RAR5) and 7z archives, including password-protected ones and archives split into parts (.part1.rar, .r00, .z01, .zip.001, .7z.001): select all parts together or keep them in the same folder. Ren'Py games packed for Android (APK) work too; Narra takes the game out of the package. If the game is inside another archive, Narra opens that one as well. Password-protected ZIP files work too, with both classic (ZipCrypto) and AES-256 encryption.

Yes. In the Files app, open On My iPhone (or On My iPad) > Narra > Games and copy a game folder or ZIP archive there. Narra notices it and adds it to your library; you can also pull down on your library to check right away. After a ZIP is unpacked, Narra asks whether to delete the archive.

Narra asks what to do: update the existing game with the new files, add it as a separate copy, or skip it. Your saves are kept when you update.

No. Narra plays only Ren'Py visual novels. Games made with RPG Maker, Unity, Godot or other engines can't be added or played.

Narra picks a cover from the game's own images, such as its main menu background, splash screen or icon. If it finds none, it makes a colorful cover from the title.

Touch and hold the game in your library, choose Change Cover, then pick any image from your photos.

Touch and hold a game to add it to your favorites or set its status: Playing, Completed, Dropped or Backlog. Both show up as badges on the game's card.

Use the search field above your games. The filter button shows only favorites or a single status, and the sort button orders games by last played, date added or name.

Collections let you group games your own way, for example by series or mood. Create one with New Collection in the menu at the top right of your library.

Tap a game in your library to open its page. It shows the cover, the game's version, the Ren'Py engine version and display variant, when you last played and how many saves you have. Play starts the game; Saves, Gallery and Mods open their own screens, and the gear button opens Game Settings for the name, cover, collection, status and this game's own Ren'Py settings.

Touch and hold the game and choose Rename or Delete Game. Deleting removes the game's files and saves from this device, so back up your saves first if you want to keep them.

Each game's saves are kept inside the game's folder, in game/saves, just like on a computer, so updating the game keeps them. Tap Saves on the game's page to see your save slots with screenshots and to back up, restore, import, share or delete them. If Sync with iCloud is on, they're also copied to your iCloud.

Open the menu at the top right of your library and choose Back Up All Game Saves. Narra creates a separate ZIP archive for each game with saves and puts it in the Saves folder, which you can find in the Files app under Narra. You can also share the archives.

Yes. With Back up saves when a game opens turned on (it is by default) in Settings > Saves & iCloud, Narra keeps a copy of a game's saves each time you start it, replacing the previous copy. Restore it from the game's Saves screen under Backups. If Sync with iCloud is on, your saves are also uploaded to your iCloud after each session.

Choose Storage Manager from the menu at the top right of your library to see how much space each game uses. Removing games you've finished is the quickest way to free up room.

Your games and saves live inside Narra, so deleting the app removes them from this device. Saves already synced to iCloud stay in your iCloud, and you can restore them from the game's Saves screen after you add the game again. Back up your saves before you delete the app.

The Ren'Py engine can start only once each time Narra is opened. When you quit a game, Narra stays open on a closing screen, and if sync is on your saves are uploaded to iCloud first. You can't go back to the library from there: to keep playing or start another game, close Narra from the app switcher (swipe up from the bottom of the screen and pause, then swipe Narra up) and open it again. Your saves stay in the game's folder.

Narra is built for the PC and Mac versions of Ren'Py games and plays most of them, from Ren'Py 7 (Python 2) to Ren'Py 8. Some that rely on unusual add-ons may not work. If a game gives you trouble, please report it.

Narra waits at the edge of the screen, and the arc around her fills as you read more of the story. Tap her for suggestions that fit the moment, or choose More to open the pause screen with every tool and setting; if Narra talks is off, tapping her opens the pause screen directly. Drag her to move her to another edge. The compact bar keeps your most-used buttons, such as Roll back (hold to keep rewinding), Skip, Hide text box and Keyboard, and you can drag it anywhere. Choose its buttons, size, opacity and direction in Settings > Display & Controls.

While playing, open the pause screen and use Text and sound to change the text size, add an outline or switch the font, including the dyslexia-friendly OpenDyslexic. Changes apply right away and are kept for that game. The same options are in Settings > Text & Reading for all games and in Game Settings for a single game.

Some Ren'Py games have separate layouts for phones, tablets, computers or TVs. On the game's page, tap the display variant badge and choose Auto, one of the layouts, or Use Global Setting. To change it for every game, go to Settings > Display & Controls > Display Variant. Your choice applies the next time you start the game.

On iPhone, yes. Go to Settings > Display & Controls and set Game Orientation to Portrait, or turn on Auto-rotate in Games. A game always starts in landscape and turns once its first screen appears; in portrait it's scaled to fit the top of the screen. On iPad, games are played in landscape.

Yes. MFi, PlayStation, Xbox and Switch Pro controllers work once they're paired with your device. Choose what each button does in Settings > Display & Controls > Button Mapping; the Menu button opens the pause screen. With a keyboard on iPad, game keys go straight to the game, and shortcuts such as ⌘S (quick save), ⌘L (quick load) and ⌘E (Narra menu) are ready to use.

Narra includes several Ren'Py engine versions, from 7.4 to 8.6, and automatically picks the one closest to the version the game was built with. You'll see it on the engine badge on the game's page. Tap the badge to choose another version, but do this only if the game won't start or shows errors; Auto is the recommended choice.

Yes. Tap Gallery on the game's page to browse the images, music and videos inside the game. If they're packed in .rpa archives, Narra asks once to unpack them, and the game keeps working as before. Music and videos in formats iOS can't play directly are converted only for the preview; nothing is written back into the game.

Many Ren'Py games have a gallery, CG room or music room that fills in as you play. To open everything without replaying, turn on Unlock In-Game Gallery in Settings > Cheats & Tools and pick a strength: Safe, Medium or Aggressive. It doesn't write to your saves, so turn it off when you're done. Aggressive can disrupt a game's logic, so try Safe first.

Open the pause screen and choose Take Screenshot under Tools, or turn on Show Screenshot Button in Settings > Display & Controls to keep a button on screen. With a keyboard on iPad, press ⇧⌘S. Screenshots are saved in the Files app under Narra > Screenshots.

Yes. To use a font in every game, import a TTF, OTF or TTC file in Settings > Text & Reading > Custom Fonts. For a single game, use Fonts for This Game in that game's settings. Then choose it with the Font setting. Imported fonts replace all text in the game, so make sure the font supports the game's language.

It's an optional, experimental tool for Ren'Py games. Turn on Cheats Menu in Settings > Cheats & Tools, start the game and open it from the pause screen. You can search and filter the game's variables, change them live, watch values and jump to scenes. It can break a game's logic or saves, so back up your saves first. It's off by default.

Open the game's page, tap Mods, then Add Mod, and pick a folder, a ZIP archive or a single file. New mods arrive turned off; turn one on with its switch. Mods are kept outside the game, so the game's own files never change, and turning a mod off puts the game back exactly as it was.

The one higher in the list. Drag mods to change their order. A game's own mods always come before global mods. Tap a mod to see which files it shares with other mods.

Yes. In any game's Mods screen, open the ... menu and choose Manage Global Mods. Global mods apply to every Ren'Py game, including games you add later. To leave them out of one game, turn off Use Global Mods in This Game, or turn off a single global mod in that game's list.

In the game's Mods screen, open the ... menu and choose Start Without Mods. The game opens once without any mods, and your mod settings stay as they are. If it works, turn mods back on one at a time to find the one causing the problem.

Narra follows your device language. To pick a different one just for Narra, open the Settings app, go to Apps > Narra > Language and choose from 17 languages.

Yes. Narra follows your device by default. Open Settings from the menu at the top right of your library and choose Appearance to keep Narra always light or always dark.

No. Your games and covers stay on this device, and your saves are copied to your own iCloud only when Sync with iCloud is on. Narra has no accounts, ads or analytics, and doesn't track you. Support emails only include what you choose to send. Read the full privacy policy in Settings > About.

Make sure you picked the folder that contains the “game” folder, or a ZIP of it. Android APK files and games made with other engines can't be added right now.

If the file is in iCloud Drive, download it first: in the Files app, tap the cloud icon next to it and wait until it finishes. Items that look greyed out in the picker use a format that isn't supported yet.

First try another engine version: tap the engine badge on the game's page and choose a version close to the one the game was built with. If you use mods, try Start Without Mods. If it still fails, use Report Problem or Share on the error screen; the report includes the game's Ren'Py logs and crash details, but never your saves.

That game probably animates its characters with Live2D. Narra includes the Live2D component these games need, so they're supported. If characters still don't appear, the component couldn't be loaded on your device; the rest of the game keeps working. Close Narra completely, open it again and try once more, or report the problem.

Adding a ZIP needs room for both the archive and the unpacked game. Free up space on your device, or use Storage Manager to remove games you no longer play.