Nowadays, video games may be used for more than just entertainment; they can also be used for educational purposes or to relieve tension from regular tasks. It is also said that video games are excellent for communication and vocabulary learning. One type of games that can be combined with a conversation in English teaching materials is a kind of visual novel game. Thus, the present study set out to explore the Indonesian EFL students experience on playing visual novel to learn vocabulary. Moreover, this present study will potrays playing visual novel as an extramural informal digital learning of English activity. In addition, it is also investigate the effects of visual novel games towards their vocabulary receptive skill according to Nation (2001). Narrative inquiry research has been carried out to determine the effects of visual novel through the participant’s story and experiences. Three Indonesian EFL in this study were experienced in playing visual novel in english subtitle and english voiced to learn English vocabulary. The findings exposed that the receptive skill from Nation (2001) were shown when they were playing visual novel. Turning on the subtitle and character voice also affected their vocabulary knowledge. Form aspects were directly affected since it deals with the ability to recognize and write down the L2 word. The meaning aspects were also affected, especially when the scene from the game pop out. The visualization helps them understand the context of a word that shows up. Accordingly, this study suggests that the activity of using digital device or games app to be integrated into the classroom so that the learners will have more exposure to learning English word form and meaning.
