I think "story-driven game with no combat or dexterity" covers it decently well (story-driven in the sense that, the story is the primary, usually sole, focus -

I think "story-driven game with no combat or dexterity" covers it decently well (story-driven in the sense that, the story is the primary, usually sole, focus - making "progress" in the game is equivalent to finding out what happens next). Though some people tend to consider visual novels as being distinct from adventure games, with a stipulation that a visual novel has no "overworld" (i.e. you don't walk around on a map - neither graphically nor textually - you just move from one "scene" to the next. You move forward in time rather than N/S/E/W in space.)