James North
Visual novels work great on Linux in Wine...assuming the game is not encumbered with DRM. Most physical editions aren't, but since we don't know for sure, it's a gamble as to whether the visual novel you buy is encumbered.
So, VNDB created a new field where users can identify a release's DRM status. Since rolling it out to the public in the middle of October, users have tagged the DRM status for over 500 visual novel releases.
It's something anyone can help out with. If you own a visual novel and know its DRM status, all you need to do is create a VNDB account and edit the release entry. It helps everyone out.
If you're looking for a game that hasn't been tagged on VNDB yet, try Seiya-Saiga, which also maintains a huge list of visual novels with the DRM status. It's not as well-defined, but it's usually helpful. Look for the word ディスクレス.