Pretty much the same way you'd do white hat link-building, I'd surmise.
Personally, I'd do the following if my main goal was to get a large number of people to notice my game within a short span of time (keeping said attention should be up to the quality of the actual game, which you should be sufficiently confident in if you want more attention for it.):
-Use all available social networking sites without coming off as a spammer.
-Build connections with other makers through these social networks. (especially twitter and facebook)
-Make promotional videos and post them to youtube among other media sharing sites.
-Maintain a well-updated development blog and get your blog listed at http://planet.renai.us
-Join message boards where your target audience may congregate and actively post there.
-Use CNET download.com as one of your main hosts. (legitimate hosting plus free publicity and your game gets mirrored in all kinds of places on the internet)
-Get your VN listed at all available VN listing sites if possible. (do it yourself or get a friend to do it.)
-Send a link to your blog to all popular search engines
-Surreptitiously use keyword-targeted articles in your blog to build up your Google PR
-Try to have your game reviewed by game review sites. Even relatively bad reviews are fine as long as you get more exposure (bribe or blackmail some journalists to do the review if you have to. If you can, get a disproportionate mix of 1:5 bad vs good reviews, this would be the golden ratio to aspire for.)
-When blackmailing someone, always use their baby pictures or an embarrassing essay they wrote in Grammar school as your bargaining chip if you can.
-Swallow your pride and spam chan boards with news of the release of your game with absurd resolution screenshots and links.
-If you can get a general hobby/anime news site that's a little bit controversial, such as Sankaku Complex, to even mention your game with Artefact's trademark sarcasm and witticisms, do it.
-Try to get a mention in a well-respected gaming news site such as Kotaku -- even just one in passing related to a larger article about the indie scene in general.
-Discreetly exaggerate every single positive aspect of your game when you advertise.
But also don't forget to write about personal moments of self-doubt in one of your blogs (especially the ones with the largest number of followers) so that your readers understand that you are only human -- an awesome kind of human. Empathy is important.
-If you feel that you have ruined your reputation in LSF or other similar forums, do not be afraid to abandon your old account and register a new one in order to start over from scratch with a clean slate. With the dynamic character of the internet, chances are that everyone will have forgotten that a person with your previous account ever existed within 1-2 months.
-Associate yourself with the top names in the EVN industry and make sure you let everyone and their dog know that you're the best of friends with em. Don't forget to imply that they learned everything they know from YOU!
Additional tips:When doing all these things, remember that when in Rome, you should do as the Romans do. Posting intelligently in 4chan will quickly get you labeled as an attention-whoring writefag and attempting to make a retort will result in being called out for being a grammar-nazi. Learn how to use memes when in chan boards and make liberal use of classic as well as modern chatspeak. Also, remember that everyone loves Hatsune Miku and Touhou, so use this to your advantage. Try to ensure that everyone is aware of how much you are a mikufag plus a touhoufag. This is especially true in more niche boards such as iichan.
Colored text is making a comeback. Make sure you use only primary or otherwise eye-catching and visible colors. Also, never use more than three different colors in a single post. Always use the same font, however.
If you can, use consistent UK spelling and grammar and syntax rules when you are posting/writing. This will give people the impression that you are sophisticated and well-educated and thus, any games released by you will automatically be received with a positive mindset.
If all else fails and money is not an issue, hire three or four professional link builders or the services of a well-established SEO company to get backlinks and unique hits for you.
Although this is considered blackhat SEO practice, don't be afraid to simulate a following for your game by making several dummy accounts. Always make sure to use an anonymous IP, however.
Remember, the goal of this post is to not only provide you with a good mix of practical tips as well as ridiculously absurd ones, but also to make you smile! C:
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