Very Chinese Time in My Life

Very Chinese Time in My Life is a first-person game for learning spoken Mandarin Chinese. You spend a week in a present-day Chinese city and learn the Chinese for each situation as it happens: getting from the airport to your hotel, ordering breakfast, paying by phone, asking the way, buying medicine, and having dumplings with a local family. Every word shows pinyin and English. You put words together into sentences and say them out loud, or click your answer if you would rather not speak. There are no tests and no characters to write. Coming to Steam for Windows.

Very Chinese Time in My Life is for anyone who wants to speak some everyday Mandarin, including complete beginners. For example:

• people visiting China for a holiday, a business trip or a visa-free stopover
• students and people moving to China for work
• people meeting a Chinese partner’s family
• people who understand some Chinese from home but rarely speak it
• learners who studied with apps or textbooks but freeze when they have to talk

You do not need any Chinese to start Very Chinese Time in My Life. Every word shows pinyin above it and English below it. The game teaches each phrase just before you need it.

Very Chinese Time in My Life teaches spoken Mandarin (Putonghua), the standard Chinese of mainland China, with simplified characters. It does not teach Cantonese, other dialects or handwriting. Every word has pinyin, which is Chinese written in the Latin alphabet. The game writes the pinyin the way people say it, tone changes included.

In Very Chinese Time in My Life you learn by talking to people in everyday situations:

1. Someone speaks to you.
2. The words you need appear as cards, with pinyin and English.
3. You say each word, then the whole sentence.
4. The person reacts to what you said.

A different answer leads to a different result, not a red X. For example, if you order a coffee in a noodle shop, the owner goes out to buy you one.

You do not need a microphone, but Very Chinese Time in My Life works best when you speak. Any headset or laptop microphone works. If your computer has none, scan a QR code and use your phone as the mic. If you would rather not speak, turn voice input off and click your answers.

Very Chinese Time in My Life reviews each phrase several times:

1. After each part of the day, a panda gives you a short review of the phrases you just used.
2. At night, a friend back home messages you and quizzes you on the day, with a little teasing when you get something wrong.
3. Anything you missed comes first the next night.

Very Chinese Time in My Life is set in a present-day Chinese city. You go to everyday places such as the airport, a hotel, a breakfast stall, a shopping mall, a noodle shop, the metro, a park, a night market, a pharmacy and a family’s flat. You also take a train out to a small water town. The art is in a soft, cel-shaded anime style.

Very Chinese Time in My Life is not a full course and does not follow the HSK, the official Chinese test. It teaches the spoken Chinese for everyday situations: getting around, buying things, eating out and small talk. It does not teach writing. You can use it next to a course or an app, to practise saying what you learn there.

Very Chinese Time in My Life also has a character creator. Speaking Chinese earns you points, which you spend on clothes at the mall in the game. There is also an arcade with small games, and a photo mode.

Apps and phrasebooks usually teach phrases as a list. Very Chinese Time in My Life puts you in the situation where you need them, such as a driver asking where you’re from or a breakfast stall with no English menu, and you answer out loud. Because each phrase is tied to a situation, it is easier to remember when the same thing happens on a real trip.

The interface of Very Chinese Time in My Life is in English and Simplified Chinese. Everyone in the game speaks Mandarin, with pinyin and English shown for every line.

Very Chinese Time in My Life is coming to Steam for Windows. If you add it to your Steam wishlist, Steam will tell you when it comes out. The release date will be announced on the Steam page and on this site.

The name comes from the 2025–26 meme “you met me at a very Chinese time in my life”, in which people shared habits they had picked up from Chinese daily life, like drinking hot water and wearing house slippers. The game is about a week of everyday life in China, spent speaking Chinese.