# Which games teach Chinese?

URL: https://verychinesetimeinmylife.com/compare/games-for-learning-chinese/
Updated: 2026-11-05

This page lists six games on Steam that teach Mandarin Chinese. One of them is Very Chinese Time in My Life, which we make. For each game, this page says what it is, how you learn, whether you speak, what level it covers and who it suits. The facts come from each game’s Steam page at the time of writing.

## Which one for what

### You want to speak in everyday situations before a trip

Very Chinese Time in My Life.

### You like role-playing games and want to study HSK 1 and 2 step by step

WonderLang Mandarin Chinese.

### You want to build vocabulary by exploring

Noun Town, or Influent for a smaller, calmer set of words.

### You want an adventure in ancient China

Hua Mulan: A Chinese Learning Adventure.

### You are studying characters and want to review many words

Ragnar’s Chinese Memory Game.

## The games, one by one

| Game | Made by | What it is | How you learn | Speaking | Level | Runs on | Good for | Steam page |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Very Chinese Time in My Life | Bauta Studio. Coming to Steam, release date not announced yet. | A first-person game in which you spend one week in a present-day Chinese city and speak Mandarin in everyday situations. | Scenes play out in order: the airport, a hotel desk, a breakfast stall, the metro, a night market, a pharmacy, dinner with a family. When you need to say something, the words appear as cards with pinyin and English. People react to what you say, and a different answer leads to a different result. A panda gives you a short review after each part of the day, and a friend quizzes you every night. | Speaking is the main activity: you say each word, then the whole sentence. You can click your answer instead. | Complete beginners and early learners. Spoken Chinese for one week of everyday situations. It does not follow the HSK (the official Chinese language test). | Windows PC. | People going to China soon who want to speak in everyday situations, and learners who freeze when they have to talk. | https://store.steampowered.com/app/5503050/ |
| WonderLang Mandarin Chinese | bair games. Released on Steam in February 2026. | A role-playing game in which a young hero learns Chinese to break a curse on their brother. | Quests and dialogues with more than 60 characters. Puzzles where you build sentences. Battles that bring words back just before you would forget them (spaced repetition). A dictionary, tone hints, and mini games such as crosswords and tone challenges. You can read in pinyin only, with a few characters, or with full characters, and practise drawing characters on screen. | Includes speech recognition challenges for pronunciation and tones. | Beginners, with modes for complete beginners, HSK 1 and HSK 2. The Steam page describes it as a supplement to a course. | Windows and macOS. Playable on Steam Deck. | People who like classic role-playing games and want structured vocabulary, tones and characters at HSK 1 and 2 level. | https://store.steampowered.com/app/4028830/WonderLang_Mandarin_Chinese/ |
| Noun Town Language Learning | SUPER HYPER MEGA. Early Access from November 2023, full release in May 2026. | A game in which you explore a town and learn the words for the things around you. It teaches twelve languages, Mandarin Chinese among them. | Words belong to places, such as a café, a farm or a food store. Each mini game practises one kind of word: numbers, colours, directions. Quizzes bring words back just before you would forget them. You can talk with 16 characters, and your friendship with each of them grows over time. | Speaking with the microphone is optional. The developer says the speech recognition checks tones. | Beginners. Mostly vocabulary and nouns, with some basic phrases. | Windows and macOS. A separate VR version is sold for Meta Quest and SteamVR. | Beginners who want to build vocabulary by exploring, and people learning more than one language. | https://store.steampowered.com/app/2313720/ |
| Hua Mulan: A Chinese Learning Adventure | ODEUM. In Early Access on Steam since February 2024. | A story-driven role-playing game set in ancient China, in which you help the legendary heroine Hua Mulan against time-travelling villains. | You learn Chinese through quests and by talking to villagers. At the time of writing, the Early Access version has chapter 1: greetings and simple introductions. The developer plans 14 chapters at HSK 1 level. | Uses voice recognition, so you can speak your answers in Chinese. | HSK 1 (the first level of the official Chinese language test). | Windows. | People who enjoy an adventure set in Chinese history and want to start with greetings and introductions. | https://store.steampowered.com/app/1251360/Hua_Mulan_A_Chinese_Learning_Adventure/ |
| Influent | Three Flip Studios (developer Rob Howland). Released on Steam in 2014. Mandarin is a separate language pack. | A small 3D game set in an apartment, in which you learn the words for everyday things. | You walk around the apartment and click on objects to hear their names, recorded by native speakers. The words include nouns, adjectives and verbs. There are no drills and no time limits. | Listening only. You hear each word but are not asked to say it. | Beginners. Several hundred everyday words. | Windows, macOS and Linux. | People who want a calm way to pick up household vocabulary, and people learning several languages. | https://store.steampowered.com/app/286961 |
| Ragnar’s Chinese Memory Game | Ragnar Brynjúlfsson. Released on Steam in 2020. | A card-matching memory game for Chinese vocabulary. | You turn over cards to find pairs: a character and its meaning. You can also use it like flash cards, with the English shown only when you point at a character. You choose the HSK level and the size of the board. | Listening only. Every word has audio, in a mainland and a Taiwanese recording. | 5,000 words and characters, from HSK 1 to HSK 6. Simplified or traditional characters. | Windows, macOS and Linux. | Learners who are studying characters and want a relaxed way to review a large vocabulary. | https://store.steampowered.com/app/1373630/Ragnars_Chinese_Memory_Game/ |

## Sources

- [WonderLang Mandarin Chinese on Steam](https://store.steampowered.com/app/4028830/WonderLang_Mandarin_Chinese/)
- [Noun Town Language Learning on Steam](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2313720/)
- [Hua Mulan: A Chinese Learning Adventure on Steam](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1251360/Hua_Mulan_A_Chinese_Learning_Adventure/)
- [Influent on Steam](https://store.steampowered.com/app/286961)
- [Ragnar’s Chinese Memory Game on Steam](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1373630/Ragnars_Chinese_Memory_Game/)
- [Noun Town: Chinese (developer’s website)](https://noun.town/language-learning-game/chinese/)

## Questions

### What games can I play to learn Chinese?

Games on Steam that teach Mandarin Chinese include Very Chinese Time in My Life (everyday spoken situations in a present-day Chinese city), WonderLang Mandarin Chinese (a role-playing game for HSK 1 and 2), Noun Town (vocabulary while exploring a town), Hua Mulan: A Chinese Learning Adventure (an adventure in ancient China), Influent (household words in a 3D apartment) and Ragnar’s Chinese Memory Game (a card-matching game with 5,000 words).

### Which game is best for speaking Chinese?

Very Chinese Time in My Life is built around speaking. In every scene you say the words and the sentence out loud to someone who reacts. WonderLang Mandarin Chinese, Noun Town and Hua Mulan also have speech recognition.

### Can you learn Chinese just by playing games?

Games alone usually are not enough. Most cover one part of the language, such as vocabulary, characters or everyday speaking. They are good for practice and for keeping you going. Many learners use a game together with an app, a course or a teacher.

### Is there a game for learning Chinese before a trip to China?

Very Chinese Time in My Life is made for that. You spend one week in a present-day Chinese city. You practise the Chinese for each situation a visitor meets: taxis, hotels, food stalls, paying by phone, the metro and pharmacies.

### Are there games for learning Chinese characters?

Two games on this list train characters. Ragnar’s Chinese Memory Game reviews 5,000 words and characters from HSK 1 to 6. WonderLang Mandarin Chinese lets you practise drawing characters on screen. Very Chinese Time in My Life shows characters on every word but does not teach reading or writing.

### Do these games run on Mac?

Four of them run on Mac, according to their Steam pages: WonderLang Mandarin Chinese, Noun Town, Influent and Ragnar’s Chinese Memory Game. Very Chinese Time in My Life and Hua Mulan are for Windows only.

## Related pages

- [How it compares](https://verychinesetimeinmylife.com/compare/): Honest comparisons with Duolingo, HelloChinese, Pimsleur and other games for learning Chinese: what each does better, who it suits, and how to use them together.
- [Duolingo or Very Chinese Time in My Life for learning Chinese?](https://verychinesetimeinmylife.com/compare/duolingo-chinese/): Duolingo is a daily habit on your phone for months. The game is one week of spoken Chinese in everyday situations. What each does better, and how to use both.
- [Pimsleur Mandarin or Very Chinese Time in My Life?](https://verychinesetimeinmylife.com/compare/pimsleur-chinese/): Both put speaking first. Pimsleur is a long audio course you can do without a screen. The game shows you the place, the person and the words.
- [How you learn in the game](https://verychinesetimeinmylife.com/how-you-learn/): How a conversation in the game works, why it starts with speaking, why the pinyin matches what people say, and how review is spread over the week.