Noun Town is a language learning game on Steam. You explore a hand-drawn world, interact with objects, and build up over 1,000 words and phrases through mini-games and spaced repetition. The town starts in black and white, and fills with colour as your vocabulary grows. Noun Town has won three awards and been shortlisted for seven more across the game series.
Languages: 12 (Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Russian, Greek, Arabic, English)
Price: $19.99 one-time purchase. No subscription, no ads, no in-app purchases.
Vocabulary: 1,000+ words and phrases per language
Platforms: PC and Mac (Steam). VR version available on Meta Quest and Steam VR.
Reviews: 87% positive from 590+ Steam reviews. 200,000+ players across the game series.
Expand your language skills from the comfort of your PC or laptop - and now on Mac!
Pick any of the 12 supported languages and switch between them at any point.
Progress shows up in the world itself. Every word you learn restores colour to part of the town, giving you a visible sense of how much ground you have covered.
You don't need any existing knowledge to start. The game introduces vocabulary in small sets and only moves on once the previous ones are solid. A lot of players pick up a language they've never studied before and find it a much easier way in than traditional apps or courses.
Noun Town started life as a VR game and is available in full VR and Mixed Reality on Meta Quest and Steam VR if you have a headset. The desktop version on Steam brings the same core game to PC and Mac without needing one.
Yes. Research on vocabulary acquisition consistently shows that words learned in context, attached to objects, places and actions, are retained more reliably than words drilled from lists or flashcards. Games create that context naturally. When you interact with an object in Noun Town and hear its name in Japanese, the word gets anchored to a memory rather than just sitting as an abstract sound.
Spaced repetition adds another layer. Rather than reviewing everything at fixed intervals, Noun Town tracks which words you know well and which ones still need work, and brings them back at the right moment. Most players find new words stick faster than they expected.
87% positive from 590+ reviews on Steam
Buy on SteamUsing Noun Town in a school or university? The game is used in classrooms worldwide, with dedicated tools for teachers and group licensing available.
Noun Town for EducationMost language apps (Duolingo, Babbel, Rosetta Stone) are built around structured lessons. You work through a curriculum, complete exercises and measure progress in percentages and streaks. Noun Town works differently. There are no lessons and no set curriculum. You explore freely, pick up vocabulary as you go, and the game surfaces words for review based on how well you know them. Progress shows up as colour returning to the world, not a number on a dashboard.
It is also a one-off purchase with no subscription and no ads. You pay once and get access to all 12 languages.
12 languages: Japanese, Korean, Chinese (Mandarin), Spanish (Spain), Spanish (Mexico), French, German, Italian, Russian, Greek, Egyptian Arabic and English.
Yes. The Steam version runs on both Windows and Mac.
No. The game is built for beginners. It introduces words gradually and uses spaced repetition so you're always reviewing at the right time.
You explore a virtual world and interact with objects to learn vocabulary in context. Testing and practice come through spaced repetition and mini-games woven into the world. You can use speech recognition to practise speaking, or selection-based input if you prefer. As you learn, the town fills with colour so your progress is visible in the game itself.
The core language learning content is the same. The VR and Mixed Reality version on Meta Quest and Steam VR has a different feel to the desktop game, but you're learning the same vocabulary either way. You can see all the versions on the games page.
No. Noun Town costs $19.99 on Steam. There is no subscription fee, no in-app purchases and no ads. One payment gives you access to all 12 languages.
There is no separate free trial, but Steam offers a refund within two hours of playtime if the game is not right for you.
Yes. Noun Town can be played offline once downloaded through Steam. The speech recognition feature requires an internet connection, but all other gameplay works without one.
No. Noun Town is available on PC and Mac via Steam, and in VR on Meta Quest and Steam VR. There is no iOS or Android version.
Duolingo is a structured lesson app with a set curriculum, daily streaks and progress measured in percentages. Noun Town is an open-world game where vocabulary is learned through exploration and reviewed through spaced repetition built into the gameplay. There are no structured lessons and no subscription.
Babbel uses structured grammar-led lessons and a subscription model. Noun Town focuses on vocabulary acquisition through gameplay and spaced repetition, with no lessons and a one-off purchase price. It suits people who find lesson-based learning hard to stick with.
Rosetta Stone uses immersive image-based lessons and a subscription model across a broad curriculum. Noun Town is a video game focused specifically on vocabulary, using an open world and spaced repetition rather than structured lessons. It is a one-off purchase with no subscription.
Noun Town covers over 1,000 words and phrases per language.
Noun Town focuses on vocabulary rather than grammar. It is designed to build a strong vocabulary foundation, which most language teachers consider the most important early step in acquiring a new language.
For languages with non-Latin scripts (Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Russian, Greek and Arabic), Noun Town teaches you to recognise and read the characters used in that language as part of the vocabulary learning process.
Yes. The Japanese version of Noun Town teaches vocabulary using hiragana, katakana and common kanji, so you learn to read the scripts as part of normal gameplay.
Yes. Noun Town includes optional speech recognition so you can practise saying words out loud. You can also use selection-based input instead if you prefer not to use your microphone.
Yes. You can switch between any of the 12 supported languages at any point. Your progress is saved separately for each language.
Most players work through the core vocabulary over several weeks of regular play. The game is designed for shorter daily sessions rather than long sittings, which also fits well with how spaced repetition works.
Noun Town is strongest for beginners and lower-intermediate learners. It covers over 1,000 words per language, which takes most players well into intermediate territory. If you already have a solid vocabulary base you may find some early content familiar, but the game still provides useful reinforcement.
Yes. The content is family-friendly and the visual, game-based approach works particularly well for younger learners. There is no chat or social component in the desktop version.
Noun Town is made by Super Hyper Mega, a small independent game studio.
Noun Town is one of the most comprehensive options for learning Japanese vocabulary on Steam. It covers over 1,000 items using hiragana, katakana and common kanji, with spaced repetition and mini-games built into an open world. A VR version is also available on Meta Quest for a more immersive experience.
Noun Town supports both Spanish (Spain) and Spanish (Mexico) and is one of the only language learning games on Steam that covers Spanish in depth. It teaches over 1,000 words through exploration and spaced repetition, with optional speech recognition for practising pronunciation.
Noun Town is one of the strongest options for learning French vocabulary on Steam, covering over 1,000 words and phrases through an open-world game with built-in spaced repetition and optional speech recognition.
Noun Town is one of the only dedicated Korean language learning games on Steam. It covers over 1,000 vocabulary items with Hangul script support built into the gameplay.
Noun Town supports Chinese (Mandarin) and teaches over 1,000 vocabulary items using simplified Chinese characters, with spaced repetition and mini-games built into an open world.
Noun Town covers German vocabulary across over 1,000 words and phrases, taught through exploration and spaced repetition in a hand-drawn open world on Steam.
Noun Town is one of the few language learning games on Steam that covers Italian, teaching over 1,000 words and phrases through open-world exploration and spaced repetition.