Noun Town is a language learning game on Steam that lets you build Mandarin Chinese vocabulary through gameplay. You explore a virtual world, interact with objects, and pick 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 Chinese grows.
Part of the Noun Town series, which has won three awards and been shortlisted for seven more. No subscription, no ads.
Mandarin Chinese is the most spoken language in the world by native speakers, with around 900 million people growing up with it as their first language. For English speakers it is one of the more demanding languages to learn. The tonal system means that the same syllable spoken in four different tones carries four different meanings, the writing system uses thousands of characters, and the grammar structure is quite different from English.
Vocabulary is a solid place to start. Noun Town uses simplified Chinese characters throughout, which is the standard used in mainland China. The speech recognition in the game checks tones as you speak, so you get feedback on whether you are hitting them correctly rather than just practising without correction. That makes a real difference with a tonal language.
1,000 words in Mandarin covers a broad range of everyday objects and actions and gives you a real foothold before tackling the more complex aspects of the language.
You explore a virtual world and interact with objects to pick up vocabulary in context. Testing and practice run through spaced repetition and mini-games built into the world, so learning happens as part of playing rather than as a separate activity. Words you know well come back less often, words you are still working on come back more.
You can play with speech recognition to practise speaking out loud, or use selection-based input if you prefer. Speech recognition works across all 12 languages in the game. Progress shows up in the world itself -- every word you learn restores colour to part of the town.
The game uses simplified Chinese characters. The speech recognition checks tones, so you get feedback on whether you are hitting them correctly as you practise speaking. This is particularly useful for a tonal language where tone changes meaning.
No existing knowledge needed. The game focuses mainly on vocabulary and nouns, with some basic phrases and sentences. It introduces words in small sets and only moves on once the previous ones are solid. Over 200,000 people have played Noun Town across the game series.
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 EducationNo. Noun Town is built for beginners. The game introduces vocabulary gradually with no prior knowledge needed.
Yes. The speech recognition in Noun Town checks tones when you speak, so you get feedback on whether you are hitting them correctly. This is a meaningful advantage for Mandarin, where the same syllable in different tones carries completely different meanings.
Yes. The Steam version runs on both Windows and Mac.
No. Noun Town is a one-time purchase on Steam with no ongoing fees or ads.
No. This is the desktop version for PC and Mac -- no headset needed. A VR and Mixed Reality version is also available separately on Meta Quest and Steam VR.
See all languages: Noun Town language learning game