Chinese video games provide an engaging experience that is very useful for students looking to learn Mandarin or just learn more about the culture in which the language is spoken. With Mandarin audio along with text available on PCs, consoles and mobile devices, you can learn and practice everyday vocabulary while hearing real-world pronunciations, and learn more about `the myths, traditions, and history of China as you play. Here are the top titles available to learn Mandarin Chinese by yourself in Canada in 2025.
Chinese Video Games for Language and Fun
🗺️ Genshin Impact
It follows the journey of a traveler in search of their lost brother throughout Teyvat, as they battle enemies, solve puzzles, and uncover hidden secrets. Along the way, you can team up with characters who possess elemental powers, such as fire, ice, wind, and water, each with their own unique story, abilities, and voice.
🎮Availability: PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, iOS, Android
🈶Language: Mandarin voiceovers and simplified Chinese text.
🧭Language learning: You explore regions inspired by Chinese culture, collect ingredients, talk to NPCs, and follow missions that include instructions and descriptions in Mandarin.
🐉Cultural advantage: The background music and locations, such as Liyue, are based on real places in China, making it easier to learn proper names and cultural references.
🐒 Black Myth: Wukong
As the Chosen One, you will venture through realms inhabited by demons, spirits, and gods, combat supernatural enemies, and search for answers regarding your origin and destiny.
🎮Platforms: Windows and PlayStation 5; Xbox Series X/S version released in August 2025.
🈶Language: audio in Mandarin by default (there is an option to change, but menus are in Chinese).
🧭Language learning: mixed language (classical and modern), ideal for intermediate to advanced learners.
🐉Cultural advantage: adapts Journey to the West, one of the Chinese literary classics, allowing you to learn about mythology, names, and cultural expressions.
📱 Honkai Impact 3rd (and other similar HoYoverse games)
The story follows the Valkyrias—a group of warrior girls—on their fight against an enigmatic force, the Honkai, that is hell-bent on annihilating the world. You will undertake various missions throughout space and time, battling against enemies such as beasts and corrupted gods, as personal conflicts, betrayals, and heartwarming stories unfold.
🎮 Platform Availability: iOS and Android, as well as PC using its own client - available in Canada.
🈶Language: voices in Chinese, Japanese, English, and more; allows you to select Mandarin.
🧭Language learning: includes tutorials, character dialogues, and menus in Mandarin.
🐉Cultural advantage: Combines anime aesthetics with Asian and Western references, ideal for learning technical terms and action narrative.
Did you know that you can also learn Chinese through movies? Watch the top Chinese movies for students to learn Mandarin.
Best Chinese Video Games to Improve Your Skills
Immerse yourself in fascinating worlds and learn Mandarin with these Chinese video games available in Canada. Each title offers a unique opportunity to practice authentic vocabulary, understand real intonations, and explore the rich Chinese culture.
Top Chinese Mobile Games for Language Learners
These mobile games are suitable for learning Chinese in a fun way to bulk up your Chinese, especially if you do not have too much spare time each day. Most are short, repeatable, and you can progress at your leisure. They have audio in Mandarin to listen to, and the reading material will be in simplified Chinese; therefore, you will be simultaneously practicing reading, listening, and comprehension. As they are convenient, these games are perfect for reinforcing simple grammatical structures, vocabulary, and learning common expressions in modern Chinese.
📚 Chinese Parents
This game immerses you in the perspective of a boy or girl growing up in a modern Chinese family, moving through different stages of the education system, including childhood into adolescence. As you play, you make decisions about your studies, activities, family relations, and even your future job or romantic prospects. Audio and text in Chinese help you learn family and education vocabulary.
📜 The Scroll of Taiwu
A rich, nuanced game that is 100% engaged with classical Chinese culture. You play as a cultivator who must explore, meditate, train, and make decisions in a large, generative world influenced by wuxia fiction or Chinese martial arts.
🏮 GuJian and The Legend of Sword and Fairy 7
The Legend of Sword and Fairy 7 and GuJian are two of the most well-known role-playing video game series created in China. These games are set in fantasy worlds inspired by Chinese mythology, where players must overcome demons, face tragic outcomes, and uncover long-forgotten secrets.
How Chinese Video Games Enhance Cultural Learning
Chinese video games offer a valuable opportunity to practice the language, and they can also provide an authentic gateway to Chinese history, mythology, values, and daily life. For students in Canada taking a course in Chinese, playing games designed and developed in China can provide a comprehensive Chinese cultural experience.
🐉 1. Chinese mythology & literature
Games such as Black Myth: Wukong were drawn directly from classics like Journey to the West, one of the four foundational novels of Chinese literature. We learn folktales, traditional values, and other relevant aspects of folklore from characters like Sun Wukong (the Monkey King).
Discover historical proper names, Taoist deities, mythological monsters, and Mandarin translations of old Chinese phrases.
🏯 2. Traditional architecture, clothing & aesthetics
Books like Gujian and The Legend of Sword and Fairy are set in fantasy worlds inspired by the aesthetics of the Han, Tang, or Song eras, or imperial China. You will see historically accurate and intricate depictions of temples, wooden houses, gardens, and traditional clothing, like hanfu. Use visual vocabulary to learn about objects, symbolic colors, societal hierarchies, and historical rituals.
🧬 3. Everyday life & social values
Chinese Parents is one example of a simulator that provides an experience based on education, family relationships, and social expectations in urban China. From school exams to decisions about marriage and employment, these kinds of games reveal cultural aspects that are not taught in books. What you learn includes social etiquette, family structures, typical expressions used by parents, and cultural priorities (like family respect and academic performance).
🍜 4. Food, festivities & customs
Many Chinese video games incorporate references to traditional holidays, such as the Chinese New Year or the Mid-Autumn Festival, as well as traditional dishes like jiaozi or hotpot, and social customs like greetings, gift-giving, and tea sharing.
What you learn: food vocabulary, cultural meanings of certain foods, and the historical context of celebrations.
🗺️ 5. Regionalisms & dialectal differences
Although most Chinese video games use standard Mandarin (Putonghua), some incorporate expressions from southern China or particular intonations depending on the character or location of the game. This allows you to become familiar with the linguistic diversity within China.
What you learn: regional variants, local idioms, and modern adaptations of the language.
Did you know that you can also learn Chinese through Mandarin TV shows and series in Canada? Enjoy your language learning with your favorite content.
Strategies for getting the most out of Chinese video games
🗣️ Set the audio and text to simplified Chinese to maximize the linguistic context.
📝 Take note of commonly used vocabulary and phrases.
🔁 Repeat the dialogues and read them out loud to practice your pronunciation and intonation.
🏯 Learn the culture behind the game.
📚 Combine your gaming with the use of dictionaries like Pleco or Anki apps.
Playing video games while learning Chinese is a complete cultural experience that goes beyond vocabulary and pronunciation. Players will discover Chinese social norms, customs, and worldviews through the game's narratives, music, scenery, and interactions.
Believe it or not, this is a valuable and enriching method for Canadian students to link language and culture without having to travel far from home.
With access to these video games in Canada in 2025, you can take your love of gaming and expand your vocabulary while having fun, deepen your understanding of Chinese culture and history.
Did you like this article? Leave a rating!
Loading...
