Five games · One path · Picture Quiz first
Chinese Quest
Eight picture words, five games, one trophy. Win each game to unlock the next.
Eight everyday words on one theme, five games, one trophy. Tap each word's picture, learn what it means, see it in a real sentence, then face the Nemesis: the words that sound just like it. Every game you win unlocks the next one, and every quest you win unlocks eight new words.
Start your quest All Chinese gamesThis quest's 8 words
Study them first if you like — then press the glowing stage.
How a Quest Works
A quest is a short path through 8 Chinese words. The same words come back in every game, each time asking something harder, so by the end you have recognised them, heard their tones, read them in a sentence and picked them out of a crowd of words that sound the same. Win a game and the next one on the path lights up.
-
Picture. Hear the word, read it, and tap its picture. The Picture Quiz game: a word you can picture is a word you remember.
-
Meaning. See a word, pick what it means. Every wrong answer is another word from this quest, so you have to tell them apart.
-
Bonus: Match. Pair each word with its meaning before the clock runs out. There is nothing to lose here. Every pair is extra points.
-
In context. A real sentence with one word missing. Pick the word. Every sentence is already published on this site, so you meet the word the way it is used.
-
Nemesis. Read the meaning, then pick the word among its sound-alikes and look-alikes. Mandarin has about four hundred syllables, so many words sound alike. This is the round that tests it.
-
Trophy. Claim the trophy, post your score and unlock the next quest. Each quest you finish opens the next eight words.
Each question stage gives you 3 hearts. A wrong answer shows you the right one at once, and that word comes back later in the same stage, so a stage ends with every word answered correctly. Answer quickly and in a row to build a combo of up to x5, and clear a stage without a miss for a flawless bonus.
Four Levels, Beginner to Expert
A level is Picture Quiz's: how hard a word's hardest character is, and how much help you get. Quests inside a level run theme by theme — animals, food, weather and the rest. Harder levels multiply your score, so all four share one leaderboard.
| Level | Characters | Quests | Help | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beginner | HSK 1–2 | 13 | 4 pictures, pinyin on, English clue shown, the most time per question | ×1 |
| Intermediate | HSK 3 | 8 | 5 pictures, pinyin on, English clue shown, the most time per question | ×2 |
| Advanced | HSK 4 | 6 | 6 pictures, pinyin off (switch it on any time), English clue hidden | ×3 |
| Expert | HSK 5+ | 9 | 6 pictures, no pinyin, the word is said only after you answer, shortest clocks | ×4 |
Why the Nemesis Is Words That Sound Alike
Mandarin builds thousands of words out of about four hundred syllables, so a learner meets the same sounds again and again in words that mean completely different things. Tones split some of them apart, characters split the rest, and that is the skill the last game tests: you get the meaning and pick the word from real words that share its sound, share one of its characters, or turn up in the same sentences.
Nothing on the Nemesis board is made up. The sound-alikes come from the dictionary's own index of words that are read the same once tones are set aside, and no option ever means the same thing as the answer, so there is always exactly one right choice. Beat it and the trophy is yours. For more practice with tones on their own, try the Tone Trainer or Tone Pair Arcade.
The First Quest at Every Level
The words below are where each level begins. The pictures are the site's own illustrated flashcards, every word links to its dictionary entry, and every sentence in the game is one this site already publishes. Definitions adapted from CC-CEDICT are marked †.
BeginnerQuest 1 · Weather · Numbers & Counting
In context: 今天天气怎么样？ — How is the weather today?
IntermediateQuest 1 · Weather · Numbers & Counting
In context: 今天的太阳很好。 — The sun is lovely today.
AdvancedQuest 1 · Weather · Family & Relationships
-
云
Cloud
-
温度
Temperature
-
暖和
Warm
-
凉快
Cool
-
台风
Typhoon
-
父亲
Father
-
母亲
Mother (formal)
-
亲戚
Relative (family member)
In context: 云后面出来了太阳。 — The sun came out from behind the clouds.
ExpertQuest 1 · Weather
In context: 外面有闪电和雷声。 — There is lightning and thunder outside.
Why One Word, Five Ways
Seeing a word once teaches you very little. Meeting it as a picture, a meaning, a sentence and a trap, a few minutes apart, is what moves it into memory, and it is why every game on this path uses the same eight words. The first game is the easiest — hear the word and find its picture — the hardest is telling the word apart from its sound-alikes, and the bonus round in the middle is a breather where nothing can be lost. For the pictures on their own, play the full Picture Quiz.
Want to keep going after the trophy? Every word links to its dictionary entry with example sentences and stroke order, the sentences come from the sentence bank, and you can save any word to your review deck.
Questions people ask
How does a Chinese Quest work?
Each quest teaches 8 everyday words on one theme through five games played in order, and each one unlocks the next: Picture (hear the word and tap its picture, the Picture Quiz game), Meaning (pick what the word means), a bonus Match round, In context (a real sentence with the word missing) and the Nemesis round. Win all five and you claim the trophy, post your score to the leaderboard and unlock the next quest.
What is the Nemesis round?
Mandarin has about four hundred syllables and thousands of words, so many words sound alike. In the Nemesis round you read a word's meaning and pick it from words that sound like it, share a character with it, or begin with the same sound. Every option is a real word from the dictionary, and none of them means the same thing as the answer. Each right answer is a hit on the Nemesis; win before your three hearts run out.
What happens if I get a question wrong?
The game shows you the right answer straight away, and that word comes back later in the same stage, so you meet it again while it is fresh. A stage takes three misses before it asks you to try again, and you can retry a stage as many times as you like. Your progress through the quest is kept.
What are the levels?
The level is Picture Quiz's: how hard a word's hardest character is. Beginner is characters at HSK 1–2 (13 quests); Intermediate is characters at HSK 3 (8 quests); Advanced is characters at HSK 4 (6 quests); Expert is characters at HSK 5+ (9 quests). Beginner and Intermediate say every word and show its pinyin; Advanced hides the pinyin and the English clue until you switch them on; Expert shows no pinyin, says nothing until you answer and has the shortest clocks. Harder levels show more pictures and multiply your score, and the leaderboard shows which level a quest was played on.
Where do the words, pictures and sentences come from?
The words and pictures are the site's own illustrated flashcard decks, the same ones Picture Quiz uses, and every meaning comes from this site's own Chinese dictionary. Every sentence is one the site already publishes — a dictionary example, a graded reader, the travel phrasebook or the grammar library — used word for word, so a word with no published sentence is simply not asked in that round. Nothing is machine-written. Definitions adapted from CC-CEDICT are marked †.
Is it free, and do I need an account?
It is completely free with no sign-up. Your quest progress, stars and best scores are kept in your browser on this device only. Posting a score to the leaderboard is optional and uses a randomly assigned display name, never a real name or email.