Mai: Child of Ages

About

Mai: Child of Ages is a multiplayer action adventure game. It was developed by Chubby Pixel and was released on September 18, 2025. It received very positive reviews from players.

Mai: Child of Ages follows Mai through a shattered world as she explores Zelda-like dungeons across past and future eras. Shifting seamlessly between precision platforming and hack-and-slash combat, players uncover her connection to the arcane Uroboro Stone while adapting to a world transformed by time. The journey reveals her identity and the origin of mysterious creatures threatening the universe.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

+12

Skip User Reviews

92%

Audience ScoreBased on 72 reviews

gameplay10 positive mentions

stability3 negative mentions

Mai: Child of Ages features a charming art style and engaging music that enhances the overall experience.
The game successfully blends exploration, puzzle-solving, and combat mechanics, with a unique time-travel element that adds depth to gameplay.
It offers a heartfelt narrative about growth and identity, appealing to both younger audiences and adults alike.

The game suffers from technical issues, including glitches, clunky controls, and awkward camera angles that can detract from the experience.
Combat can feel repetitive and unrefined, with some players finding it less enjoyable due to its clunky mechanics.
The lack of a proper map and unclear directions can lead to confusion and frustration during exploration.

gameplay
28 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
36%
53%
11%
The gameplay in "Mai: Child of Ages" combines Zelda-like exploration with time-travel mechanics, offering a charming world that encourages exploration and features a unique narrative about growth. While the game presents varied mechanics and enjoyable combat, some players find the gameplay rigid and frustrating due to clunky controls and repetitive puzzles. Overall, the experience is enriched by its engaging story and aesthetic shifts between childhood and adolescence, though some aspects may benefit from further refinement.
- “Child of Ages is an interesting indie adventure that merges Zelda-like exploration and time-travel mechanics with a personal narrative about growth and identity.”
- “The gameplay is divided between Mai's basic child form in the present timeline, where she has more mobility and finesse, and her teenage form in the future, where she's more suited for combat thanks to a nice range of weapons, which are also very useful to solve certain puzzles.”
- “The connection of the two sides, present vs future, cheerful vs dark, mixes various gameplay elements with some aspects of the metroidvania genre in a journey through time and different locations.”
- “The game's core concept is strong, but the gameplay has a rigid feel: combat can be clunky, some jumps are hard to judge, a few puzzles repeat themselves, and certain abilities (like climbing or underwater movement) can feel unreliable.”
- “The gameplay, however, is frustrating, and there are some gameplay design flaws in my opinion.”
- “It's not bad or anything, I just found both the story and gameplay quite boring.”
story
17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
24%
58%
18%
The story of "Mai: Child of Ages" is a blend of simple yet emotional narrative elements, featuring time-manipulation and a mix of lighthearted and darker themes as players navigate through different timelines. While some players found the initial fetch quests slow and the story lacking engagement, others appreciated its twists, worldbuilding, and the cozy atmosphere that enhances the gameplay experience. Overall, the narrative is described as captivating and capable of evoking strong emotions, making it a worthwhile journey for fans of atmospheric action-adventures.
- “Mai: Child of Ages is an ambitious and colorful adventure that blends time-manipulation puzzles and Zelda-style exploration into a single, story-driven journey.”
- “The story is simple, but it also features an interesting twist towards the end, and a series of flashbacks set in the past give more context and worldbuilding to the whole setting.”
- “With its engaging story full of twists, rich gameplay, and mysterious atmosphere, it offers an adventure that can easily captivate you for an evening, or even several.”
- “However, after playing for only two hours, I decided not to continue because the story simply didn't engage me enough to proceed.”
- “It's not bad or anything, I just found both the story and gameplay quite boring.”
- “I carried out multiple simple fetch quests for my grandfather, who stands completely still next to the fireplace doing nothing and has no interesting dialogue.”
music
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
56%
22%
22%
The music in the game is widely praised for its captivating and atmospheric qualities, seamlessly transitioning from calm melodies to intense battle themes that enhance the overall experience. Players appreciate the soundtrack's ability to complement the unique art style and gameplay mechanics, contributing to a cozy and immersive environment. Overall, the music is considered a standout feature that elevates the game's charm and engagement.
- “It's a pretty good game with a captivating atmosphere and cool music.”
- “The time-shifting mechanics give every encounter a creative twist, and the soundtrack matches the shifts in mood beautifully.”
- “The music is really pleasing.”
- “And the soundtrack shifts seamlessly from calm melodies to intense battle themes, perfectly matching the atmosphere.”
graphics
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
12%
38%
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their stunning art style and strong Ghibli-inspired visuals, enhancing the overall gameplay experience. While the animations and cloth physics are particularly noted for their quality, some users mention minor technical glitches and a simplistic aesthetic that may not appeal to everyone. Overall, the visuals effectively complement the game's varied timelines and gameplay mechanics, creating an engaging atmosphere.
- “So first things first, the art and graphics are stunning.”
- “It's a good metroidvania-like game with nice gameplay and great graphics.”
- “The presentation (graphics and music) is very nice, punching above the weight of its somewhat simplistic kid-friendly style through a strong Ghibli-inspired art direction, making looking for hidden collectibles or observing and reasoning your way through the latest obstacle in your path an overall enjoyable experience.”
- “As the storyline is connected by different timelines (switching from present and future), the gameplay and aesthetics vary consequently: from colored, joyful, and relaxing platforming (still challenging in some parts) and exploring sections (reviving the old 3D platforming games) where you play as Mai as a child; to a more action-oriented and darker gameplay focused on fights playing Mai in the future.”
- “The graphics are fine, and Mai's movements look good. The cloth physics of Mai (especially in adult form) look really good when moving around and in combat.”
- “I really liked the art style and the animations.”
atmosphere
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
71%
29%
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its captivating and cozy qualities, enhanced by a dynamic soundtrack that shifts from calm to intense, perfectly complementing the gameplay. Players appreciate the rich storytelling and mysterious environment, which invites exploration and reflection, making it an engaging experience that can easily draw players in for extended sessions. Overall, it offers a rewarding blend of atmospheric action and adventure.
- “With its engaging story full of twists, rich gameplay, and mysterious atmosphere, it offers an adventure that can easily captivate you for an evening, or even several.”
- “And a soundtrack shifts seamlessly from calm melodies to intense battle themes, perfectly matching the atmosphere.”
- “It’s a game that rewards patience and attention: sometimes you’ll stop just to take in the atmosphere before moving forward.”
- “It feels cozy and retains the atmosphere through the end of the game.”
- “It's a game that rewards patience and attention: sometimes you'll stop just to take in the atmosphere before moving forward.”
optimization
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
25%
Overall, the game is praised for its excellent optimization, with users reporting minimal performance issues and stable gameplay even on lower-end hardware. The visuals are described as beautiful, and the controls and camera are user-friendly, contributing to a smooth gaming experience.
- “The game is beautiful, well optimized, with simple controls and a convenient camera.”
- “And at the same time, the game doesn't lag at all; the optimization is very good.”
- “So far, the performance has been mostly stable, even on my less than stellar laptop.”
stability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game exhibits several technical glitches that detract from the overall experience, including issues with combat and navigation. While some players still find enjoyment despite these problems, many agree that the game would benefit from further polish to enhance stability.
- “This game has potential, but with the amount of glitches I ran into so quickly, I think it could use some extra polish.”
- “I like the unique art style and music, but it also has a few technical glitches, repetitive combat, and the lack of a proper map.”
- “Although encountering some minor glitches is unavoidable, I had fun regardless.”
emotional
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
"Mai: Child of Ages" is praised for its heartfelt and nostalgic storytelling, evoking strong emotions reminiscent of classic N64 and Dreamcast games. Despite some technical issues, players find the game to be an emotional journey that explores themes of time, identity, and transformation, often leading to poignant moments that resonate deeply.
- “Still, if you’re willing to look past occasional stiffness and bugs, Mai: Child of Ages stands out as a heartfelt, nostalgic, and surprisingly expansive adventure that captures the spirit of N64/Dreamcast-era classics while trying something new.”
- “The story is simple so far, but emotional, and I might have shed a tear playing it :')”
- “After spending 8.8 hours on this game, I can safely say that Mai: Child of Ages is not just an adventure—it's an emotional journey through time, identity, and transformation.”