Deconstruct and rebuild 150 Chinese characters — no prior knowledge required
Build the target Chinese character by selecting the correct radicals (components) and placing them in the proper position. Each level presents a new character — can you assemble all 150?
Chinese characters follow predictable structural patterns. Once you learn these, building characters becomes much easier:
The most common pattern (~60% of characters). A "meaning" radical on the left and a "sound" component on the right.
Example: 休 (rest) = 亻(person radical) + 木 (tree) — "a person leaning against a tree"
Example: 好 (good) = 女 (woman) + 子 (child) — "a woman with a child is good"
Components stacked vertically. Often the top part indicates the category and the bottom part gives meaning.
Example: 字 (character) = 宀 (roof) + 子 (child) — "a child under a roof learning characters"
Example: 男 (male) = 田 (field) + 力 (strength) — "strength in the fields"
One component wraps around another. The outer component often creates an enclosure.
Example: 国 (country) = 囗 (enclosure) + 玉 (jade) — "jade within borders"
Example: 问 (ask) = 门 (gate) + 口 (mouth) — "mouth at the gate asking"
Three identical components stacked in a pyramid. Usually means "abundance" or "crowd" of the base meaning.
Example: 森 (forest) = 木 + 木 + 木 — "many trees"
Example: 晶 (crystal) = 日 + 日 + 日 — "many suns" = brilliant
These 10 radicals appear in over 60% of the characters in the game. Memorize them for a huge advantage:
Don't try to memorize characters — learn what each radical MEANS. The water radical (氵) appears in river, sea, and wash. The person radical (亻) appears in you, him, and rest. Pattern recognition beats rote memorization.
If you can identify whether a character is left-right, top-bottom, or surround, you're halfway there. The hint button costs only 5 points and reveals the structure type — well worth it for hard characters.
A 10+ streak gives you 100 bonus points per answer. Once you're in a rhythm on the easier levels, the points add up fast. Save hard characters for when your streak is already broken.
Not at all! Hanzi Match teaches you as you play. The game starts with simple characters and gradually introduces complexity. No prior Chinese knowledge is required.
No penalty besides a streak reset. You can try as many times as you need. Learn from your mistakes — each wrong answer teaches you the correct radical combination.
Start building characters now!