Mai: Child of Ages — Development blog

By July 22, 2025Games

Hel­lo my friends!
In this blog post, I’d like to share the jour­ney behind our lat­est game, set to launch this Sep­tem­ber after five years of development!

Game Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3499550/Mai_Child_of_Ages

GAME DEVELOPMENT STORY

The devel­op­ment of the game began in 2020.
At the time, the world was enter­ing a peri­od of great uncer­tain­ty, but for us, it marked the begin­ning of a jour­ney. We want­ed to craft a unique game­play expe­ri­ence cen­tered around the con­cept of Time—not just as a nar­ra­tive device, but as the very foun­da­tion of the game’s mechan­ics. We aimed to build a world where time could be bent by the play­er, all while deliv­er­ing a sto­ry that felt immersive.

From the start, the scale of the project felt over­whelm­ing.
We were just a small, pas­sion­ate team of five developers—each wear­ing mul­ti­ple hats—juggling every­thing from design and pro­gram­ming to writ­ing and art. Cre­at­ing a world that spanned mul­ti­ple time­lines, each with its own rules, log­ic, and visu­al iden­ti­ty, was no easy feat. We knew we were aim­ing too high for our resources—but the chal­lenge fueled our motivation.

Our biggest design chal­lenge was coher­ence.
We need­ed to ensure that the tran­si­tion between time­lines wasn’t just a gim­mick, but a core part of the game­play and sto­ry. Every object, char­ac­ter, and envi­ron­ment had to respond mean­ing­ful­ly to the change of time. Cre­at­ing sys­tems that allowed the pro­tag­o­nist, Mai, to influ­ence both the past and the present—resulting in rip­ple effects across the world—was incred­i­bly com­plex from both a tech­ni­cal and nar­ra­tive perspective.

And yet, with time, iter­a­tion, and an unwa­ver­ing pas­sion for inno­va­tion,
the game began to take shape. We craft­ed envi­ron­ments that changed dynam­i­cal­ly depend­ing on the era, puz­zles that chal­lenged play­ers’ per­cep­tion of causal­i­ty, and a pro­gres­sion sys­tem that reward­ed exper­i­men­ta­tion. Mai’s jour­ney through time became more than a plot device—it became the heart of the entire experience.

We tru­ly believe that what we’ve cre­at­ed is some­thing spe­cial: an engag­ing adven­ture that invites play­ers not just to explore a world, but to reshape it.

INSPIRATION AND CURIOSITIES

The inspi­ra­tion and core idea for the game stem from clas­sic titles of the past—especially the Zel­da series—but also from more mod­ern games like Jour­ney and Nier Automa­ta. We set out to blend var­i­ous game­play styles to craft a unique world with orig­i­nal, nev­er-before-seen mechanics.

The sto­ry revolves around the con­nec­tions between past, present, and future, and how each can influ­ence the others.

In addi­tion to the main pro­tag­o­nist, play­ers will also take con­trol of a sec­ond char­ac­ter, unveil­ing new lay­ers of the nar­ra­tive from an alter­nate perspective.

The pro­tag­o­nist, Mai, will be guid­ed on her jour­ney by an ancient, long-for­got­ten civ­i­liza­tion—a reminder of how vital the past can be, even when it is often overlooked.

After five years of devel­op­ment, we tru­ly believe the result is some­thing special—an expe­ri­ence that will keep play­ers engaged for count­less hours!


Dis­cov­er a pos­si­ble future where human­i­ty is near­ly extinct, fol­low­ing the Last Great War — the most dev­as­tat­ing of all. The abil­i­ty to alter the flow of time may be the only way to change the fate of the world.

This is a game where Time itself takes cen­ter stage, blur­ring the line between illu­sion and real­i­ty — and reveal­ing how it can be shaped and reshaped.

The main sto­ry offers around 20 hours of game­play, but due to the com­plex­i­ty of puz­zles and chal­lenges, the actu­al play­time will depend on each player’s skills. If things get tough, play­ers can team up with friends thanks to the Coop Mode.

Beyond the main adven­ture, the game also includes option­al chal­lenges and side dun­geons designed to test even the most expe­ri­enced play­ers. And there’s more — sev­er­al free DLCs are already in devel­op­ment, bring­ing new sto­ry chap­ters and dun­geons to expand your jour­ney even further!