Aurora, a child who wakes up in Lemuria after dying from a mysterious illness, must bring back the sun, the moon, and the stars that are all being held captive by the Queen of the Night in order to return home.

The player can freely move Igniculus to open chests that Aurora cannot reach, as well as shine his light on an enemy to slow it down or on an ally to heal them.

To the northeast is Greater Lemuria, a land filled with ancient ruins and massive trees, as well as floating islands that are home to the elfin Aerostati race.

The main playable characters are Aurora, a princess who strives to find a way home after being stranded in Lemuria; Rubella, an Aerostati jester with a slight vocabulary problem who is searching for her brother Tristis; Finn, a young, timid Capilli sorcerer whose village is beset by a curse cast by Umbra; Norah, Aurora's stepsister, who was pulled through the mirror to Lemuria; Robert, a Populi trader skilled in archery; and Rubella's also jester brother Tristis.

They are later joined by Óengus, a Kategida who was exiled when he pledged himself to Umbra in exchange for her sparing his clan's lives, and Genovefa, a young Piscean sorceress and one of the remaining survivors of her village.

Umbra promptly arrives, enraged at the death of her daughters, but offers Aurora the chance to reunite with her father in exchange for the moon and the stars.

Initially revealed at GDC Europe 2013 by creative director Patrick Plourde, Child of Light is said to be inspired by Studio Ghibli and Yoshitaka Amano in its art style, and in presentation similar to games like Vagrant Story, Final Fantasy VIII and Limbo.

Plourde and Yohalem also discussed the concept of a Prince Charming in the narrative, and how they wanted Aurora to be someone who did not rely on a man or fall in love at the end of the story.

[15] After some of the staff had their children successfully draw Aurora based on the brief description of her being a princess with long red hair and an oversized crown, they knew they had created an iconic character.

Variable iambic syllable counts were used for flexibility, with Yohalem explaining its use to justify varying line lengths and word pairings that don't always perfectly match up.

Yohalem believes the most difficult challenge he faced while writing for the game was keeping each character's voice distinct from one another despite them sharing the same cadence while rhyming.

[18] Yohalem attributes the fairy tale culture of the game to The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and also looked to using Sleeping Beauty as a thematic element.

[17] The original soundtrack has 18 tracks and was composed by Béatrice Martin, also known as Cœur de pirate, a Canadian singer and songwriter from the province of Québec.

[33] Chris Carter of Destructoid similarly praised the aesthetics, from the environments to the "slick" and consistent presentation of the dialogue, but felt that the narrative, while well-paced, didn't exceed his expectations.

Carter also appreciated the mechanic of controlling Igniculus to slow enemies during combat, solve puzzles, and refill health and magic via orbs, but criticised the general lack of challenge and the rudimentary character upgrade paths.

[28] GameZone's Matt Liebl also enjoyed the "whimsical feel" of Child of Light achieved through a combination of visuals, rhyming scheme, and Cœur de pirate's piano score.

[31] Tom McShea of GameSpot further opined that the environments instilled a sense of sadness and felt that the story was "about fear and betrayal, hopelessness and fortitude".

[30] Giant Bomb's Alex Navarro was more critical of the game; he felt that the visual splendor of the game did not leave a lasting impact and thought the narrative uninspired due to its over-reliance on childhood storybook motifs, such as magical kingdoms, evil stepmothers, and rhyming dialogue – the latter of which Navarro particularly struggled with as it clashed with his ability to understand the plot.

[34] On April 30, 2015, Ubisoft released a free digital book titled Child of Light: Reginald the Great to celebrate the game's first anniversary.

Written by the game's writer Jeffrey Yohalem, the story of the book revolves around Reginald and his adventures in Lemuria two years after Child of Light.

[41] The announcement of the game's upcoming release on the Nintendo Switch in late 2018 also teased a sequel, titled Child of Light II.

[4] Prior to the release of Child of Light, Plourde remarked on how it could be interesting to look at falling in love "at another time" and commented on possibly returning to the character of Aurora.

[12] In an "AMA" (Ask Me Anything) conducted on Reddit following the release of the game, writer Jeffrey Yohalem expressed interest in a sequel, hinting that the contents of the collectible Confessions seen in Child of Light could play a central role.

[42] In a later interview in 2019, Plourde clarified that the teased document summarized a prequel; it would feature multiple protagonists and thematically explore love, friendship, motivations, and detachment – taking inspiration from the ballet Swan Lake.