The bidirectional power flow, voltage/frequency dynamics, and reduced fault current observed in microgrids pose significant challenges to the protection of electrical systems. Particularly, the dynamic nature of microgriddistributed energy generation requires protection schemes to adapt dynamically. Distributed protection strategies are commonly found in the literature, with adaptive protection based on multi-agent systems (MASs) being one of the most promising methods. This solution offers high autonomy, fault tolerance, and robustness against multiple fault types under various topology scenarios. This paper presents a systematic review of the current advances in MAS-based adaptive protection systems for AC microgrids. Furthermore, a discussion on the strategies implemented in MAS-based adaptive protection, the most used development frameworks for designing, developing, and testing MAS-based solutions for AC microgrid protection, and limiting factors for the widespread adoption are presented. Finally, open research problems and future research trends in MAS-based adaptive protection are also presented in this research.