Roguelike localization has unique challenges rooted in procedural generation and run-based structure. Unlike linear narrative games where strings are fixed, roguelikes generate content combinations at runtime — item names, enemy modifiers, room descriptions, and event text assemble from component strings. A rune system with ‘Blazing’ + ‘Sword’ + ‘of Fortitude’ works in English because English doesn’t inflect for gender or case agreement. In German or Polish, each component string must agree with the base item’s grammatical gender — requiring string table architecture changes, not just translation. Roguelike localization also covers death screen messages (often varied and humorous), run summary screens with dynamic stats, meta-progression UI, achievement text, and daily challenge sharing text. SandVox provides roguelike and roguelite localization for all major target languages, including grammatical agreement consulting for Slavic and Germanic languages where procedural generation creates agreement problems.

Unique Localization Challenges

• Procedural string assembly: adjective-noun combinations must agree grammatically in German (4 cases, 3 genders), Polish (7 cases), and other inflected languages — English item modifiers don’t simply translate
• Plural forms: death messages with dynamic stats (‘You killed {0} enemies’) require correct plural forms — Russian needs 4 forms, Polish 4 forms, Czech 4 forms; Unity/Unreal must handle this per locale
• Death message transcreation: roguelike death messages are often humorous, punning, or genre-referential — literal translation misses tone; transcreation is required per message
• Meta-progression text: upgrade descriptions combining mechanical and narrative elements must be concise and accurate in all target languages — UI containers designed for English may overflow in German
• Seed and daily challenge sharing text: formatted for social sharing, must be natural in target language community contexts

What We Localize

• Full game translation (all string components including procedural modifiers)
• Grammatical agreement consultation for procedural generation (German, Polish, Russian, Czech)
• Plural form localization across all target languages
• Death message transcreation
• In-Engine LocQA for procedural text and meta-progression UI
• Achievement and Steam Deck verification text

Our Process

1. Procedural string audit: map all string assembly patterns — identify which strings combine at runtime and which grammatical agreement requirements apply per target language
2. Architecture consultation: advise on the string table design needed to support agreement languages (German, Slavic) vs. agreement-free languages (CJK, English, Finnish)
3. Translation with context notes: each modifier string is translated with a note specifying which grammatical forms it needs (gender, case) for the target language translator
4. Plural form implementation: implement and test CLDR-compliant plural rules for all target languages in the string system
5. Death message review: review all death messages for tonal accuracy — ensure humor, irony, and genre references land in target language
6. LocQA: test procedural string rendering in a running build, verify no overflow in all UI screens

Languages Available

German · French · Spanish · Japanese · Korean · Chinese (Simplified) · Polish · Russian · Portuguese (BR) · Italian · Czech

Frequently Asked Questions