games about learning languages

a video about a few games where there's a puzzle about trying to learn a constructed language, specifically Heaven's Vault, Sethian, and a game where if I say what game it is it's spoilers for that game.

outro music is First Contact from Rhythm Heaven Megamix

[MrSaturn]

So what I learned from this video is that Jan's ideal language game is sitting in a room with someone who speaks only a different language, and you have to learn said language. No other gameplay, rules, or concepts required

[rngwrldngnr]

Heaven's Vault mod by Duolingo where the dead ancient language you're learning is French.

[アイス熊]

Someone should make a game where you actually learn a natural language, where maybe you wash ashore in Japan or get thrown back in time to Rome and you just have to learn the language in order to progress in the game

[applimu]

english relex is just on the border between "cryptography" and "conlang"

[Reversinator]

Honestly that bit about [spoiler game] has actually made me want to buy it. Like I'm not expecting the whole game to be like that, but if it maintains the same creativity then I'm sold.

[Nova-opob]

Imagine this: a game which begins begins in English (or another real world language) but in which the characters slowly begin speaking more and more in a constructed English-based creole (or a creole based in another real world language) as the player continues to explore their world. I can imagine that you could legitimately teach someone a conlang this way, at least in a limited capacity.

[OSDisco]

"Not a sponsered video"
'includes paid promotion'
Confusion

[shieldgenerator]

its so funny that even mentioning there's a spoiler for frog fractions 2 is a spoiler for frog fractions 2

[migsy]

Now I want to play *[DATA REDACTED]* !! :D

[Absenteeee]

Jan Misali seems like the type to play No Man's Sky and get disappointed not for the same reasons most of us were, but because the alien languages were all basic English relexes (releces?)

[DylanMatthewTurner]

Instead of a relex, you could pick a language that has a relatively similar syntax to English as a base. For instance, make a Swedish relex, or just something based on another Germanic language, and the translation wouldn't be much harder, but would be a bit more interesting

[LimeyLassen]

I think the really clever thing about Heaven's Vault is the role that cultural bias plays in translating a dead language. There are some early game texts that I went back and changed hours later, even though they seemed to make sense at the time. Like the difference between "Emperor" and "Empress", or "serve" and "love". And this has impact on the gameplay - what decisions you make depend on your understanding of your world's history, which might be false.

[ariihonen]

I assume Inkle's decision to go with an English relex probably also has a lot to do with the user experience of the translation interface. Any significant difference would require a more complex interface, probably requiring an annoying amount of hand-holding to avoid negatively impacting the ease with which the player picks up the mechanic. Aliya is supposed to have a base proficiency in the language, so struggling with basic syntax or morphology at the start would introduce a dissonance between the narrative and the player experience, making the protagonist appear less competent than she is supposed to.

[diggoryii]

[Redacted game title] definitely needs more love compared to it's predecessor. I understand all the complaints, and I believe them to be on the whole valid, but man do I just love [Redacted game title].

[Booksds]

Spoilers for Heaven’s Vault:




I like how the ending is partially foreshadowed by the construction of the word “Vault.” The first symbol indicates that Vault is being used as a verb.

[MrBkbnk]

Its an extremely weeby game and unless you're into that sort of stuff I can't imagine you'd like it, but there's a visual novel called "Kotonoha, Expression Amrilato". Where you play Rin, a Japanese teenager who is transported to an alternate Japan where everything is in Esperanto. She starts building a romantic relationship with Ruka the young Esperanto speaking girl that helps you out at the start of the game, and slowly learns Esperanto throughout the game, which means that you, the player, learn Esperanto by proxy. It's definitely flawed but it's easily my favourite use of a conlang in any video game.

Again, it has extremely niche appeal, and if you can play it in Japanese, I strongly recommend doing so, as a lot of the dialogue makes much less sense in English (A lot of Rin's comments on Esperanto are her viewing it through the lens of a Japanese speaker) But if you are in the audience for this game, you'll absolutely love it.

[Sylocat]

I would also recommend this old flash game called Tork, that IIRC was made for an Australian game design competition. In it, you crashland on an alien world and have to learn to speak their language... one gimmick is that speaking verbs in the language will actually *perform* that verb if there's a matching object present, so you have to use the language to solve environmental puzzles as well as communicate.

Sadly, it's a Flash game (from like 2004, no less), so it's a bit difficult to play these days. But that's what Flashpoint is for.

[connorcorn]

While it's not about learning a language (though there's a similar puzzle in it I don't want to spoil) Riven is a great game about coming to understand the culture of the alien world you've been dropped into. There were some 'aha' moments in regards to figuring out what something meant to the people of Riven that I've never experienced in any other game. I wish more games were like it.

[Liggliluff]

But imagine a non-English speaker; they wouldn't realise it's a relex. That is if the game has the English words translated to whatever language this person speaks. The relex in the game will have different grammar from theirs, which can be interesting. – So the game developers could have picked a different language as a relex, like Russian maybe.

[AllisonFleisch]

oh i loved the frog conlang puzzle! even as someone who wasnt interested in conlangs at the time i played it, it was still incredibly enthralling to figure out and im glad to finally see someone on youtube talking about it