How to translate a Hidden Object game into 10 languages

Since MYTONA always sends art for the hidden objects and references for collection items promptly, the translation is usually accurate. Questions arise more often for collection items, because generally the images are just references, but the actual items may look different in the game. Our translators and editors check item images and ask questions if the English word is different from the picture. We find out which takes precedence: the source or the image.
We recently encountered a situation where there was a mask in the art, but the word 'respirator' in the source.

MYTONA always sends one event file, one content file, and one community file with posts for the month ahead. The Asian languages we now also translate Seekers Notes into typically have a bit more text.

After MYTONA came to us for translation into Asian languages, we started creating a glossary based on all the previously translated texts and old lockits. This was an in-depth and complex task—there was a lot of data to systematize, and not just text, but pictures of all the items in the database as well.

I remember the first thing we did was look for a translator for the updates—that age-old question of human resources. Searching for a new translator is an additional burden on the Senior Editor, because you have to find time to check test tasks and give feedback. Not every translator could handle the traffic from MYTONA, and I had to train every new employee that came in as a replacement.

Before we send the texts to INLINGO, we make sure they are correctly prepared. First, we proofread the storyline in Russian, then we send it to be translated so that we have a draft English version. We specify character limits in the texts because they may run much longer in other languages, meaning the final text won't fit in the text box.

Sometimes we make slight corrections to the source text while we're working on the draft version if we see that something will be complicated to translate or that the text won't fit in the box. For clarity, we always add pictures of objects and creatures that will need to have their names translated. We also try to add explanations for complicated texts.

Our Chinese editor Yulia Samoykina noticed a recommendation for Chinese players to stay home in a recent update. But on the release date, the COVID-19 quarantine had ended in China, so the recommendation was no longer relevant. We recommended that MYTONA modify the recommendation so that it wouldn't be met with any criticism.

We try to create stories that everyone can understand and that won't cause difficulties in translation. When we write the plot, we usually avoid using puns, jokes, and sayings that only a limited audience would understand. If we include an interactive component, we don't use acronyms or other untranslatable texts because the Chinese version shouldn't have any Latin characters.

With localization in mind, when we come up with quests and collections, we try to keep things short so that the translated texts will fit the game requirements size-wise. We pay special attention to names, nicknames, creature names, and speech patterns of unique characters.

Working on MYTONA projects means always learning something new. The developers and writers work hard to create special contests, events, and offers in the game that are related to holidays, which means we and the players can always stay up-to-date on everything going on in the world.

This is how many people learned about the holiday called White Day, which is celebrated exactly one month after Valentine's Day, on March 14. In Japan, Korea, and Taiwan, this is a holiday where men give women presents in response to presents they received on February 14 (in Southeast Asia, it is traditional for men to get presents on Valentine's Day — ed.note.). This is a very interesting tradition, as is the origin of the holiday itself.

Our translators deal with questions about localization. We also have a special Slack channel, #grammarpersons, where the support team (game community support managers — ed. note.) send us problems with the localization and typos so our writers can change the texts and add them to the production pipeline. Sometimes players point out that we are using the wrong words for objects and offer their ideas, which we later review with the localizers at INLINGO.

The biggest problem in Seekers Notes is that German words are longer and sometimes way longer than the English. But items have a limit of 24 characters and must have a linebreak after 11 characters. Some words can have this linebreak in very weird places according to German grammar and many players who don't check German Duden will see it as a grammar error. So I rephrase the names and try to use only words under 11 characters, if possible.

Also I delete any references to violence and death and alcohol, because German authorities are a bit stricter when it comes to child protection and since the game is 6+ in Germany. There are various types of energy-restoring food and beverages in the game: pies, cakes, drinks, et cetera. But the drinks should always be non-alcoholic mocktail versions.

Sometimes the translators have to work hard and use their imaginations to translate the names of drinks without any reference to alcohol. For example, in Russian the word for mulled wine can refer to both an alcoholic or non-alcoholic drink, but in German, the only term that can be used is Moosbeeren-Heißgetränk, which is a hot cranberry drink, and in Brazilian Portuguese it is chá de frutas vermelhas—tea made with red fruits.

Any Nazi references, even unintentional ones, also have to be removed for German audiences. English "leader" is always translated as German "Anführer", since German "Führer" is associated with Adolf Hitler.