Run, partie, ラン: what we call a run in six languages
Every game has to name its basic unit. In Prismloot it is a one-minute round: you descend floor by floor, loot drops, and you die. In the first builds we called it a “descent” because you go down floors. Seen written on screen, on buttons and in the combat log, it sounded odd. So we stopped to look at what people call it.
What we did
We looked at translated “run” games (Balatro, Slay the Spire, Hades, Brotato, Vampire Survivors…) and, above all, at how players talk in their communities, which does not always match the official translation.
What we found
- English: “run”. It was already the natural word; we used to mix “descent” and “run”, and now it is unified.
- Spanish: “la run”. Translated games tend to say “partida”, but players say “la run”, almost always in the feminine.
- Brazilian Portuguese: “a run”. It clearly dominates in their community.
- German: “der Run”, “Runs”. That is what Slay the Spire and Hades II use, for example.
- French: “partie”. The exception: almost every game uses “partie”, and with “run” there is not even agreement on the gender (le run or la run?).
- Japanese: ラン. As in Balatro. It is the one we would most like a native speaker to check.
This is the end-of-run screen, with the same text in all six languages:
| Language | End of run |
|---|---|
| Español | FIN DE LA RUN |
| English | RUN OVER |
| Português (Brasil) | FIM DA RUN |
| Deutsch | RUN VORBEI |
| Français | PARTIE TERMINÉE |
| 日本語 | ラン終了 |
What did not change
“Descend” is still the verb when it is literal (going down floors, “when you drop below 30% health”), and the mythic “Boots of the Descent” keeps its name. In the code and our internal documents we still say “descent” out of habit.
A request
If you speak Japanese (or French, German or Portuguese) and something sounds odd, write to us: the email is in the footer of the site. The texts are in six languages, but not all of them have been checked by a native speaker, and we would rather find out early.
Prismloot is still in development; the text you see in screenshots may change.
This post is also available in: Español