Five Languages From Day One
English, 中文, Español, 日本語, Português do Brasil: YiBoard was written in five languages from day one, including rules, tooltips and error messages, not just the landing page. Here is why.
Open the language switcher on yiboardgame.com and you will find five languages: English, 中文, Español, 日本語 and Português do Brasil. Not just the landing page either; rules, tooltips and error messages are all covered. That is rare for an indie game, because translation is expensive and maintenance is exhausting. YiBoard did it from day one. Here is why.
Board games belong to many cultures
Gomoku, Xiangqi and Go have players everywhere: Gomoku has communities in Japan, Korea, the West and beyond; Xiangqi is rooted in the Chinese-speaking world; Go is a national pastime across East Asia. Assuming English "defaults to everyone" loses those core cultural audiences. Five languages are not pandering; they are respect for the cultures these games already speak.
Full translation, not a translated landing page
- Rules and tutorials: beginners must read the rules in their own language, otherwise the barrier doubles
- Match prompts and errors: feedback has to be instantly understandable; a confusing moment is when people quit
- Ranks and leaderboards: tier names are cultural words that cannot be machine-translated
- Accessibility details: dates, counts and UI copy all get localized, not just a glossary
Translating only the landing page and leaving the product in English is the disease of many "internationalized" products. We chose to do every screen, which multiplied the work, but every language user enters a complete product.
How we keep it sustainable
The fear with multilingual is "translate once and let it rot": every new feature means syncing five languages. Our approach is structured message files, one per language, with copy separated from code so new features pass all five languages at once. The cost is ongoing; so is the payoff, because each language community becomes its own content and distribution node.
FAQ
Which languages are supported?
Five: English, 中文, Español, 日本語 and Português do Brasil, covering rules, prompts and errors.
Why not more languages?
We are deepening the five core board-game culture circles first, quality over quantity. New languages will be evaluated gradually.
Is the translation machine-made?
No. Copy is written and reviewed by humans, especially cultural words like ranks, to avoid machine-translation drift.
Does switching language affect my record?
No. Language is a display setting; your rating and history are independent and you can switch anytime.