Deliver crystal-clear rules and perfectly balanced mechanics for a seamless tabletop experience. Our expert linguists ensure every card and component resonates with global players.
Board games break when the rules are unclear. A misread card, an ambiguous phrase, or a term used differently across two pages, and the session falls apart.
MarsTranslation works with translators who understand game mechanics before they touch the text. They catch ambiguities in the source, not just the translation.
Years in the Game Industry
Game Translators
Project Managers
Voice Actors
DTP Specialists
Localization testers
Languages
Our localization covers every player-facing text element in your game, including:
Strategy and Euro-Style Board GamesCard Games and Living Card GamesDeck Building GamesTabletop Role-Playing GamesCooperative Board GamesParty and Social Deduction GamesMiniature and WargamesNarrative and Campaign Board GamesGame Review and Terminology Lock
Cultural and Family Value Assessment
Translation with Physical Format Awareness
Playability and Consistency Review
File Delivery and Expansion Support
Game Review and Terminology Lock
Assigning a Game-Literate Translator
Translation with Physical Format Awareness
Playability and Consistency Review
File Delivery and Expansion Support
We offer board game translation into 230+ languages, including:
Our card game had over two hundred unique cards and every keyword had to be applied with complete consistency across all of them. MarsTranslation locked the terminology before starting and ran a full cross-reference check before delivering. We found zero keyword inconsistencies in the German version, which was a first for us after working with several other vendors on previous titles.
Felix Wagner, Publisher
We flagged a potential rules ambiguity in our own source material during the initial review MarsTranslation conducted before starting work. They caught something our own team had missed across multiple rounds of editing. That alone made the project worthwhile. The French localization was the clearest rulebook we have shipped in any language.
Camille Dubois, Creative Director
Our narrative campaign game had extensive story text alongside functional rules content. Getting both right in Japanese, where the reading experience matters as much as the accuracy, required a translator who understood both dimensions. MarsTranslation matched us with someone who did and our Japanese backers specifically praised the rulebook in their feedback.
Hiroshi Kimura, Studio Head
We were launching a crowdfunding campaign targeting French and Spanish backers and needed the campaign page and rulebook preview localized before the launch date. MarsTranslation delivered both on time and the conversion rate from our French and Spanish traffic was significantly stronger than our previous campaign where we had used machine translation for those markets.
Maria Santos, Campaign Director
Board game projects vary widely depending on rulebook length, card count, and the volume of narrative or campaign content. Projects start from $0.88 per word. For projects with both physical and digital components, we can quote both together or separately depending on your timeline. Send us your files and we will have a detailed estimate back within 24 hours.
Every keyword, action type, phase name, and component label is documented and locked before translation begins. That reference is shared with every translator and reviewer on the project. Before delivery, a dedicated consistency check cross-references every keyword instance across the full project. In board game localization, a keyword discrepancy is a rules error and we treat it that way.
Yes. Physical format awareness is built into our process. Before translation begins, we document the space constraints for every card type, component label, and player aid. The translator works within those constraints from the start. Any string that risks exceeding the available space is flagged before delivery so it can be addressed before print files are finalized.
Yes. Campaign pages, backer updates, and rulebook previews are all within scope. We treat campaign page localization as a conversion task, writing for the target market audience rather than translating directly from the source. A well-localized campaign page performs significantly better in regional markets than a machine-translated one.
We work with .docx, .pdf, .indd, .xlsx, .csv, and most standard formats used in board game production. For digital adaptations and companion apps, we also handle .json, .xml, and Unity localization formats. Files come back in the format you need them, ready for print or integration.
MarsTranslation is an ISO-certified translation services provider that helps the world's leading brands transform their content in 230+ languages. Get Localization, Interpretation, Proofreading and more.
© Copyright 2026 MarsTranslation
简体ä¸æ–‡