Humor relies on subtlety. Sometimes it’s a play on sound, sometimes on meaning. In English, it’s easy to craft a pun based on ambiguity — like roller ghoster instead of roller coaster, which sounds silly yet understandable. But a direct translation into French or Japanese would turn into gibberish. And that’s just one of many examples.
Language-based jokes depend on phonetics, morphemes, and context. All the things that make a language feel alive often fall apart in translation. Sometimes you can preserve the effect. Sometimes only the meaning. And sometimes, not even that. In those cases, the joke has to be rebuilt from scratch. Not copied — reinvented.
Jokes based on situations seem easier. Someone does something stupid, someone else gets what they deserve — it’s the kind of thing that makes people smile across most cultures. But what about parody? A game might poke fun at a famous franchise that no one in the new region even knows. In that case, the joke just doesn’t land.
There are a few ways to handle this. You can swap the reference for something local. You can explain it — if it’s essential to the plot. And sometimes it’s better to just leave it out. A bad joke can ruin a scene more than no joke at all.
When a joke can’t be translated directly, the translator becomes a co-author. They don’t just need to know the language — they have to understand how comedy works. Feel the timing, the rhythm, the punchline. Keep it short. Don’t sacrifice flow for precision.
Ideally, the translator has experience in stand-up, scriptwriting, or at least a love for sitcoms and memes. A good comedic translation is a skill — it comes with practice and exposure. But even without that background, it’s doable if the translator has imagination and a willingness to dive deep.
If you want your jokes to survive localization, give the translator something to hold on to. Not everyone will instantly catch where you used wordplay or tossed in an accidental pun — especially if your script isn’t in their native language.
It’s worth noting that everything mentioned above mostly applies to traditional video games, not iGaming — which has become increasingly popular. Online casinos are growing their audience through no-deposit bonuses, as detailed on review platforms we explored during our research. But their biggest appeal lies in the variety of entertainment, much of which serves as an alternative to traditional gaming. Still, text content in such games is usually minimal, and localization into other languages rarely poses a problem. In most cases, the game isn’t localized at all and is offered in English across different countries. On the other hand, even the smallest video games tend to contain plenty of written or spoken content — often with a humorous edge.
The best thing you can do is mark which jokes can be rewritten, which are essential, and which are optional. Include character notes, scene descriptions, emotions. A localization kit with context always helps the final result. Jokes in games are delicate work. And sometimes, a single extra hint can save the entire scene.