Localizing Games: Our Journey

I’d like to take you on a little journey of how I discovered the magic of game localization while living in Poland. It all started with a surprising moment when I realized how a familiar game could be transformed into something completely new just by changing its theme. Back when I was living in Poland, I came across a board game that, in its original form, was all about the stock market—buying and selling shares in real time. I think it was called “Bankrupt” or something similar. But when I saw the Polish version, it was completely different: instead of stocks, players were trading things like fish, groceries, and other market goods in an old-fashioned marketplace setting. It was like a whole new game!

Curious, I reached out to one of the managers at the company that localized the game. They explained that they didn’t just translate the rules—they adapted the entire theme to fit the Polish market, making it more relatable and appealing to local players. That was a real eye-opener for me. It was the moment I realized how localization can transform a game’s success. Inspired by this, I decided to do the same thing back home in Ukraine. We started by localizing a Button Shy games we had licensed, giving it a completely new theme that would resonate with Ukrainian players. We even took a game about football and reimagined it with characters from a beloved old Ukrainian cartoon. The idea was simple but powerful: buy the rights to a game and then adapt it so it speaks directly to your local audience.

From the very beginning, KOZAK Games focused on bringing small but meaningful games to life — titles that could fit in your pocket, but carried strong themes and cultural identity. Our publishing journey naturally split into several lines:

We started with a line of small pocket-sized games:

• One was our original design, Art of Spots, and the other four were localizations of well-known international titles.

• One of the most ambitious was Cunning Folk, originally themed around witches and villages. We completely redrew the artwork and re-themed the game around Carpathian Mountains mythology — a cultural region in Ukraine that stretches across several European countries.

• Stew, a U.S. microgame about cooking, was transformed into Borshch, the iconic Ukrainian traditional dish, with fully redrawn illustrations.

• In Vino Morte remained mechanically the same, but received a new visual identity through the work of Oleksandr Grekhov, one of the most famous contemporary Ukrainian artists.

Our biggest early project was Perudo, the classic dice game.

• We produced custom dice featuring the KOZAK Games logo.

• The theme was adapted in collaboration with UA Comix, bringing a distinct Ukrainian flavor to the game.

• The rulebook was translated into five languages, including Crimean, making it the first game ever translated into Crimean. It was also one of the first three games ever translated into Belarusian — a small but meaningful milestone for cultural gaming accessibility.

Next, we explored micro-games — titles that could fit on a single card or even a postcard.

• Many of these were redrawn in traditional Ukrainian art styles or used specific cultural themes.

• For example, Castle Builder was developed as a postcard game in partnership with Tustan Castle, a famous historical site in Western Ukraine. The game’s main idea was to reconstruct Tustan Castle, blending history, tourism, and gameplay in a unique way.

• We also published Cyberwolves, a postcard-sized game from the U.S., which holds a special place in our lineup — it became the first-ever role-playing game published in the Ukrainian language.

• Alongside these, we also published ancient board games such as Hnefatafl, The Royal Game of Ur, and Senet, reintroducing them to modern players with high-quality components and a strong educational focus.

For our party game about football, we took a nostalgic yet innovative approach.

We secured the rights to a beloved Ukrainian cartoon from the 1970s, modernized the visuals, and adapted the theme to celebrate Ukraine’s cultural legacy — ensuring that our past creative successes remain alive in a contemporary format.

And localization isn’t just for games — I’ve seen how powerful it can be in the world of tech and global brands, too.

One example that really stuck with me was something Apple did recently. In one of their campaigns, they used the familiar “pinching fingers” emoji —  — a gesture that, in most places, simply means “small” or “tiny.” But in South Korea, that same symbol carries a completely different—and much more sensitive—meaning. It’s tied to gender politics, online harassment, and a lot of cultural tension that’s been building for years.

Apple didn’t issue a statement. They didn’t try to explain themselves or justify anything. They just quietly removed the emoji from their campaign in Korea. That’s it. No drama, no debate—just a silent adjustment out of respect.

That moment really stayed with me. It reminded me that localization isn’t always about language. Sometimes it’s about gestures. Sometimes it's about tone. And sometimes, it’s about knowing when not to say or show something at all.

You can have the most beautifully written rules, the most polished product, the most thoughtful design — but if you miss a key cultural nuance, your message won’t land. Or worse, it could backfire. That’s the deeper magic of localization. It’s not just about translating words — it’s about translating meaning, emotion, and respect.

This experience was a game-changer for me. It opened my eyes to a whole new approach to game publishing. While now I’m focusing more on creating my own original games, I’ll never forget how that first localization project taught me the value of adapting and reshaping games to fit new cultures. It’s a huge and exciting part of the board game world, and I’m glad I got to be part of it.

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