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[Bennett]

Sanja

I think it's ok to use a Swedish name in order to promote Sweden. So having the name Sanja in the title is fine (but be aware that anglophones will pronounce it like 'ganja'). Having the voices in swedish is actually a really nice hook for an indie game, so I wouldn't bother recording english voices if it was me, I'd just put English subtitles and let people have the novel experience of listening to some natural swedish voiceovers. Make the Swedishness a major hook for your game.

So, it's a platform adventure with an emphasis on Sweden and good gameplay. 'Sanja' only gets half of this across. It kind of lacks energy because 'Sanja' doesn't mean anything on its own. But it would also be good to get across the idea that it's a Swedish game that non-Swedes can play, and if the title is going to be longer than one word, it will need to contain some English. I'd go for something like:

Sanja Saves Stockholm

{edit} Hmm... this isn't exactly right. It needs to be a bit quirkier. Like 'Kajsa Will Kill For Köttbullar. {/edit}

My upcoming game is called "A wistful delirium".

Welcome! Your game sounds really cool, and I love adventures, but I must admit that the name doesn't really roll off the tongue. It is kind of unnatural English, and not in a cool way. But the idea of the name is good. Your options are either to try to tweak the current name to sound more natural, or to try to evoke the idea of 'wistful delirium' with a title that also suggests the setting of the game. I would call it:

One Way Ticket

[[platypus]]

Err, "One way ticket" doesn't quite describe the atmosphere of my game, but I understand your way of thinking. You have a very vague idea of what this game is like. How could you know anyway, since I have told you so little about it.

If you ask me, "One way ticket" would be a bad name for a game, even if the game was only about buying one way tickets all around the world. No offence.

However, the current name of the game might be a little too fancy. I try to find a similar name with simpler words.

[Zaphos]

Sanja is a swedish name, just so you know.

Doesn't seem like a particularly Swedish name; wikipedia pins it as a common female name in countries of former Yugoslavia.  And Sonya is popular in the US, which is pronounced how I guess you might pronounce Sanja. (Although I would probably pronounce it more like ganja as Benzido points out.)

[MultiPigeon]

Sanja is a swedish name, just so you know.

Doesn't seem like a particularly Swedish name; wikipedia pins it as a common female name in countries of former Yugoslavia.  And Sonya is popular in the US, which is pronounced how I guess you might pronounce Sanja. (Although I would probably pronounce it more like ganja as Benzido points out.)

Well to tell the truth, I'm not sure. The name is built in a way that I feel is very swedish and it sounds natural when a swede pronounce it. I can also recall meeting and hearing about swedes named Sanja. But it's a simple name that must sound natural in many languages so I dunno. If it is a swedish name then it's a bit of an old name. Internationalization can make old names less common. Anyway, I kind of just like how it sounds.

The pronounciation is not a big thing if there's voices in the game.

[MultiPigeon]

Oh, and by the way. Ico might be one of those names that sounds better in Japanese. Allow me to explain.

While Ico is the name of the main character, it also sounds a lot like ikou which is japanese for "let's go". So the name means something like "Let us go together" which isn't to far away from "Hold my hand".

[superflat]

What about 'Yume' (pronounced you-may), a platformer about dreams?  I think the word sounds dreamy.  Needs to be presented with its kanji so you know to use the Japanese pronounciation.

[ThetaGames]

Some of you may have played my games of the R-Theta series.  Both games are SHMUP's based in polar coordinates, so that is where the title comes from.  Is that title any good?

Also, what about my latest game, The Red Wedge?  I know a lot of game names don't have "the" in the title, but "Red Wedge" didn't sound as good.  The game is essentially a SHMUP-platformer hybrid with abstract graphics.  The title comes from the famous Soviet propaganda poster titled "Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge."  Is that title good, or a little over the top?

[MultiPigeon]

What about 'Yume' (pronounced you-may), a platformer about dreams?  I think the word sounds dreamy.  Needs to be presented with its kanji so you know to use the Japanese pronounciation.

I'm trying to guess here if you know what the word Yume means. Since you mentioned the kanji and since you've done the connection Yume == Platformer about dreams, I think you do but I'm still not sure.

The ord Yume means dream, but you already know this, right? I guess this is the biggest deciding factor when you picked the name and therefore it would be a shame if we didn't mention that before Benzido brought the hammer down.

Or maybe you just pick a name 'coz it sounded dreamy and by chance that name happened just to be extremly fitting.

Anyway, I think it's fine. Might be a bit clichéd or common if you're going to release it to a japanese audience.

[Zaphos]

What about 'Yume' (pronounced you-may), a platformer about dreams?  I think the word sounds dreamy.  Needs to be presented with its kanji so you know to use the Japanese pronounciation.

As someone who doesn't know any Japanese, I would pronounce that as "Yoom" and the kanji would just be confusing.

Although with the screen you put up, it looks like YU <giant meaningless symbol> ME, so when I noticed the YU ... ME I might think it was supposed to be like "You & Me" but mis-spelled and randomly Asian.

[William Broom]

Yume sounds fine. The only thing is that it kind of brings to mind images of countless anime characters spouting off about their 'dreams'. But the way it's presented in the game, instantly shows that you mean the dream kind of dream rather than the ambition kind of dream.

[Bennett]

What about 'Yume' (pronounced you-may), a platformer about dreams? 

Yeah, I assume 'Yume' means 'dreams' in japanese, and I assume that your game has a Japanese theme. In which case, it's ok, like using 'Neko' for that old mac program which simulated a japanese-style animated cat. But it's also a bit obvious, and a bad example of exoticism. The character looks like something a third-year medical student might get tattooed on her lower back, and I don't agree that its presence will remind people to use the Japanese pronunciation. Can you do something to make it a bit cooler? How about you ditch the kanji, and call it:

You May.

Some of you may have played my games of the R-Theta series. 

I did a degree in physics, so it's hard for me to step outside and imagine how I'd react to this if I didn't know about polar coordinates. It evokes R-type quite well, which isn't a bad idea for an indie shooter, and it's quite a nice double-entendre. It also sounds cool and futuristic. I give this one the thumbs-up (with the caveat that non-nerds might not like it as much)

Also, what about my latest game, The Red Wedge? 

I agree it was the right idea to include 'The' in the title. I would have to see the art style to be sure, but I think that you have a pretty good name here too. I kind of wish you'd gone for 'Beat the Whites', actually, which would have been attention-grabbing and controversy-stirring.

[ThetaGames]

I did a degree in physics, so it's hard for me to step outside and imagine how I'd react to this if I didn't know about polar coordinates. It evokes R-type quite well, which isn't a bad idea for an indie shooter, and it's quite a nice double-entendre. It also sounds cool and futuristic. I give this one the thumbs-up (with the caveat that non-nerds might not like it as much)

Thanks!  I do agree, the Greek letter names kind of make it sound futuristic.  I actually came up with "Theta Games" long before creating the first R-Theta, so I suppose it fit.  The game's title screen actually has the title written with the variables.

I agree it was the right idea to include 'The' in the title. I would have to see the art style to be sure, but I think that you have a pretty good name here too. I kind of wish you'd gone for 'Beat the Whites', actually, which would have been attention-grabbing and controversy-stirring.

I considered that, but I actually didn't want it to be controversial.  I wanted the game to be a little funny, and I think a lot of people wouldn't know what I was talking about if I used "Beat the Whites."  Besides, the main character is a little hammer-head guy who shoots triangles at white things, so I wanted to convey the idea of "hammering" the "wedge" of collectivism into the capitalist system (while poking fun at the idea as well).

[superflat]

What about 'Yume' (pronounced you-may), a platformer about dreams? 

Yeah, I assume 'Yume' means 'dreams' in japanese, and I assume that your game has a Japanese theme. In which case, it's ok, like using 'Neko' for that old mac program which simulated a japanese-style animated cat. But it's also a bit obvious, and a bad example of exoticism. The character looks like something a third-year medical student might get tattooed on her lower back, and I don't agree that its presence will remind people to use the Japanese pronunciation. Can you do something to make it a bit cooler? How about you ditch the kanji, and call it:

You May.

Yeah 'Yume' means dreams, and though I think using a kanji might be slightly cliche, I'd rather go this way as the game is written about a salaryman in Japan.  I plan to do it in dual-languages.  I'm writing it in Japan, and my local fiance is helping me design it, so I think it's kinda justified.  'You May'?  I'm not convinced, although I think you definitely have a talent for this sort of thing.   If anything I thought maybe an English sub-title (ie 'Yume, Journeys in Sleep' or something - terrible example but the first one I could think of) might help.

[DIT]

Ok, hello everyone, I'm new here ... and I have 4 titles. 
Too bad only one is from a finished game, one is from a "failed project" and the reamining 2 are taken from games that me and "my team" are currently developing.
English is not my native language, so I'm very interested to understand how the titles of the games we've built sound to an international audience.

"G" - existing
A game about smashing your opponent's starship with asteroids that you throw at him with some sort of tractor/"graviton" beam.

"IMPACT!" - in development
Like G, with more gameplay options and improved graphics. Because "G II" was terrible to me.

"The night of The Puppets" - failed
A fanstasy action game (that we never finished) where you have to stop an army of evil puppets from destroying a town. Night-time.

"POLPETTE" - in development
An odd rts-like game where you have small blob-like creatures that fight each other for survival.
A "polpetta" is a sort of spherical hamburger (usually with garlic and optionally other spices in it) that we do here in Italy, I don't know the exact translation in english.

[Hideous]

All those names sound horrible to me. Sorry.

[DIT]

Well, thanks for the feedback, do you have any suggestions?

[FARTRON]

Americans call polpetta "meatballs". Spaghetti & meatballs is one of those meals that everyone in the US makes, and it's usually not very good compared to the Italian counterpart.  Meatballs wouldn't be a good name since it makes me think of the early Bill Murray summer camp movie, and him inspiring everyone by chanting "

" Unless you were going to make an indie retro summer camp game, and then it might be awesome.


I'm working on a corruption of a 4X game, but confined by the laws of physics: no faster-than-light, all inside the solar system, no alien races to fight. Planets are huge resources and long-term investments, and lots of people living in space habitats. A tycoonish game with the goal of colonizing the system, with various political-economic power struggles. Displeased colonies attempting independence, pirates in the asteroid belt, brazen multiplanetary corporations.. I want to play with the idea of architecture as politics, the technological and infrastructural choices of the player having long term consequences.

I'd been thinking Final Hegemony to reflect that without faster-than-light travel empire won't make it out of the solar system. Hmm.. Heliocracy? Solar Dynasty?

[december]

I'm thinking about a post apocalyptic kart racer.  how does the Title New Disciples Of Our Violence Future sound?

[Hideous]

Well, thanks for the feedback, do you have any suggestions?

Well, "G" is just boring, "IMPACT!" sounds cliche-y to me, what the hell, "night of the puppets", and "POLPETTE" is not as bad as the others, but it doesn't really tell me anything, and it's all in caps. Eww, caps.

[DIT]

AAARRGH, guys, I wrote an huuuge answer here, but something went wrong ... and I've lost all the text.
Too lazy to wite everything again, so... short version. I apologize in advance.

@hideous
Thanks again, i see your point and you are right aobut caps, no good.
G sucks , i agree.
IMPACT! Is boring, but it has to do with the gameplay that is all about "impacting" stuff. We wanted the game to have a simple name.

@december
Totally awesome title, but it does not tell what your game is about: racing.
Something like "Future disciples of our violence - total devastation race"  would at least give an hint to the potential players.

@fartron
Thanks! Today I've learned something new!
We intended to keep the name in italian to to make it sound weird. Btw, "polpette" is pronounced with the "e" like in "enemy". And we choose the title because it sounds funny, at least in italian. And also because the game creatures are morping organic balls with tentacles. A sort of mini octopuses. Octopus in italian is "polipo" ... hence, "polpette".
But if you guys say it's terrible we will have to think about somethin else  .

I like Heliocracy the best.
"Final Hegemony" makes me think of some sort of FINAL MEGA ultra galactical dicatorship game, while "solar dinasty" is just about a dinasty not about every sort of politics in the solar system.
Solar hierachy would be more correct, but parhaps it sucks.

Heliocracy is cool.
But literally it is "goverment of the sun" meaning Mr Sun is in charge.
I do not think someone is going to bother too much about its meaning anyway.