Questions
Do I need to speak English to make a game with AI?
AI understands requests in other languages almost as well as in English. English still shows up in three places, and you can work around all three.
SUMMARY FOR WHEN YOU'RE SHORT ON TIME · 2 min
You do not need to speak English to make a game with AI. You can talk to the AI in your own language: in a test published by Anthropic, Claude scored 96% to 98% of its English performance in both Brazilian Portuguese and Spanish. English still shows up in the code the AI writes, in some software documentation and in error messages, but the AI itself can translate and explain.
- You can ask the AI for your game in your own language: there is no required language for talking to it.
- In an Anthropic test, Claude scored between 96.1% and 97.8% of its English performance in Brazilian Portuguese, depending on the model.
- Game code uses English words, such as if, for and return, but the one writing the code is the AI.
- Godot, a free game-making program, has a Brazilian Portuguese translation of its interface, made by volunteers.
- Godot's Brazilian Portuguese documentation warns that there are still paragraphs and whole pages in English.
- You can paste an English error message into the chat and ask the AI to explain it in your language and fix it.
Your first step: Open an AI and ask it, in your own language, to explain in three sentences what a simple game of jumping over obstacles would look like. Notice that you did not need a single word of English.
Does AI understand requests in languages other than English?
Yes. You can describe the game in your own language, the way you would explain it to a friend, and the AI answers in that language. If English is your second language, you do not have to switch to it to make a game.
Anthropic, the company that makes Claude, publishes how much its models lose when they switch from English to another language. The test uses questions from many fields, translated by professional translators. In Brazilian Portuguese, Claude reached 97.8% of its English performance with one model and 96.1% with another1.
| Language | Performance compared with English | Source |
|---|---|---|
| English (baseline) | 100% | Anthropic, October 20261 |
| Brazilian Portuguese | 96.1% to 97.8%, depending on the model | Anthropic, October 20261 |
| Spanish | 96.4% to 98.2%, depending on the model | Anthropic, October 20261 |
The limit of this data: it covers two Claude models, measured on a general-knowledge test, not on a game-making test. Even so, it shows that the difference between asking in English and asking in these languages is small.
Where does English still show up?
In three places: in the code, in the software documentation and in error messages. None of them requires you to speak English, but it is good to know they are there.
In the code. The game is written in a programming language, and the commands are English words. In GDScript, the language of Godot, a free game-making program, you see words such as if, else, for and return2. The one writing that code is the AI. The names the player sees, such as menu text and dialogue, can be in any language you want.
In the documentation. This is the program's manual. Godot's interface has a Brazilian Portuguese translation, made by volunteers3. The manual also has a Brazilian Portuguese version, but the page itself warns that there are still paragraphs and whole pages in English4. Translations like these depend on volunteers, so it is worth checking what exists in your language.
In error messages. When something breaks, the program shows a technical warning, and it may be in English. This is where AI helps more than an English course would.
How do you get around English in practice?
By using the AI itself as your interpreter. If a message shows up that you do not understand, copy the whole thing, paste it into the chat and ask for an explanation in your language and a fix.
Ethan Mollick, a professor who writes about AI, made a game with Claude Code in March 2025. On the third request the game stopped working, and he did not know the programming language the game was written in. He kept telling the AI about the errors, the AI kept fixing them, and in twenty minutes the game was working again5.
To read a manual or a store page in English, the same idea applies: ask the AI for a summary in your language, or use the browser's translator. Our take: English has become a source of friction, no longer a closed door.
The other side
Knowing some English still helps. A good share of the videos, forums and manuals about making games are in English, and Godot's Brazilian Portuguese documentation has untranslated parts. AI can also translate a technical term badly. When an explanation does not make sense, ask in a different way or ask for an example.
So what do you need to know to get started?
How to explain what you want, clearly, in your own language. What matters most is a clear request: what the player does, how they win and what happens when they lose. For the full path, see whether you can make a game without knowing how to code and which AI to use to make games.
Related questions
Does AI understand requests in languages other than English?
Yes. In a test published by Anthropic, Claude scored 96.1% to 97.8% of its English performance in Brazilian Portuguese, and 96.4% to 98.2% in Spanish, depending on the model. The gap exists, but it is small.
Does writing the request in English give better results?
The measured difference is small, 2 to 4 points out of 100 in Anthropic's test. If English is not your strong suit, a clear request in your own language tends to be worth more than a confusing one in English (our take).
Is the game's code in English?
The command words are, yes. In GDScript, Godot's language, commands such as if, else, for and return are English words. The names and text the player sees can be in any language you want.
Is Godot available in languages other than English?
In part. The program's interface has a Brazilian Portuguese translation made by volunteers, and the documentation has a Brazilian Portuguese version, though with parts still in English. Check what exists in your language.
What if an error message shows up in English?
Copy the whole message and paste it into the chat with the AI, asking for an explanation in your language and a fix. That is how Professor Ethan Mollick, passing the errors along, fixed a game written in a programming language he did not know.
Do I need English to put the game on a store?
It helps at times, because some store and software pages are in English. An AI or the browser's translator can handle the reading; the game itself can be entirely in your language.
Sources
- Anthropic, documentation: "Multilingual support". Accessed October 14, 2026.
- Godot documentation, "GDScript reference". Accessed October 14, 2026.
- Godot, editor translation file for Brazilian Portuguese (pt_BR.po, revised June 11, 2026). Accessed October 14, 2026.
- Godot documentation in Brazilian Portuguese. Accessed October 14, 2026.
- Ethan Mollick, One Useful Thing, "Speaking things into existence" (March 11, 2025). Accessed October 14, 2026.
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