
Can you learn Japanese by solving puzzles? So to Speak is a game about wandering in Japan, looking at signs, overhearing conversations, and using context clues in the environment to figure out what it all means. No background in Japanese is assumed.
Modeled estimate, not a reported figure. How we estimate →
About
Have you ever wanted to learn Japanese? Have you tried studying but feel like you aren't getting anywhere?
In So to Speak, you use context clues to guess the meaning of what you see and hear. Unlike other games and tools, meanings aren't revealed immediately. Every word is its own puzzle - to proceed, you must connect it to nearby objects or text with the same meaning. For example, you can drag a Japanese sign for "entrance" onto an actual building entrance located nearby or the English word "entrance" in the game's description of the entrance.
The game is a love letter to the Japanese language and the experience of wandering alone in another country. There are no drills, no fights, no minigames, and no distractions. The entire game is a series of situations, and each one helps you discover the meaning of something new.
Learn more than 650 words covering topics such as travel, nature, family, colors, numbers, time, and directions.
Explore cities, rural areas, gardens, and temples filled with signs and conversations to decipher along with clues to help you.
Grow your knowledge from simple words like "car" and "tree" to complex sentences like "The parking lot is for convenience store customers only."
Genres
Stats
All-time low is the lowest price we've recorded for this game since we started tracking it.
Languages: English
Engagement
Reviews
Themes across 45 recent reviews and how positive each mention is. A keyword signal, not full sentiment analysis.
Reviews
Great little game to learn more kanji. It's sometimes a bit tricky to figure out what the game wants. Right-clicking to reveal translation options helps. It tries to teach you many different themes and often repeats kanji, which was very helpful. I fully enjoyed it and would like it to be longer or have a second part.
good but too much women with hijab
I've wanted to learn Japanese for a while, but I've never known where to start learning such a complex language. This game has provided a nice starting point that is accessible and easy to understand for someone who knows nothing about the language. Matching sounds to symbols and context clues is way more fun than I expected. Playing this game feels like I'm in school again, before it got stressful. It makes learning fun again. Thank you so much, devs. I'm going to copy down the in-game notebook so I can learn how to form my own sentences and start to dissect the grammar structures.
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This and every other Pro feature is free until October 20, 2026. A free account is all it takes.
Hours played at review time, across 45 reviews with recorded playtime.
positive critical· bar length = how often the theme comes up
Ich kann jetzt zwar noch kein schinesisch aber auch kaum duetsch. Gruß Ninjael_kun_1962
Я не понимаю для кого сделана эта игра. А именно: я владею хираганой и катаканой, знаю около 150 иероглифов, несколько сотен слов и базовые выражения. в игре: - нету русского и русификаторов! - Довольно странная и непонятная игра, просто находить нужные слова и подставлять под иероглифы. - Для начинающих слишком сложно, вы не поймете основные принципы формирования иероглифов, их глубокий смысл и как они должны применяться в японском языке (вместе с хираганой) - Для людей которые продвинуто или базово знают, тут все слишком просто, знакомые иероглифы повторять смысла нет. Если вы хотите игру в которой с нуля можно учится или наоборот продвинуться в обучении, я бы порекомендовал Wagatobi. Конечно стиль и графика там как будто из 80-ых, но если забить и сделать упор на обучение, то на графику быстро забываешь. Здесь же к сожалению просто бессмысленная обдираловка. Жалко что купил перед отпуском, а когда попробовал уже поздно было возвращать деньги( НЕ СОВЕТУЮ! I don't understand who this game is made for. Specifically: I speak hiragana and katakana, know about 150 kanji, several hundred words, and basic expressions. In the game: - There's no Russian or Russifiers! - A rather strange and incomprehensible game; you just have to find the right words and match them to the kanji. - It's too difficult for beginners; you won't understand the basic principles of kanji formation, their deep meaning, and how they should be used in Japanese (along with hiragana). - For people with advanced or basic knowledge, everything is too simple; there's no point in repeating familiar kanji. If you want a game that allows you to learn from scratch or, conversely, advance in your learning, I would recommend Wagatobi. Sure, the style and graphics are reminiscent of the 80s, but if you focus on learning, you'll quickly forget about the graphics. Unfortunately, this place is just a senseless rip-off. It's a shame I bought it before my vacation, and by the time I tried it, it was too late to get my money back. WE DO NOT RECOMMEND!
This game is a really nice game. Another reviewer said that you can feel how much love went into it and they're exactly right. It's an interactive vocab book, but it's also a real piece of art. The mechanics are really smooth. I like how you can make word connections in the most intuitive way you can find, rather than being forced to do it in a certain way. For example, if the word is 'lake', you can drag the kanji for that onto an actual lake, or yo can drag it onto a translation. The voice acting is sweet. I appreciate that the dev used normal people (and a wide variety). I'm at the point where I really need to train my listening comprehension, and this game is perfect for that because the audio is very natural. It gives the game so much personality. Some of the lines are genuinely funny as well, and this is what moves it out of simply being a textbook and into something better than that. Relaxing game that is good for late N5-N4 learners. Even if you're advanced, I can still see this being fun. However, if you're an absolute beginner, you'll need to learn the kana (and imo the n5 kanji) first before playing, otherwise I can see this being pretty difficult.
Ich habe dieses Spiel geliebt - es hat so Freude gemacht. Und ich habe viel gelernt, auch durch stetige Wiederholung. Es ist wirklich lieb gemacht und ich mag die Pixelgrafik sehr gern. Manchmal war es auch etwas tricky, aber es ist auf jeden Fall sein Geld wert. Ich habe viel Zeit damit verbracht.
Loving the platform as a way to expand vocabulary!
Very fun game to learn some basic japanese sentences / words
I really enjoyed this, it's a fun way to learn some basic Japanese, it's well made and easy to work though.
Players by region
Where this game's players are, estimated from review languages.
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| $70.7K | 468 | 83% | $9.99 |
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