Donkey Kong Bananza's Secret Language Revealed and Translated

It's one thing to successfully translate a secret in-game video game language, but it's quite another to translate it before the game is even out – yet that's exactly what YouTuber 2Chrispy has managed to do with Donkey Kong Bananza.

Just as players unraveled the secrets in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom's secret language, 2Chrispy utilized trailers, preview footage, and even the Nintendo Today app to decode the Ancient Monkey Scrolls in Kong's upcoming adventure.

"In the trailer, there were a lot of hidden details," 2Chrispy explained in a captivating video detailing his process. "But the one that stood out most to me was the banana language. Watch to see how I decoded and deciphered every monkey letter I could find."

By cleverly spotting that an in-game item had an official name, Chip Exchange, 2Chrispy was able to painstakingly work out all but five characters in the banana alphabet—or "Bananabet," as he calls it.

Donkey Kong Bananza's secret language has been translated. Image credit: 2Chrispy.

With his newly-discovered transcription skills, 2Chrispy has translated nearly every sign, note, and written document seen in any footage published to date. To discover what they say, head over to 2Chrispy's YouTube video.

For example, in one screenshot, 2Chrispy translated an overhead sign reading "welcome," a neon sign reading "factory," and a snow level sign reading "ice." He also transcribed various notices that read "hint," "item," and a sign that said: "Message. Thank you for reading. Someone."

A sign that reads "Message. Thank you for reading. Someone." Image credit: 2Chrispy.

"I'm excited to see what other text we'll find in the game," he added. "Could we see references to DK lore? Missing Kongs? Any mention of the Kremlings or King K. Rool?"

"Donkey Kong Bananza is on track to be one of the most visually stunning Nintendo games I've seen," we noted in our first hands-on preview. "It truly leverages the Switch 2's hardware—the environments are breathtaking, and DK’s animations are wonderfully expressive. I left feeling like the next generation of first-party Nintendo games had truly arrived."

Now that we have a release date and tech specs for the highly anticipated Switch successor, Nintendo Switch 2, along with an idea of how much first-party Nintendo games may cost on the new system, check out our deep dive into all the facts as we talk to industry experts. For more on Nintendo Switch 2, you can catch up on everything shown at last month's Nintendo Direct. *Donkey Kong Bananza* is set to release on July 17 for $69.99, exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2.