Games are a fun way to practice reading and get interesting German input. With games, you can go at your own pace, get feedback through your in-game actions, and gather context from what’s on-screen. I recommend starting with visual novels or simple RPG games you have played previously in English. To play a game in German, you either need to go into the game settings and change the language or go to your game launcher, such as Steam, and change the language from there. If you’re unsure how to change the language for a particular game, you can Google it.
The best game to start with is the Goethe Institut’s A Mysterious Mission, a mystery game created for German learners. The game is at about a B1 level and the style of the game allows you to easily pick up new vocabulary while still putting your German to the test. Other mystery games such as Unsolved and Adventure Escape Mysteries are also great for learners because you can easily pick up the names of objects through context and test your German comprehension by collecting clues and solving puzzles.
PC
Translate Games as You Play
You’ll inevitably come across some words you don’t know, and in order to continue with the gameplay you’ll need to be able to decipher what to do. With the OCR capabilities of Google Translate, you can easily take a picture of the word or sentence you don’t understand and quickly get the translation. Start by opening Google Translate on your phone and press the camera button in the bottom right corner.
Next, take a picture of what you want to translate, and it will automatically show you a translation of the text.
To see the German text, go to the top of your screen and click “original.” Now you can highlight individual words or sections to see a translation. If you would like to make flashcards out of the words or sentences, you can copy them into Anki or your German-English dictionary of choice.
Stardew Valley – $15
Stardew Valley is a cute, relaxing RPG that is great reading practice for intermediate learners. It has a lot of dialogue, and you will learn the names of many everyday objects. It is $15, but it has a lot to offer, and I highly recommend it for someone who is just starting to play games in another language.
Steam Visual Novels – Freemium
Steam offers a variety of visual novels at different price points. Some are free to play, while others are pretty pricey. However, you should be able to find something that fits your interest and language level with how many games are available.
You can see if a game can be played in German by scrolling down and looking at languages. The game in the image below has support for many different languages, including German.
Epic Games – Freemium
The Epic Games store routinely offers free games, and you can often find interesting games for free with multilanguage support.
To see if a game can be played in German, go to that game’s store page and scroll down to the specs. It will say which languages are supported all the way at the bottom.
Genshin Impact
Genshin Impact and other Mihoyo games are free RPGs with thousands of hours of content. There are many interesting storylines and characters, so there is plenty of content for immersion. However, there is no support for German audio, so you can either set it to English to have dual input or change it to a language you don’t understand, so you can focus on reading in German. The game can be very difficult to understand at times due to the complex language used, so I wouldn’t recommend playing it if your German is below the advanced level.
Mobile
There are many fantastic free mobile games for practicing German, but they can sometimes be difficult to follow because you can’t translate the in-game text. Don’t worry, there are some great apps to help with this problem. Instant Translate for Android and iTranscreen for IOS are two great options for on-screen translation when playing mobile games.
To access more mobile games, you can also change what country your app store is in. Changing the country of your app store will allow you to access region-locked streaming services, games, and more.
Die Stadt der Wörter
Die Stadt der Wörter is a game for German learners created by the Goethe Institut. The game is for beginners who are still learning basic vocabulary. If you just started learning German, this is a great app for you, but if you are above an A2 level, this app is probably too easy for you.
A Mysterious Mission
A Mysterious Mission is a mystery game created for intermediate German learners. In the game, you play as the detective Jayden McIntyre to unravel a mysterious criminal case while searching for your missing uncle. The game is interesting and allows you to practice your German comprehension while also building your vocabulary through context.
Hogwarts Mystery
Hogwarts Mystery is a popular RPG where you play as a student attending Hogwarts and discover the secrets of the castle as well as the mystery surrounding your brother’s expulsion from Hogwarts. The story is interesting but not too complicated, so it’s great for intermediate and advanced German learners. If you are a Harry Potter fan, you’ll love this game and learn lots of German at the same time!
Unsolved: Hidden Mystery Games
Unsolved Mysteries are a series of games where you solve puzzles and collect clues to unravel the case. With a huge library of games, there is plenty of content for immersion, and the games are free, but they do require you to wait for energy to continue playing. However, the games are interesting and a great way to expand your German vocabulary.
Adventure Escape Mysteries
Adventure Escape Mysteries are similar to Unsolved. You play as a detective unraveling mysteries by collecting clues and using items to solve puzzles.
The Secret Elevator
The Secret Elevator is a horror game where you are trapped in a dream and must solve puzzles to find your way out. It is free on Android and $0.29 on IOS.
The Frostrune
The Frostrune is a classic point-and-click puzzle game with a Nordic atmosphere. You are stranded on a Nordic island and must uncover the mysteries of the island. This game is free on Android and $5 on IOS.
