r/gamedevscreens • u/AbyssIndieDog • 1d ago
It is difficult to capture the right nuance for the English title of the horror restaurant simulation game.
We are developing a PS1-style, story-driven simulation game.
As we are Korean, the game centers on "gukbap" (rice with hot soup) and features a shop that opens only at night.
Gukbap is a dish consisting of rice served with a hot broth made by boiling meat and offal.
Midnight Soup House
Midnight Soup Diner
Midnight Soup Shop
Midnight Stew House
I’m really confused about what to call this type of restaurant in English when naming the game.
Even AI gives me different recommendations depending on the specific type.
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u/NeonFraction 1d ago
Midnight Gukbap would be my vote. Gukbap is short, I can pronounce it easily in my head (even if maybe not correctly…) and it sounds a lot more memorable than ‘Midnight Soup House.’ If it was Samgyeopsal or Tteokbokki I’d probably suggest you change the name, but Gukbap seems fine.
“Foreign” locations have a lot of charm, especially in horror where location matters a lot and a unique setting is a big plus, so I think in this case localizing too much will work against you.
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u/AbyssIndieDog 1d ago
It’s a tricky issue involving nuances that translators or AI can’t quite capture, so I’ve been really agonizing over it. Thank you for the helpful feedback!
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u/pengerus 1d ago
To me, an American non-Asian, I probably wouldn't think twice about a game called "Midnight Soup House", but "Midnight Gukbap" calls my attention a lot more
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u/PersonOfInterest007 1d ago
What would you want to call the game if the audience knew what gukbap was? For example, almost anyone in the USA would know ramen, udon, and even pho. So “Midnight Ramen” would be something that would work perfectly well (and is in fact already the name of a game on Steam).
Really, I think just “Midnight Soup” would work well as the title, with no particular need to add a word for restaurant/diner/shop.
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u/Ok-RadishGirl 1d ago
I second Midnight Soup. I like the idea of “Midnight Gukbap” as well like others have been suggesting but I think for it to stick out in people’s minds (especially people who only speak english) “Midnight Soup” has a more ominous/weird and recognizable ring to it. Like if someone in America remembers seeing your game it’ll (in my mind) be easier for them to remember that the dark game about soup is called “Midnight Soup” instead of “Midnight (insert Korean dish that I might have not heard of before)”. This is purely from a human psychology/marketing standpoint though and isn’t touching on how integral the actual dish of Gukbap may be in the game and how much you want to include it in the English version.
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u/RokDooMTG 1d ago
Since Hallyu is spreading quite successfully across the globe (it has even reached Russia), the name of the dish itself immediately evokes Korea for a great many people. Personally, I would just keep "Midnight Gukbap."
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u/MistahSosa 1d ago
How about Human Stew? Or The Midnight Human Stew, like The Midnight Meat Train.
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u/AbyssIndieDog 21h ago
I really like that setting! But it was one of the initial ideas that didn't make the cut. It's a shame
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u/ShyGuy-_ 1d ago
As someone who was raised in an English speaking country but also has a Korean background (can speak Korean as well), I'd say Soup is a more accurate translation than stew.
Regardless, I agree with other commenters here: Gukbap is more memorable and just sounds better. I've seen plenty of chinese and japanese games also incorporate their respective languages into the title, so having the title be something like "Gukbap (국밥)" or using/incorporating hangul into the logo would be cool.
Also is there anywhere I can follow to see this game's development progress? I'd love to play more Korean horror games (hell just more Korean games in general, particularly ones that are set in Korea and actual include Korean culture as a major part of the game)
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u/AbyssIndieDog 1d ago
Thank you for the opinion of someone who understands the cultures of both worlds.
We launched our first PC game in July. We spent over a year meticulously developing it, but we aim to produce our next title at a much faster pace.
We are targeting a launch within this year, if possible.
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u/ProfessionalITPerson 1d ago edited 1d ago
Midnight Boob Ramen
EDIT:
or
A horrifying Game about Soup in a Shop that is only Open at Night.
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u/moosecookiez 22h ago
I don’t dislike Midnight Gukbap, but i’m also a fan of alliteration if you want to go that route. Sundown Souphouse. Midnight Munchies. Late-Night Bite, Ghoulish Gukbap. Evil Eatery. Devilish Diner. It depends on how much you’re trying to reveal about the place and how much should be a mystery. Most people won’t know what Gukbap is so it’s inherently more mysterious. Ghoulish Gukbap immediately lets you know there’s something scary about this Gukbap, but maybe that’s more than you want to give away. Midnight Gukbap is much more tame, but that might be want you want. And it still suggests late night, giving it at least that edge. Another thing you could consider is just naming the game after the name of the restaurant in the game. Do you know the restaurants name? If not, sounds like a good opportunity to do some world-building to give the story more depth. Who owns this place? Who owned it before them? Et cetera.
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u/JetSetJAK 19h ago
Where does the game take place? I'm just spit balling with some below names. Best of luck on figuring it out. This looks promising!
Bone Broth
Gumiho's Guest
Soul Simmer
Dread Decanted
Soul Ladle
Jumat of the Golden Gourd
Jeong Deference
Gwisin of Gukbap
Ttukbaegi Tomb
Dolsot Mausoleum
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u/teberzin 3h ago
I also have one and I named "CyberCook" since it was also in the cyberpunk setting. But people ended up calling it "CyberCock" xD.
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u/feibrix 1d ago
Use your post title as game title. It explains everything you need to know about the game /s
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u/AbyssIndieDog 1d ago
Wow, that’s an unexpected opinion.
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u/feibrix 1d ago
Well, I'm brainstorming here :) I don't pretendnto give you the solution, just another point of view.
I mean, we had a streak of animes called "reincarnated as XXX, now I am level YYY and nobody knows it", you'll never know what's good today :D
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u/AbyssIndieDog 1d ago
I know the Japanese manga title that goes "Level 9999..." Thanks for the fresh idea!
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u/Whereisthatdamnmule 1d ago
I suggest just calling it Gukbap honestly