Donkey Kong Bananza's Secret Language Revealed and Translated

Cracking a secret in-game language is an impressive feat on its own—but doing it *before* the game even launches? That’s exactly what YouTuber 2Chrispy has accomplished with Donkey Kong Bananza.

Following in the footsteps of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom fans who uncovered its hidden text, 2Chrispy meticulously analyzed trailers, preview footage, and even the Nintendo Today app to decode the Ancient Monkey Scrolls featured in Donkey Kong’s latest adventure.

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

By noticing the official name of an in-game item—“Chip Exchange”—and through careful frame-by-frame analysis, 2Chrispy successfully identified all but five characters in the banana-based alphabet, which he dubbed the “Bananabet.”

With this breakthrough, he has now translated nearly every sign, note, and written document visible in released footage. For full translations, check out Chrispy2's YouTube video.

For example, he uncovered an overhead sign reading “welcome,” a neon-style sign labeled “factory,” and an icy level sign spelling out “ice.” He also translated notes marked “hint,” “item,” and one particularly curious message: “Message. Thank you for reading. Someone.”

"I'm excited to see what other text we'll find in the game," 2Chrispy said. "Could we see references to DK lore? Missing Kongs? Any mention of the Kremlings or King K. Rool?"

We previously noted that Donkey Kong Bananza “is on track to be one of the most gorgeous Nintendo games we’ve seen,” praising its visual fidelity and expressive animations as evidence that a new era of Nintendo titles has arrived.

Now that we have a confirmed release date and detailed tech specs for the Nintendo Switch 2, along with insights into potential first-party pricing, you can dive deeper into our expert-led Switch 2 deep dive. Catch up on everything shown at the latest Nintendo Direct for more updates.

Donkey Kong Bananza releases July 17, 2025, priced at $69.99, exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2.