In Lost Twins 2, we wanted players to dive straight into the world, no reading required. That led us to one of our most challenging (and rewarding) design experiments yet: a completely textless UI.
No labels, no instructions, no language barriers. Just icons. Here’s why we did it, what nearly broke us, and why we might just do it again. The decision to go completely icon-based in Lost Twins 2 wasn’t just a visual experiment. It was a deliberate design philosophy driven by a mix of accessibility, immersion, and practicality.
Why We Did It?
The idea came from two main goals:
Language Independence – One of our core goals was to make Lost Twins 2 truly universal. A game that anyone, anywhere could pick up and play without language being a barrier. Whether you’re a kid in Japan, a parent in Brazil, or a teen in Germany, the experience should feel native to you. By relying solely on icons and visual cues, we skipped the need for translations and localization entirely. No lengthy localization pipelines. No concerns about mistranslations or awkward phrasing. No walls between players and the game. Icons, when done well, speak a language that crosses borders. And in a global gaming landscape, that’s powerful.
Clean, Immersive Design – Lost Twins 2 is crafted to feel like a dreamy, storybook world. Every screen, every moment is carefully illustrated and designed to pull players in. Text, no matter how well written, can sometimes pull players out.
And Honestly… Sanity
Let’s not pretend we didn’t have selfish reasons too.
If you’ve ever had to QA a game in eight languages while checking for font issues, line breaks, or missing context… you know the pain.
Every new language brings its own technical and cultural quirks, not to mention the cost and overhead of managing updates across them all. By removing that layer entirely, we freed up time and energy to focus on polishing the core experience .
Challenges We Faced
1. Making icons that actually make sense
A heart for "life" is easy. But how do you communicate “Save Game” or “Control Scheme” visually? Some icons went through 10+ iterations before we landed on ones that clicked.
2. Player understanding
Our first playtesters? Confused. Some icons missed the mark entirely. We had to refine onboarding to teach through action, not explanation. It was all about learn-by-doing.
3. No fallback
With no text, there was nowhere to hide. No hover-to-explain, no in-game glossary. If it wasn’t intuitive, it didn’t work. We had to rethink our UX from the ground up.
What Worked
Once it clicked, testers LOVED it. The interface feels slick and universal. Some said it reminded them of early Nintendo-era games that relied on intuition over instruction.
Works great across languages and age groups. We had kids and non-English speakers play it with no problem once they got used to the icon logic.
It made us more creative as designers. No crutches. Everything had to be shown, not told.
What’s Next
Still fine-tuning a few icons that aren’t as clear as we’d like. We’re also considering a super minimal tutorial area where players can “play-learn” the meaning of core icons without breaking the vibe.
Going icon-only isn’t easy. But it pushed us to design better, think globally, and build a game that speaks in visuals, not words. If you’re building a game where mood and accessibility matter, we can’t recommend this approach enough. Just be ready to test, test, and test again.
Best,
Playdew Team