Language Issues!

As far as spelling goes, poor translation is one of the largest hurdles for European games entering the U.S. market. Many of the translations that I've seen have been absolutely dreadful, particularly with crowdsourced games, which leads to customer dissatisfaction. "Great game, too bad the instructions are almost unreadable" sums up several reviews that I've seen in recent years. I see this as a particular problem for something like a trivia game, which requires a colloquial knowledge of the language. Text can easily end up garbled or stiltedly formal, which detracts from the fun.

One of the problems with you translating for playtesters is that you'll never know if there are inherent problems with the card texts themselves. People also tend to be more forgiving with someone looking over their shoulder, doing the work for them, as they don't want to hurt your feelings. You'll need professional proofing at some point. As far as whether the publisher would be willing to accrue such an expense probably depends on sales in your own country and whether your game could compete with the hundreds of other trivia games on the market. Even games with nearly flawless English will need professional editing before going to market, so I expect that a poorly translated game is just as desirable as the many submissions they receive from native speakers that are rife with typos and grammatical errors -- which is not at all. Good editors get paid more than authors are paid for writing.

You mention another issue in your last paragraph, cultural differences. Have you played any U.S. trivia games? Off-hand, I would guess that trivia games on this side of the pond are a pretty solid middle-class, middle-aged entertainment. Outside of Trivial Pursuit, the "classic" that many people feel obliged to own, they are usually disposable mass market titles with little replay or resale value. Many target niche markets, like fans of a particular movie or television franchise. In my experience, the most enthusiastic players I've seen are strong conformists who enjoy trivia for its utility as water cooler conversation material but have a narrow range of personal experience, which leaves them unreceptive to new concepts. I feel that a game being too "European" would be an obstacle in this market. Of course, much of this is mere conjecture based on observation. The best course of action for a European trivia game, in my opinion, would be to play up the continental aspect and target the hipster demographic.

All-in-all, my experience has been that you don't make work for the publisher, unless you have already demonstrated your worth and have a preexisting relationship with them. If you are just going door-to-door with your hat in hand then it is far better to show that dealing with you is easier than anyone else. Nobody wants a Prima Donna.

So let me get this straight.

You're creating a game using extrinsic information (information that has to be obtained outside of game) in English, where English isn't your primary language and neither is your play test group? But for some reason, you want to make the game in a language that's not your own?

I think the answer is simple. Just make the game in your native language. If the game is good in your own language, finding support for English should be easier.

I don't want to sound like I'm slamming you; I'm not. I'm just thinking it would be so much easier to do it in your own language so you can worry more about the game itself instead of concentrating too much about how it's written.

One difficulty is not knowing where you are from or what sort of trivia your game deals with. If you are targeting the British market then are you familiar with their vernacular and culture? Their speech is just as rife, if not more so, with idioms than American English. If your game is trivia about the Roman Empire then all of that hardly matters, but contemporary trivia is built on cultural inside references.

To give you an idea of what your game would need editing-wise, I'll offer up a quick proofread of your post (I do this professionally). Were I to do the same revision for an English audience then the wording would be different, as would the grammar (no comma before "and," for example, commas outside of quotations, etc.). This is just to demonstrate the "before" and "after" with editing and changes for easier colloquial reading.

"Thank you for your quick replies!

I am not translating my game into English. It was written in English to begin with. I don’t intend to bother with my own country. My efforts are directed toward a British audience, but I may approach some American publishers too.

I am a certified English language teacher and even practice it from time-to-time. I also had some additional *friendly help* from other semi-pros, so it is not THAT bad. Proofreading is beyond my reach though, as it has to do with spacing, punctuation, and small details that I don't wholly grasp, even in my native language. At a glance, professional proofreading would cost about 3,000 Euros, which is out of the question. However, I just found some groups on Facebook, so I guess that they can help . . ."