Langila

Ghally DC

About this game

You understand Lingala without speaking it. Langila starts there.

Every puzzle is a sentence whose letters have been replaced by numbers. You decode it by deduction, one letter at a time: the repeats, the short words, the endings. Nothing is guesswork, everything can be reasoned out.

When the sentence falls, it is revealed in full, with its translation, its pronunciation and its cultural context. The words it contains enter your personal dictionary, and stay there.

WHAT IS INSIDE

Proverbs, Kinshasa slang, everyday speech and the language of rumba. Chapters that open as you go, each with twelve puzzles and three levels.

A dictionary that fills itself as you play. Every word keeps the puzzle where you met it and the time you took.

A timed challenge: two minutes thirty to start with, and every letter you find adds more. A flawless puzzle earns six seconds.

An album of illustrated collectible cards, with packs to open and duplicates to trade.

A weekly league, if you want to measure yourself against others.

WHAT IS NOT INSIDE

No account required. No connection required: everything is playable offline, on a plane or underground. No countdown pressing you, no life taken away to sell you something.

Your progress lives on your phone. It goes to no server unless you ask for it.

WHO IT IS FOR

For the Congolese diaspora in Paris, Brussels, London and Montreal, who often understand Lingala without speaking it. For anyone picking it back up. For absolute beginners too: the first chapters start with three-word sentences.

Content is reviewed by native speakers. If you spot a mistake, you can report it from the app in two taps.