Cultural adaptations

Most names and titles in the game are translated using established equivalents: the official Ukrainian dub of the trilogy (ICTV, TV+ studio) and Ukrainian Wikipedia. But some names were deliberately adapted by the author so that the game sounds natively Ukrainian rather than like a calque. This page records those decisions so that nobody “fixes” them by accident.

Character names

ID	Original	Literal translation	Ukrainian version	Version
151	Jungle Guide	Провідник джунглів	Валєра (Valera)	0.1.9
107	Boy Scout	Бойскаут	Пластун (Plastun)	0.1.9
168	Bandit	Бандит	Бандюган (Bandiuhan)	0.1.9
184	Grave Robber 1	Грабіжник могил 1	Чорний археолог 1 (Chornyi arkheoloh — “black archaeologist”)	0.1.9
185	Grave Robber 2	Грабіжник могил 2	Чорний археолог 2	0.1.9
186	Shanghai Hoodlum 1	Шанхайський хуліган 1	Шанхайський батяр 1 (Shanghai batiar)	0.1.9
187	Shanghai Hoodlum 2	Шанхайський хуліган 2	Шанхайський батяр 2	0.1.9
85	Stranger	Незнайомець	Форелька (Forelka; the first custom character)	0.1.10
—	Stranger 2	Незнайомець 2	Льоля (Lolia; the second custom character)	0.1.10

Валєра (Valera)

A deliberate, playful renaming of an ordinary guide, inspired by the Ukrainian dub of Cars. The spelling is specifically «Валєра». The renaming applies only to ID 151 and does not extend to other guides.

Пластун (Plastun)

Plast is the Ukrainian scouting organization, and a «пластун» (plastun) is one of its members. Here «Пластун» is the cultural equivalent of the Boy Scout role. It is not a claim that a fictional American character belongs to Plast, nor a universal replacement for the word “scout” in every context.

Бандюган, чорний археолог, батяр

• Бандюган (bandiuhan) — a colloquial, slightly ironic word for a thug that suits a LEGO character better than the dry «бандит» (“bandit”). Other bandits in the game keep their names.
• Чорний археолог (chornyi arkheoloh, “black archaeologist”) — the Ukrainian term for illegal diggers who loot heritage sites. It conveys the essence of Grave Robber precisely and adds irony in a game about an archaeologist.
• Батяр (batiar) — a Galician word for a cocky urban rake. «Шанхайський батяр» sounds livelier than «хуліган» (“hooligan”). The option «Харциз» (khartsyz, “brigand”) was considered and rejected. The numbers 1/2 are kept.

Форелька and Льоля (Forelka and Lolia)

The two custom characters in the editor get their names automatically from ID 85 and a number (Stranger 1, Stranger 2). The author decided to give them distinct, affectionate names without numbers: the first is «Форелька» (Forelka, literally “little trout”), the second «Льоля» (Lolia). Technically, the plugin redirects the name formatting to achieve this (character-editor.md). Names already written in old saves stay unchanged.

Game terms

Original	Translation	Explanation
Studs / Treasure (currency)	круглики (kruhlyky)	LEGO “studs” are the round bumps on a brick; «круглики» (“little rounds”) sounds like money and is not confused with bricks as parts. Ordinary parts remain «цеглинки» (bricks).
Treasure Magnet	Магніт кругликів	by the same rule
Character Treasure	Круглики за ворогів	defeated enemies drop kruhlyky
Poo Treasure	Какашковий скарб (“poo treasure”)	a deliberate joke exception to the currency rule
Extras	Бонуси	menu name
Posted	Відправлено	parcel status
Parcel / Parcel Detector / Mail Room	Посилка / Детектор посилок / Поштова кімната
Fast Build	Швидке будівництво
Holy Grail	Святий Ґрааль	consistently with Ґ, per the current Ukrainian orthography

Why «круглики» (kruhlyky)

In LEGO games the main currency is studs — the round bumps on top of a brick that burst out of everything you break. This game also calls them Treasure. There is no established Ukrainian word for them: the glossary research found no settled terminology for LEGO games in Steam guides, Ukrainian localization catalogues or set descriptions. So the name had to be chosen.

Option	Why not
Скарб (“treasure”, used before 0.1.5)	a literal Treasure, but the game also has real treasures and artifacts. “Treasure Magnet” and “Treasure x2” mixed money up with valuables, and the plural (“double treasures”) sounded odd
Шпильки / шипи (“pins / spikes”)	technically a translation of stud, but players read it as hairpins or thorns, not money
Цеглинки (“bricks”)	the game already has real bricks — build pieces and the red bricks that unlock extras; currency and pieces would share one word
Монети (“coins”)	close in meaning, but generic for any game; loses the LEGO character and the recognisable shape

Круглики (“little round ones”) describes exactly what the player sees: a round, coin-like piece. It is a playful Ukrainian diminutive that matches the tone of the game, declines easily and combines well: «Магніт кругликів» (Stud Magnet), «Круглики x2», «Подвійні круглики!», «Круглики за ворогів» (Character Studs). It clashes with nothing else in the game, so one word covers both Studs and Treasure. The single deliberate exception is какашковий скарб (Poo Treasure) — the original’s joke, worth keeping.

Why «Бонуси» (Bonuses), not «Чити» (Cheats)

Extras is the menu where the modifiers bought with kruhlyky are switched on: the stud magnet, x2–x10 multipliers, fast build, invincibility, silly effects. Options considered:

Option	Why not
Додатково (“Additional”, before 0.1.5)	reads like “additional settings”; it is not clear there are rewards inside
Додатки (“Add-ons”)	in games and launchers this means DLC or apps
Чити (“Cheats”)	close in function, but the game presents these effects as earned rewards — unlocked with red bricks and bought with kruhlyky. “Cheat” implies cheating and does not suit a family game; the game also has a separate «Ввести код» (Enter Code) screen for real codes
Екстри (“Extras” transliterated)	a calque not every player understands

Бонуси is a short word every gamer knows for “a reward on top”. It fits the menu item and matches the rest of the texts: «Бонус розблоковано» (Extra Unlocked), «Бонус персонажа», «Бонусні круглики», «Бонус за старе збереження».

All these decisions are recorded in translations/glossary.json with the status team-approved. Terms with the status low-proposal (for example, «Мінікіт» for Minikit, «Жетон персонажа» for Character Token) are reasoned proposals, because no established Ukrainian terminology for LEGO games could be found publicly.

Rules for future changes

• An adaptation applies to a specific ID. Do not extend it automatically to similar names.
• Keep the variant numbers 1/2 wherever they exist in the original.
• Add a new adaptation to the glossary with an explanation first, and only then to the translation.

The full evidence is in the author’s research archive.