6 Best Spanish Video Games to Level Up Your Language Skills [2024]
If you’re a gamer and a Spanish learner, why not combine the two by playing Spanish video games?
You’ll make learning Spanish more fun, and your gaming time more productive.
In this post, I’ll share some fantastic games that can level up your Spanish, whether you’re starting as a language noob or already have some achievements under your belt.
So grab your controller and come with me. It’s time to start your most exciting quest yet!
Contents
- 1. “Rise of the Tomb Raider”
- 2. “Halo 3”
- 3. “The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom”
- 4. “PUBG: Battlegrounds”
- 5. “Dragon Age: Origins”
- 6. “Aura Kingdom”
- Can You Really Learn Spanish by Playing Video Games?
- How to Maximize Your Learning from Video Games
- And One More Thing…
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)
1. “Rise of the Tomb Raider”
Lara Croft solves riddles in a heartbeat, defies death at every turn and knows no fear. She returns to the gaming world in this thrilling adventure released in 2021.
Critics and gamers alike have raved over this one, and it’s no surprise as the “Tomb Raider” series has been a global phenomenon for years.
Lara Croft’s adventure is fully supported with gameplay in Spanish, so every feature in la búsqueda (the quest) comes to life for Spanish-learning practice. Just change your language settings in “Options” from the main menu.
There are points where the action is fast-paced, but you can pause to look up new vocabulary. And don’t forget to jot all those new words down as you learn them!
2. “Halo 3”
The destiny of life everywhere hangs at your fingertips in “Halo 3.” With only one chance to save humanity, it’s easy to forget you’re playing to intensify your Spanish skills—and not just to rescue the world!
This is a superb option for Spanish language learners because this version of “Halo 3” requires no language setting adjustment. When you buy this Spanish version, all you’ve got to do is start playing.
There are multiplayer options, and doing battle with others encourages dialogue between on-screen characters as well as real-life players.
The menu and subtitle options are still in English so there’s little chance of becoming lost as you work to conquer evil.
3. “The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom”
Who doesn’t love Zelda?
Since its release in the 1980s, the Zelda game line has been one of the best-selling, most widely-played game series in history.
Link, Zelda and the fantasy land of Hyrule have countless fans, and for good reason. With adventures, puzzles, explorations and lots of action, there’s no reason not to add this to your gaming lineup.
This highly-developed game provides extensive language opportunities, with tons of dialogue between characters.
As you play, you’ll receive hints, directions, suggestions and stories from the other characters in the game, giving you plenty of chances to flex your Spanish comprehension skills.
To play in Spanish, just change the language settings in the game options from the main menu.
4. “PUBG: Battlegrounds”
“PUBG: Battlegrounds” boasts hundreds of thousands of players and was Steam’s most-played game when it was released. Like many games Steam offers, it’s available for foreign-language play.
This is a high-action game where the last one standing is the victor. Players start the game with nothing and must equip themselves to do battle on an island. It’s anyone’s guess who will remain standing in the Battle Royale.
To switch over to Spanish, just click on “Language” in the top right and choose “Spanish” from the drop-down menu.
Any game that provides hours of strategy and thinking in Spanish is a definite bonus to a language program. Better yet, you can participate in the online community to communicate with other players.
5. “Dragon Age: Origins”
“Dragon Age: Origins” is another offering from Steam that can be played in Spanish.
This game comes with lots of dialogue so there’s ample opportunity for reading comprehension and vocabulary acquisition. Remember, when you come across unique vocabulary, just hit “Pause” and add new words to your vocabulary list.
The challenge of this game is to unite kingdoms and slay a demon. That’s a tall order in any language! There are dozens of environments, moral choices to be made and adventures to choose from as you play.
It’s so compelling that players report staying awake into the early morning hours, playing long after they should’ve quit—and any game that keeps people so immersed has value to language learning!
All that play, all those hours—in Spanish? Even without defeating the demon, that’s a sure win!
6. “Aura Kingdom”
“Aura Kingdom” is an MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online game), meaning you can interact with other players around the world in one big, virtual community.
Play with someone from a Spanish-speaking country and you’ll automatically pick up idioms and vocabulary that might not be part of your standard language program. It’s a fun way to get conversation practice that hardly feels like studying.
You can download the game for free in Spanish. Then, join the “Aura Kingdown Global” community on Discord to connect with other players.
You’ll play in the beautiful kingdom of “light and spirits” with impressive scenery and characters. When order to the kingdom is threatened, knights intervene and the plethora of dialogue and action begins. You’ll learn Spanish while restoring peace to this magical place!
“Grand Fantasia” is another game on this site that can be downloaded for free in Spanish.
Can You Really Learn Spanish by Playing Video Games?
Studies show that video games are more than just fun. They’re helpful for language acquisition in other ways, too.
The big one? Motivation. Motivation is an important factor in any language program. If you don’t want to learn, you won’t. But Spanish video games are fun adventures that don’t feel like studying—hello, motivation!
Playing games in Spanish is an authentic immersive experience that’s just pure fun. You’ll be stoked to play these games, leading to tons of Spanish-language practice, which ultimately leads to higher proficiency.
But it’s not just about logging those Spanish practice hours. Spanish video games can also directly impact your language skills.
For example, games deconstruct language. The gameplay is built on short prompts, directions, dialogue with other characters and mini-stories. Much of the language will also get repeated throughout the game. Even if you’re not able to understand everything on the screen, the manageable bites and repetition make it possible to follow along and learn new words in context.
Researchers have also found that games increase the activity in the area of our brains related to memory and learning—namely, the hippocampus. Anything that enhances our ability to learn and remember new language concepts is an instant win.
How to Maximize Your Learning from Video Games
- Choose games wisely. While it’s great to become a total game pro, the object is to power up your language skills. So choose games with lots of text and dialogue. The more you read, the larger your vocabulary becomes.
- After playing, take some time to unpack what you just learned. Write down new words you discovered, or keep a journal for writing your thoughts on the game or recording your progress—in Spanish, of course.
- Watch videos or live streams of Spanish speakers playing your favorite video games, and even join the conversation in the comments or chat.
- Take your newly acquired vocabulary beyond the video game. For example, make a flashcard deck for new words on FluentU.
FluentU takes authentic videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.
You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app or Android app.
P.S. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)
- Invite others to join in the video game adventure. Playing games with friends and family will encourage conversation, so keep it in Spanish and increase your learning! Most of all, have fun while you play for the big prize: Spanish fluency!
Now that you know why and how to use video games to learn Spanish, it’s time to get playing!
Choose your favorite Spanish video game from the list, grab a friend and watch your language skills level up as you play!
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)
And One More Thing…
If you've made it this far that means you probably enjoy learning Spanish with engaging material and will then love FluentU.
Other sites use scripted content. FluentU uses a natural approach that helps you ease into the Spanish language and culture over time. You’ll learn Spanish as it’s actually spoken by real people.
FluentU has a wide variety of videos, as you can see here:
FluentU brings native videos within reach with interactive transcripts. You can tap on any word to look it up instantly. Every definition has examples that have been written to help you understand how the word is used. If you see an interesting word you don’t know, you can add it to a vocab list.
Review a complete interactive transcript under the Dialogue tab, and find words and phrases listed under Vocab.
Learn all the vocabulary in any video with FluentU’s robust learning engine. Swipe left or right to see more examples of the word you’re on.
The best part is that FluentU keeps track of the vocabulary that you’re learning, and gives you extra practice with difficult words. It'll even remind you when it’s time to review what you’ve learned. Every learner has a truly personalized experience, even if they’re learning with the same video.
Start using the FluentU website on your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes or Google Play store. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)
