LIMO: "Language Industry Monopoly"

The first role-playing game of the language industry

What is LIMO?

LIMO (Language Industry Monopoly) is a board game developed by SZOFT. The game conveys one of our key messages: it is best to view the language services market as a single, multi-actor system. You can be a freelance translator or interpreter, a project manager at a translation agency, a CEO, a part of the sales team, a DTP expert or a language engineer, we all play the same game and we can all benefit from trying to walk a bit in one another’s shoes and understand one another a little better.

SZOFT plays LIMO: when and with whom?

With university students, fresh graduates, members, literary translators (as a result of the cooperation between SZOFT and MEGY, the Association of Literary Translators, there is a literary translation version of the game), with LSP employees at office visits and team-building events, at conferences and other professional events...

A fresh graduate about playing LIMO

‘In this interactive game, we had to respond to a fictitious assignment from a fictitious client, provide a quote and discuss the questions and problems that came up. The game presented the work of people in various positions at a translation agency and the difficulties they face through specific, life-like situations. Participants played the role of various translation agency employees and tested their skills in the communication between the actors of the translation process, representing and promoting their own interests. The roles included a client, a freelance translator, an interpreter, a project manager, a vendor manager, a sales team member, a language lead, a reviewer and a DTP expert. We discussed price calculation, deadlines, non-disclosure agreements and their pitfalls, liquidated damages, non-compete clauses, how different formats can be handled and what difficulties we may come across in the course of a translation/interpretation job.

With the role-play activity we got a bit of an insight into the process of translation/interpretation assignments, as we took a look at every stage, actor and situation from placing the order to delivery/performance. Interpreters/translators are cogs in the wheel and only see a tiny part of language services, and LIMO simulates this complex and complicated process really well.’

Would you like to contribute to the game?

LIMO is based on situations described on small cards. If you come across a situation in your work which is about asserting your interests and which calls for a LIMO card, describe the situation in a few words and send it to szoft.org@gmail.com if you would like us to add it to the game.

Limo card sample: