Donkey Kong Bananza Secret Code Decoded

Successfully deciphering a secret in-game language is an achievement in itself, but cracking the code before a game even launches? That's precisely what YouTuber 2Chrispy has (somehow) accomplished for Donkey Kong Bananza.

Much like how players unraveled the hidden language in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, 2Chrispy used trailers, previews, and even the Nintendo Today app to decode the Ancient Monkey Scrolls found in Kong's upcoming adventure.

"The trailer was packed with hidden details," 2Chrispy noted in a fantastic video outlining his methods. "But the banana language really grabbed my attention. Watch to see how I decoded and interpreted every monkey letter I could find."

By cleverly identifying that an in-game item was officially named the "Chip Exchange," Chrispy performed painstaking, frame-by-frame analysis to map out nearly the entire banana alphabet — or what he calls the "Bananabet" — with just five characters remaining unsolved.

Armed with his newfound decoding skills, 2Chrispy has translated almost every sign, note, and document visible in the released footage. To discover their meanings, check out Chrispy2's YouTube video.

For example, in one screenshot, 2Chrispy translated an overhead sign reading "welcome," a neon sign saying "factory," and a snow level sign labeled "ice." He also interpreted various notices with words like "hint," "item," and a sign stating: "Message. Thank you for reading. Someone."

"I'm excited to see what other written content we'll discover in the game," he added. "Could there be nods to DK lore? Missing Kongs? Any references to the Kremlings or King K. Rool?"

"Bananza looks set to be one of the most visually stunning Nintendo games I’ve seen," we wrote in our Donkey Kong Bananza first hands-on preview. "It really leverages the Switch 2's hardware — the environments are breathtaking, DK's animations are wonderfully expressive, and I came away feeling like the next generation of first-party Nintendo games had truly arrived."

Now that we finally have a release date and tech specs for the highly anticipated Switch successor — the Nintendo Switch 2 — as well as insight into first-party game pricing on the new console, explore our deep dive where we consult industry experts. For the latest on the Nintendo Switch 2, you can review everything shown at last month's Nintendo Direct. Donkey Kong Bananza launches on July 17 for $69.99, exclusively on the Nintendo Switch 2.