Planet of Lana 2: Children of the Leaf<\/em> opens with its teen hero explaining the events of the 2023 original to refresh players on the science-fiction puzzle platformer\u2019s plot and setting. It\u2019s the only time English is spoken in the game. The rest of the time, Wishfully Studios\u2019 developers build on the game\u2019s eerie mystery by having the characters speak in what co-director Klas Martin Eriksson calls \u201ca gibberish language.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThe language has grown with the scope of the IP,\u201d Eriksson told Polygon in a video call. \u201cIt was an interesting process of evolving the language. You\u2019re jumping between a spreadsheet and a script and tweaking words that sound good or not so good. It\u2019s so much fun. It\u2019s the most fun I\u2019ve ever had.\u201d<\/p>\n The language Lana speaks began with the four commands that she uses to guide her cat-like companion Mui when solving puzzles. But like all aspects of the game, it grew richer in the sequel, which includes more dialogue. Wishfully Studios will be selling a primer for the language in a planned deluxe version of Children of the Leaf<\/em>, though you don\u2019t need it to follow the conversations. Even though the characters also lack facial features, they manage to convey meaning through tone and body language.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s the old saying, \u2018Show, don\u2019t tell,’\u201d Eriksson said. \u201cIf you just remove your own ability to tell, then you have no choice but to show. But it also makes you realize quickly, from a directorial point of view, just how many tools we actually do have at our disposal. The music helps tell the story along with the animation team.\u201d<\/p>\n In the original game, Lana discovers the history of the planet Novo and the relationship between the humans and robots there in part through playing notes from composer Takeshi Furukawa\u2019s moody score.<\/p>\n \u201cMusic is the universal language,\u201d Eriksson said. \u201cEveryone understands the sour note. If you take the Progeny theme, as we call it, these five notes have a very specific emotion attached to them. Then you jumble them up and make them all corrupted and weird. It tells a story that, at some point, something has gone wrong here and we need to bring balance and harmony back.\u201d<\/p>\n While Eriksson admits that writing without dialogue is often challenging, he also believes that it forces players to focus more.<\/p>\n \u201cThe big streaming services encourage writers to put exposition in dialogue way more than they used to, because they know that people are on their phones while they\u2019re watching the show. It just feels like a sad state of affairs if you\u2019re actively catering to that instead of trying to challenge it,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m a firm believer that you can set the stage and say, \u2018This is how we\u2019re telling our story, and if you\u2019re here for it, then you need to pay attention, but it is going to pay off.’\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Lana](\"https:\/\/static0.polygonimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/pol_ii_screenshot_vista_night.jpg?q=49&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=2\")
\n <\/picture>Image: Wishfully Studios<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n![\"Lana](\"https:\/\/static0.polygonimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/pol_ii_screenshot_rakuship.jpg?q=49&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=2\")
\n <\/picture>Image: Wishfully Studios<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n