The gameplay itself feels like a management simulator meets visual narrative. Most of the gameplay is planning missions such as this where you select what to do, weigh the risks, and try to pick the right resistance members for the job. While you can’t change the bigger events and you can’t overthrow Hitler, you can try to save as many people as possible and keep your different ideologies alive. Through choosing dialogue, planning missions, and managing your money, supporters, and suspicion, you try to keep your resistance movement alive for as long as possible. You play through four chapters of events and objectives through 1933 through 1945 in Berlin, Germany.
Through the Darkest of Times places you in 1930’s Germany as the a leader of a Nazi-resistance group. And that’s about the logic I went into Through the Darkest of Times with. It’s like when I hated sleeping on the floor at sleepovers so I’d try sleeping in their wooden dining chair for a few hours- suddenly the floor felt like clouds. Even more terrifying, confining, and uncertain. Between the pandemic, racial and political turmoil, issue after issue, and the unending spiral of uncertainty that is absolutely everything- I’m down to take a break from 2020 United States. So, it’s no secret that 2020 has kind of sucked. Most of the game focuses on your resistance group and all its members, their stories, and all of your survival as Nazi Germany rises, thrives, and falls. There are some references to alcohol or smoking but rare. There are a few bad words, but they are very rare. You won’t see much, but there were several allusions to everything from bullying, mobs, and petty cruelty to concentration camps and massacres. There are some Biblical references in conversations or events. You meet and discuss Hitler’s rise and actions with Christians, with various reactions. Through the Darkest of Times thrusts you into Nazi Germany, trying to survive and keep together a Nazi resistance group made up of everyday Germans. While you can’t stop World War II or overthrow Hitler, you can play a role in how much damage is done and see how everyday Germans resisted, fought, and survived in the midst of so much terror and injustice. It also recently came out on the Switch, giving you another way to resist Hitler in game form. The details and everyday nature of Through the Darkest Times make it eerie and engaging, while complex yet approachable gameplay can either excite or frustrate. You’re the leader of a resistance group in Nazi Germany, witnessing first-hand the atrocities of the Third Reich all while trying to resist and stay alive. Historical accuracy means that your small group of resistance fighters will not change the outcome of the war, nor will you prevent all of the Nazi’s atrocities, but you can certainly do everything in your power to save as many lives as you can and oppose the fascist system wherever possible.Set in 1930’s Germany, Through the Darkest of Times is an indie strategy game that asks you to survive through just that-one of the darkest eras in modern history. Through the Darkest of Times is a historical resistance strategy game, focusing on conveying the somber mood of the period and the very real struggles of average people living in the 3rd Reich. And all of that while staying undercover – if the regime’s forces learn about your group, the life of each member is in grave danger. Your goal is to deal with small blows to the regime – dropping leaflets to spread awareness about what the Nazis are really up to among the people, painting messages on walls, sabotaging, gathering information and recruiting more followers. You are the leader of a small resistance group in 1933’s Berlin, of ordinary people, from Jews to Catholics and Communists to Patriots who simply can’t stand aside.
The risk of losing everything, including our loved ones. The risk of being beaten up or even killed by the German military because we‘re opposing the regime. The risk to be caught by patrolling National Socialists, looking for people who publicly stand against their point of view.