Through the Darkest of
Times Review

Through the Darkest of Times (2020) is a strategy game that conveys the sombre mood of the dark period of history between January 1933 and May 1945. With interactive drama, it tells the story and the struggles of average people living in the 3^rd Reich.

You play the role of the leader of a small resistance group in 1930’s Berlin. You are ordinary people, from Jews to Catholics and Communists to Patriots who simply can’t stand aside. As the game advances week by week, 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. 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.

You can play Resistance mode where decisions are final and you can't revert to previous save files. If you fail you can only redo the last day. There is an easier Story mode that offers multiple save points.

The story is told through text descriptions and animated scenes. You affect the story by choosing dialogue and making decisions. You choose missions to advance your cause, each of which have different levels of risk and requires specific skills.

It's a game that aims to be historically accurate. The game plays in turns and chapters. Every turn is one week and every chapter is covering a specific period of the Third Reich: Seizure of Power (1933), Peak (1936), War (1940/1941), Collapse (1944/1945). 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 still do everything in your power to save as many lives as you can and oppose the fascist system wherever possible.

Our examiner, Andy Robertson, first checked Through the Darkest of Times 3 years ago. It was re-examined by Jo Robertson and updated 19 months ago.