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Press release:
Berlin / Giebelstadt, Germany, December 12, 2019: Dark times mean fear and risks. The risk to be caught by patrolling National Socialists, looking for people who publicly stand against their point of view.

The risk of being beaten up or even killed by the German military because we’re opposing the regime. The risk of losing everything, including our loved ones.

We chose to fight. We founded a secret group, convinced our families and friends, and started to spread the word about the government suppressing and killing people.

We share pamphlets, spy on despicable institutions and gather resources to find more supporters for our resistance. Living in fear of being caught every single day. Shaking whenever we feel watched or hear someone knocking at the door at night. This is how we live. This is how we try to survive. Through the darkest of times.

“The history of liberty is a history of resistance.”
– Woodrow Wilson.

This is the setting of “Through the Darkest of Times” from Paintbucket Games. 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 goal is to deal 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.

About Through the Darkest of Times:
Through the Darkest of Times is a historical resistance strategy game. The game’s focus lies on conveying the grim mood of the period and the very real struggles of average people living in the 3rd Reich.

Historical accuracy means that a small group of resistance fighters will not change the outcome of the war, nor will they prevent all of the Nazi’s atrocities, but they will certainly do everything in their power to save as many lives as they can and inhibit the fascist system whenever possible.

Features:
– Experience the Darkest of Times in 4 chapters
– Fight for freedom, weaken the regime and lead your resistance group
– Plan activities, find collaborators and try not to get caught
– Feel the weight of responsibility as you make difficult decisions and face the dire consequences
– Beautifully illustrated expressionistic scenes and events

Through the Darkest of Times is developed by Berlin-based Studio Paintbucket Games and will be published by HandyGames, a THQ Nordic family member. The game will be released on January 30th, 2020 for PC and MAC.

About Paintbucket Games:
Paintbucket Games was founded by two ex-AAA developers, Jörg Friedrich and Sebastian St. Schulz, to be able to make more relevant games. They met at YAGER, while making Spec Ops The Line, and also worked together on Dead Island 2, Dreadnought, Albion Online, Drakensang, Yager (the game), Desperados 2 and others.

Both have been making games for more than 14 years and have worked 10 of those years together. Since 2018 they are being published by HandyGames and the size of the TTDOT team has since increased in size.

About HandyGames
HandyGames™ is a THQ Nordic family member and operates as an international publisher for mid-sized projects and developers for a worldwide audience.

The focus lies on creating and publishing games for current gen consoles like PlayStation®4, the Xbox One family of devices including Xbox One X or Nintendo Switch™ as well as games for Steam and many other PC gaming distribution channels.

HandyGames™ produces titles for new innovative gaming platforms, for example VR (Virtual Reality) on Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Samsung Gear VR, but also offers games of all kind of genres for Android smartphones and tablets, Apple iPhones, iPads and many other mobile and smart devices.

As a games company and that is truly passionate about gaming, we always strive for gameplay innovation. We received the German Developer Award as “Best German Game Studio” in 2015 and produced and published award-winning games of virtually every video gaming genre imaginable for a diverse range of audiences and gameplay styles. One example is “Townsmen VR” which was awarded with the German Games Award 2018 in the category “Best Game Design”.