The Darkest Files News

Hi folks,

Thank you for 1000 Kickstarter followers! 🥳

We’re excited to announce that our Kickstarter campaign goes live on the 19th of March - and we have something special in store for you to celebrate:

We're hosting a giveaway on our Discord server, and the prize is the "General Attorney Tier"! 🎁 This means you receive instant access to the exclusive closed Beta of The Darkest Files. Be one of the first to play The Insurgent case in its entirety directly and all subsequent cases as they are completed, before anyone else. Plus, enjoy all the rewards of lower tiers like a digitally illustrated art book, the soundtrack, and your name in the credits. 👀🔍



Dive deep into the stories only touched on in our last demo. Much more gameplay time awaits you, plus the chance to give us your feedback!
As a special thank you, your name will also be featured in-game - in a petition in the newspaper, signed by you, the people who support the work of the investigators! 🕵️

➡️ Join our Discord server here and have a look at the announcements channel on how to participate.

You can also still follow us on Kickstarter here or join our newsletter here!

Stay tuned for more details on the Kickstarter campaign and a big thank you for your support! 🧡


Btw: You can also find us on Twitter, Instagram & Co.!
Twitter | Instagram | Tiktok | YouTube | Join our Discord!

Hi folks,

Get ready for an incredible 2024 - We will release "The Darkest Files" in the new year! To make it even more spectacular, we're launching a Kickstarter campaign, and we want YOU on board! 🧡

While the core game is funded, thanks to the Medienboard and Bundesförderung, your support ensures we can develop exciting extra content, as well as a Switch port!
But to do this, we need your support! There are so many projects and games on Kickstarter these days, that a single project can get lost or overseen easily.
Projects that have a high number of followers on Kickstarter get featured from day one and have a much higher chance to succeed.
Therefore we kindly ask you to go to Kickstarter and click the green button to get notified once the project starts.

This way, you support the game and make it more likely for us to do a successful campaign, but you also never miss out and enjoy perks like time limited Early Bird tiers! Your Follow helps us grow our community and to share our game with more detectives. 🕵️‍🔍



By supporting us, you're helping us:
✨ Developing more true crime cases for you to solve
✨ Giving you the opportunity to play before release and
✨ Bringing "The Darkest Files" to Nintendo Switch

Thank you for your support, it really means the world to us! Let's do this together 🧡

As a little treat and thank you, here is our brand new gameplay trailer for you to watch - hope you enjoy!

Btw: You can also find us on Twitter, Instagram & Co.!
Twitter | Instagram | Tiktok | YouTube | Join our Discord!

Psst, do you want to know a secret? 🔍 This is a screenshot from our next case, which we are developing right now! Take a closer look at this scene. What could have unfolded in this flat? 🤔

In "The Darkest Files," you're the detective! Interview witnesses, search documents, and build your theory on the Blueprint Board to uncover the secrets hidden in these walls. One thing's for sure, it's a puzzle waiting to be solved, and you're the one to crack the code. 🕵️‍

What do you think happened here? Share your theories in our Discord and follow us on Steam for more updates on the mysteries coming your way in "The Darkest Files"!

P.S. You can find a video of the flat in our Discord too!



Btw: You can also find us on Twitter, Instagram & Co.!
Twitter | Instagram | Tiktok | YouTube | Join our Discord!

Solving crimes is not an easy task. That's where the Blueprint Board comes in handy! It's your tool to reconstruct the crime, connect the dots, and uncover the truth in “The Darkest Files”. 🕵️

Here's how it works: With the information you gathered through interviews with witnesses and by searching through documents, you step into the shoes of an investigator. On the Blueprint Board, you'll find the floor plan of the crime scene and solve the puzzle.

As you follow a timeline, you can place witnesses or suspects exactly where they were at crucial moments. You'll assign actions to them, determining who gave the orders or who pulled the trigger. You can even compare statements from the suspects on the board. This allows you to gain insight into who may be lying and who is telling the truth! With the Blueprint Board you will build your theory, the foundation for defending the case in court. ⚖️



Did you know? The mechanics of the Blueprint Board were tested with you, the community, ensuring it's intuitive and that the challenge is perfectly balanced. Play “The Darkest Files” and unravel the mystery! 🧡

Wishlist here to help us reach more people with The Darkest Files 🧡

Btw: You can also find us on Twitter, Instagram & Co.!
Twitter | Instagram | Tiktok | YouTube | Join our Discord!

Hi folks!

Hooray! We have successfully survived Gamescom 2023! 🎉
For us, Gamescom is something very special every year. Since the founding of Paintbucket in 2018, we have been there with one of our games in every year the fair has taken place. 🎮



It's incredibly stressful, hot, crowded and loud, but it's also a wonderful reunion of indies, gamers, people from the press etc. every time. - and it's just nice to meet once a year in this setting.

On Tuesday, Jörg, Mona, Jona, and Hanna arrived and set up our stand in the Indie Arena - it turned out quite well, didn't it? 🤗



The next day we already started - it's trade visitor day. The first interviews about our game are in the can and also Hanna, our newly appointed Community Manager, gave her first interview in her life. And with success! 🧡

We can't complain about the press response either, we were streamed on IGN, and got a few articles, including on Heise, and for SPIEGEL Online The Darkest Files was even one of the ten highlights of the fair, alongside heavyweights like Starfield! 😮

Here are a few examples (all in German, though):
Heise | Tagesspiegel | Spiegel | Spielpunkt

The people from Game Two also came to our stand and played The Darkest Files and reported on it in one of their latest videos.

The press and their opinion is of course important for us and one of the reasons why we show our games at Gamescom. But even more important is the community, the gamers, many of whom have seen The Darkest Files for the first time. ☝️

On Thursday, Gamescom was open to everyone. Our 4 game stations were manned throughout. People were often waiting and we didn't miss the chance to talk to them and tell them about The Darkest Files and the development!



Later, our Lead Artist Viv also arrived in Cologne to help out at the booth for the next few days. In the evening we went to the annual industry party right on the Rhine. We ate delicious food, met up with old friends and shook a leg. 💃🏼



But not for too long, because we had to go back to Düsseldorf! There we stayed in a hotel for the Gamescom. The hotels in Cologne are usually booked up well in advance, so it's impossible to get a room in Cologne that's affordable for small indies like us. And hey, the train is a quick way to get from Düsseldorf to Cologne and back, right? RIGHT???
The trains were full. Very full. And regularly late. As I said at the beginning: Gamescom is stressful, hot, crowded and loud - and that's even more true for the Gamescom trains.
It was ... terrible ... I won't lie. But somehow we always made it back. 🧡



From Friday afternoon onwards, it was just Hanna and Viv at Gamescom, looking after the stand! From the Indie Arena there was coffee and tea, and at lunchtime there were always vegan hot dogs. That, and the fruit and fruit bars we brought with us, was all we ate. 😁

Fortunately, the temperatures were mild. Last year it was a good 30 degrees in Cologne, but this time it even rained and it was a pleasant 20 - 25 degrees.

On Sunday evening, Hanna and Viv also went back to Berlin. The stand was dismantled, the equipment given out by the Indie Arena was returned, merch was packed up, and then it was off to Cologne main station. The train was on time, and there were free seats! Woohoo!



If you want to see more of our time at Gamescom, check out our Tiktok channel . There we uploaded a video every day during the fair. We also kept our Twitter and Instagram account busy with pictures. 🕵️‍♀️

If you haven't played The Darkest Files demo yet, you should do so! A demo from the beginning of the year is available for you to play on our shop page. Feel free to put the game on your wishlist if you haven't done so yet, and what helps us especially is if you also follow us on Steam! If you do, you'll also get regular updates from the production and behind the scenes - like this one.



Thank you! 🧡

Have you ever been to a Gamescom? And if so, how did you like it? And if not, would you like to go there?

What appeals to you about such an event? The games, the developers, the influencers?

Let us know in the comments, in the forum or on our Discord!