game

coming soon!

The Rescue & Resistance Learning Center and Paint Bucket Games are collaborating on the development of an all-action strategy game. “Not On Our Watch!” is a digital game for tablets and desktop computers in which players take on the role of a young Jewish-Hungarian resistance fighter who in 1944 sets up a resistance cell, resists the Nazis and tries to save as many people as possible from deportation to Auschwitz.

The game is based on the historical experiences of the real-life resistance fighters, around David Gur, who, together with his comrades-in-arms, procured the documents that enabled thousands to leave Hungary and saved them from becoming victims of the Nazi Final Solution.

game concept

“Rescue and Resistance” Game Concept

A historical resistance strategy game about the civilian resistance in Hungary in 1944,
developed by: ©Paintbucket Games.

Creative vision

Gameplay experience

Developer

Scope and Effort Estimate

creative vision

"Not on our watch!"

We learn history not only at school, but also from the stories of our parents, grandparents, books, films and, for some years now from computer games. Games are the narrative medium of the 21st century. Telling the most important stories of history through games is crucial to preserve it and keep up the memories.

“Rescue and Resistance” (working title) is a digital game for desktop computers in which players take on the role of a young Jewish-Hungarian resistance fighter who in 1944 sets up a Zionist resistance cell, resists the Nazis and tries to save as many people as possible from deportation to Auschwitz.

The game is based on the historical experiences of the real-life resistance fighters, around David Gur, who, together with his comrades-in-arms, procured the documents that enabled tens of thousands to leave for Israel and saved them from becoming victims of the Nazi Final Solution.

gameplay experience

“Rescue and Resistance” is a genre mix of adventure and strategy game, that lets you play a civilian resistance group in Hungary during the Nazi-time.

You play the leader of the group and plan and execute actions of the group in turns. The goal is to persist as a resistance group, resist the Nazis and rescue as many people as you can. In order to achieve that goal you need to win supporters and build up your network, while balancing the morale of your members, getting resources to execute actions and avoiding getting caught by the Gestapo.

During narrative events the game conveys the somber mood of the period and the very real struggles of average people living in Nazi era Hungary and you need to make moral decisions which feed back into the gameplay.

Players will meet and interact with historical persons like Raoul Wallenberg in the game and reenact actions of historical resistance fighters like David Gur, from forging documents to hiding persecuted to getting people over the border. The game stays as historically accurate as possible, which 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 regime wherever possible.

Strategy Mode

The strategy mode requires players to tactically plan the group's actions, obtain and budget resources, and consider which group members are best suited for which action.

In doing so, the game depicts the historical challenges, problems and dangers that the resistance groups in Hungary had to overcome.

Narrative events

In regular narrative events, players experience life in occupied Hungary through the eyes of their character. They personally experience historical events, are confronted with dilemmas and have to make difficult moral decisions where there is often no clear right or wrong.

developer

The game would be developed by Paintbucket Games in close cooperation with Rescue & Resistance. Paintbucket Games is an award winning studio from Berlin. In 2020 Paintbucket Games released their game ”Through the Darkest of Times” about civilian resistance fighters in Nazi era Berlin.

Since then, the studio has released two more titles among them one serious game that’s focused on Nazi forced labour in cooperation with the NS-Dokumentationszentrum Munich.

scope and effort estimate

The game aims for an average playtime of 90 minutes, making it ideal for school lessons. It will cover 10 historical months and offer five historical, 32 actions, 20 group events and around 30 unique characters.
The structure of the game allows it to be replayed several times, try out different strategies and discuss advantages and disadvantages or individual play experiences among learning groups.