The Game Census
The Darkest Files cover art

The Darkest Files

Paintbucket Games · 2025-03-25

SteamGOG

AdventureIndieSimulation

Modes: Single player

Releases: Mar 25, 2025 (Mac), Mar 25, 2025 (PC (Microsoft Windows)), Mar 25, 2025 (PlayStation 4), Mar 25, 2025 (PlayStation 5), Mar 25, 2025 (Xbox One), Mar 25, 2025 (Xbox Series X|S)

Germany, 1956. The war is over, but justice is not served. Former Nazis walk free, while their victims lie in unmarked graves. As a prosecutor, you'll unearth long-buried evidence, confront witnesses and hunt down perpetrators. Will you have the courage to bring these "ordinary men" to court?

96%
positive of 742 reviews
Overwhelmingly Positive
steam rating
0–20,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
76/100
IGDB user rating (8 ratings)
platinum
deck/linux tier (ProtonDB)
$19.99
steam price (US)

You are Esther Katz, a young prosecutor who has just joined Fritz Bauer's new special unit. Your task seems impossible: to investigate crimes committed years ago, where evidence has been destroyed, witnesses silenced and the perpetrators embedded in the highest ranks of society. Every decision matters. Every interrogation can bring you closer to the perpetrator or lead you astray. Silence is your worst enemy. Time is working against you. And German society is not ready to face its past.(Storyline via IGDB)

Health check

Quietly active
  • · 58 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~7/week).
  • · Review velocity down 28% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Top 34% of 11,404 Adventure games in the census by review count.
Estimated sales: 15k–33k copies

Review-multiple estimate from 742 total reviews — how this is computed.

Current store prices

lowest across shops (ITAD)$11.99-40%
GOG$12.99-35%

Deal snapshots via CheapShark, refreshed daily.

All-time low: $9.99 at Steam (2026-07-20)via IsThereAnyDeal

12-month high $19.99 · on sale 35 of 57 observed days · $3.00 above the all-time low (census price snapshots)

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
848420252026Week of 2025-03-25: 84 positiveWeek of 2025-03-25: 6 negativeWeek of 2025-04-01: 29 positiveWeek of 2025-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-04-08: 16 positiveWeek of 2025-04-08: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-04-15: 21 positiveWeek of 2025-04-22: 11 positiveWeek of 2025-04-29: 7 positiveWeek of 2025-04-29: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-05-06: 9 positiveWeek of 2025-05-06: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-05-13: 5 positiveWeek of 2025-05-20: 9 positiveWeek of 2025-05-27: 11 positiveWeek of 2025-06-03: 2 positiveWeek of 2025-06-10: 3 positiveWeek of 2025-06-17: 4 positiveWeek of 2025-06-24: 2 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2025-07-08: 5 positiveWeek of 2025-07-15: 6 positiveWeek of 2025-07-22: 5 positiveWeek of 2025-07-29: 4 positiveWeek of 2025-08-05: 4 positiveWeek of 2025-08-12: 5 positiveWeek of 2025-08-19: 35 positiveWeek of 2025-08-19: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-08-26: 14 positiveWeek of 2025-09-02: 7 positiveWeek of 2025-09-02: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-09-09: 10 positiveWeek of 2025-09-09: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-09-16: 5 positiveWeek of 2025-09-23: 2 positiveWeek of 2025-09-30: 5 positiveWeek of 2025-10-07: 3 positiveWeek of 2025-10-21: 3 positiveWeek of 2025-10-28: 5 positiveWeek of 2025-11-04: 1 positiveWeek of 2025-11-11: 1 positiveWeek of 2025-11-11: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-11-18: 8 positiveWeek of 2025-11-25: 15 positiveWeek of 2025-11-25: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-12-02: 5 positiveWeek of 2025-12-02: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-12-09: 5 positiveWeek of 2025-12-16: 13 positiveWeek of 2025-12-23: 10 positiveWeek of 2025-12-30: 6 positiveWeek of 2026-01-06: 6 positiveWeek of 2026-01-13: 11 positiveWeek of 2026-01-20: 13 positiveWeek of 2026-01-27: 8 positiveWeek of 2026-02-03: 7 positiveWeek of 2026-02-10: 3 positiveWeek of 2026-02-10: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-02-17: 4 positiveWeek of 2026-02-24: 3 positiveWeek of 2026-03-03: 3 positiveWeek of 2026-03-03: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-03-10: 3 positiveWeek of 2026-03-17: 13 positiveWeek of 2026-03-24: 6 positiveWeek of 2026-03-31: 9 positiveWeek of 2026-03-31: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-04-07: 4 positiveWeek of 2026-04-14: 3 positiveWeek of 2026-04-21: 4 positiveWeek of 2026-04-28: 23 positiveWeek of 2026-05-05: 16 positiveWeek of 2026-05-05: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-05-12: 4 positiveWeek of 2026-05-19: 6 positiveWeek of 2026-05-19: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-05-26: 4 positiveWeek of 2026-06-02: 7 positiveWeek of 2026-06-09: 13 positiveWeek of 2026-06-16: 4 positiveWeek of 2026-06-23: 9 positiveWeek of 2026-06-30: 7 positiveWeek of 2026-07-07: 4 positiveWeek of 2026-07-14: 8 positiveWeek of 2026-07-21: 11 positiveWeek of 2026-07-21: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-07-28: 7 positiveWeek of 2026-07-28: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-08-04: 5 positiveWeek of 2026-08-11: 4 positive
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Price history

$19.99$9.292025-03-252026-08-302025-03-25 — best price $13.172025-05-01 — best price $17.992025-05-11 — best price $19.992025-05-20 — best price $17.992025-06-10 — best price $17.992025-06-27 — best price $15.992025-07-18 — best price $19.992025-07-25 — best price $11.622025-08-11 — best price $19.992025-08-20 — best price $15.992025-09-11 — best price $19.992025-09-29 — best price $15.992025-10-07 — best price $15.992025-10-09 — best price $15.992025-11-16 — best price $19.992025-11-27 — best price $14.992025-12-09 — best price $19.992025-12-18 — best price $14.992026-01-03 — best price $14.992026-01-12 — best price $13.992026-01-19 — best price $19.992026-02-12 — best price $14.992026-03-05 — best price $13.992026-03-16 — best price $19.992026-03-19 — best price $12.992026-04-03 — best price $13.992026-04-17 — best price $12.992026-05-01 — best price $19.992026-05-14 — best price $19.992026-05-23 — best price $19.992026-06-02 — best price $19.992026-06-06 — best price $12.992026-06-25 — best price $12.992026-07-17 — best price $19.992026-07-24 — best price $12.992026-08-12 — best price $19.992026-08-27 — best price $12.992026-08-29 — best price $12.992026-08-30 — best price $12.99
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Completion

46
achievements tracked
85.9%
earned "Paper Trail"
44.1%
median achievement earned by

Global achievement rates from Steam.

Details

WindowsmacOSFull controller supportSingle-playerSteam AchievementsFull controller supportSteam Trading CardsCaptions availableAdjustable Text SizeCamera ComfortCustom Volume ControlsAdjustable DifficultyKeyboard Only Option4 DLC

2 supported languages: English, German

Console footprint

PlatformPlayers trackedCompletionTrophies/achievements
Steam (Steam)3306%46
Switch (Nintendo)40%0

Players tracked by Exophase (achievement/trophy trackers) — a sample of the player base, not total sales.

Player tags

3DNoirPuzzleMysteryAdventureDetectiveNonlinearHistoricalSimulationAtmospheric

Census log

Computed from census-recorded observations only — dates are observation dates.

Recent updates

Players also track

Unclaimed WorldRusty Lake HotelUnforeseen IncidentsQuern - Undying ThoughtsYuppie Psycho: Executive EditionAncient CitiesBad North: Jotunn EditionDraugen

Similarity via IGDB.

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