Dontnod Entertainment, the indie developer and publisher, has announced the release date of its first third-party narrative RPG-lite title, Gerda: A Flame in Winter, developed by Danish studio PortaPlay on September 1, 2022 for Nintendo Switch and PC.
In this gripping narrative game inspired by true events, the Danish village of Tinglev finds itself under German occupation during World War II. Players take on the role of Gerda Larsen, an ordinary woman forced under extraordinary circumstances to protect her world that has suddenly gone haywire.
The story does not take place at the front, but in the small Danish village where Gerda has lived her entire life.
One day Gerda returns home from her work as a nurse. When she enters the house, she notices traces of blood and quickly realizes that her husband Anders has been captured by the Gestapo. He left behind important documents for the resistance movement and it seems that many Danish and German lives now depend on Gerda’s next steps.
Gerda is armed only with her wits, compassion and knowledge of the people around her, whom she knows intimately as a civilian. Their personality traits act as skills, and their relationships with others determine how the story unfolds. Decisions are made through a mix of exploration and dialogue, resource and relationship management. Every day, Gerda records her experiences and decisions in her diary, which allows players to develop certain aspects of their personality, so that Gerda can react to difficult situations in different ways.
Gerda meets many different characters throughout the game: her fellow citizens – both Danes and ethnic Germans, members of the resistance and also the Nazi occupiers. In times of war, every interaction and decision matters. Lives are at stake – moral concepts are put to the test and beliefs are questioned. How far are you willing to go to protect your loved ones?
Dontnod is honored to partner with PortPlay to bring this untold story to life. The character Gerda is based on a real Danish resistance fighter, the grandmother of PortaPlay’s Head of Development Hans von Knut Skovfoged.
“This game is important to us because it is inspired by true stories from WWII, including my grandmother’s. With Gerda, we hope to accurately reflect the challenges faced by the people of the occupied territories and to show that some people were faced with difficult choices that cannot easily be divided into good and evil. We hope our narrative game will inspire more people to share their stories. We know that many civilian experiences in wars and occupations around the world, even in 2022, will never be made public. We are happy to be able to tell at least one such story with Gerda: A Flame in Winter.”
Hans von Knut Skovfoged
