Kyle McGrath, Author at Thumb Culture

14Jan

By Kyle McGrathNo Comments

Empire of The Ants – PC Review

Empire of The Ants has me assume control of a brave little ant as it helps its colony. Tackle the harsh world of mother nature in this new strategy game by Tower Five. The game is out now on Steam and goes for £34.99, while for another ten quid will land you the Deluxe Edition. In the deluxe you’ll get digital artwork, soundtrack, and wallpapers. We may be small, but we are many. Gameplay The ant is a scout with no name who is tasked with controlling your colonies’ units. Empire of The Ants isn’t an open-world but mission-focused. The first missions typically give you a rundown of the game mechanics. Not all the missions have you control units, however, some ask you to recover workers or scout areas. These missions I found a little dull compared to the combat-based ones. The nest...

Emergency Call 112: The Attack Squad – PC Review

10Jan

By Kyle McGrathNo Comments

PC Reviews

Emergency Call 112: The Attack Squad – PC Review

Emergency Call 112: The Attack Squad is an action simulation game developed by Crenetic and published by Aerosoft GmbH. Released on December 18th last year, Emergency Call 112: The Attack Squad is available on Steam for £12.79. Burn, Baby Burn Gameplay The campaign of Emergency Call 112: The Attack Squad plays out by hearing someone calling an operator to report an incident or accident. While the tutorial covers a basic fire, there are a few different fires and emergencies. I wish the tutorial had covered a bit more of the different emergencies. While standard fires are extinguishable by water, grease fires require a powder extinguisher, and electrical fires require fog. Some non-fire emergencies include securing an allegedly deadly spider, helping someone get out of an acc...

Priest Simulator: Vampire Show – PC Review

19Dec

By Kyle McGrathNo Comments

PC Reviews

Priest Simulator: Vampire Show – PC Review

After a long time waiting and sitting in my wishlist, I finally get to review Priest Simulator: Vampire Show! Developed by a Polish studio called Asmodev this game has been in early access for a long time. And now, now I get to play the full release. We’ll play as a vampire turned priest in this mockumental action game. The Steam page says the dub will leave me in stitches, which has set my expectations even higher. Please be aware this article contains gifs that may include flashing lights and patterns I write hymns, not tragedies Priest Simulator: Vampire Show is out now on Steam for £16.75. If you’re not looking to fork out some money just yet, they do also have a Priest Simulator: Heavy Duty, so why not give it a try? Gameplay The story of Priest Simulator: Vampire Show...

18Dec

By Kyle McGrathNo Comments

PC Reviews

Go Home Annie – PC Review

Misfit Village brings us their new game set in the SCP Universe. It’s named Go Home Annie and has us step into the shoes of D-level personal who attempts to uncover some harsh truths. The game is available right now on Steam for £16.75. Please be aware this article contains gifs that may include flashing lights and patterns Annie are you okay? I’ve always loved the SCP Foundation lore, although I wouldn’t say I know it extensively. Its main appeal to me is the actual SCPs. An SCP is an object, creature, anomaly, or humanoid that breaks the rules of nature. Some of my favourites are: SCP-024, SCP-3000, and SCP-662. So it’s rare I see a single-player game based in that universe. I’ve only played one so far, as the others are multiplayer. I’d love to know what your favourite SCP is ...

18Dec

By Kyle McGrathNo Comments

PC Reviews

Enigma of Fear – PC Review

What is the fear? Well, thanks to both Dumativa and Cellbit, we’ll find out soon enough. My job is to find out what paranormal events have been occurring in a place called the Perimeter. As I play Mia and her loyal four-legged companion, Lupi. We will solve puzzles and try to crack the code in Enigma of Fear. The game is available on Steam for £20.99, and was released late November. Played it already, what’s your thoughts? Why can't it be Enigma of Baked Goods? Gameplay You play as Mia, a woman part of an organisation named the Order who track down, study and contains paranormal entities and situations. Alongside her pup Lupi, occult specialist Agatha, and tech whiz Samuel, the four of you are looking for the Order’s leader and Mia’s father, Verity. His last location was the Strach ...

13Dec

By Kyle McGrathNo Comments

PC Reviews

Murky Divers – PC Review

Ember Studios ironically brings us an underwater, online cooperative, looting game called Murky Divers. From what I’ve heard, it shares a lot of similarities to Lethal Company. I haven’t played Lethal Company because of the space setting. Underwater is more my thing, because, it is similar to space but more, well, “murky”. You can purchase it for £6.99 right now on Steam. The release for 1.0 will be launching shortly on the 12th of December, giving you something to look forward to. Warning: some GIFs used in this article might have flashing images. “Every dive is a new adventure.” – Philippe Cousteau Jr. Some of the Thumb Culture team and I gave the game a go to bring you this review, but if you prefer to go in blind then what are you doing here?! Go buy the game! Gameplay ...

12Dec

By Kyle McGrathNo Comments

PC Reviews

Shop Simulator: Supermarket – PC Review

Please be aware this article contains gifs that may include flashing lights and patterns Here comes another simulator. This time, we are going to be working as a cashier in Shop Simulator: Supermarket. Created and self-published by the team Three River Games. The game itself is already out on Steam and will cost you £8.99. Cash or Card, Sir? Regular Thumb Culture readers will know, I love a good simulation game. If you do too then you may want to check out some of my other reviews including: Zoo Simulator, Recycling Centre, Storage Hunter, and most recently, Beff Jezos Simulator. But back to Shop Simulator: Supermarket! Gameplay In Shop Simulator: Supermarket we don’t have a story as such, more little goals to complete to become, well, a fully fledged supermarket. The game walks...

11Dec

By Kyle McGrathNo Comments

PC Reviews

Laundry Store Simulator – PC Preview

Please be aware this article contains gifs that may include flashing lights and patterns. PlayWay S.A. has published another sim and once again I find myself in another occupation. You need your clothes cleaned and dried, well come check out my store in Laundry Store Simulator. Developed by Akhir Pekan Studio and released on 9th of December, it’s my job to make sure all the creases are out, and the game is clean to go. Wanna try it out for yourself? Then head over to Steam here. No shoes, no shirt, but I still give service! Gameplay We get our laundry store, thanks to the investment of a certain not-so-subtle Banker. Literally his name. Now, with ten grand of in debt in our bank, we can start. Laundry Store Simulator gives you both a cheap washer and dryer to use at the start. Luck...

11Dec

By Kyle McGrathNo Comments

Previews & Early Access

VOIN – PC Preview

VOIN is a new rogue-lite game with loot mechanics from Nikita Sozidar and tinyBuild. As of yesterday (10th December) it has launched into early access on Steam at an introductory price of £15.07. I played the demo a little time ago and enjoyed the gameplay then. So here’s hoping the early access is just as promising! Rise my great creation! Did you get to play the VOIN demo? What did you think of it? Let us know in the comments below. Gameplay VOIN’s intro begins with a voice of someone known as “Master”. This ominous voice tells our character (so far a nameless knight) to awaken. We are then led to navigate a set of caves and caverns which serve as the tutorial. Once done with the tutorial, we are sent to Amarict. Amarict is the games hub and here we have four portals we can go...

10Dec

By Kyle McGrathNo Comments

Features

The Allure of Horror

What Draws Me to Horror? I’ve always wondered why people get drawn in by the horror genre. In our daily lives, I, and I assume others, try to avoid horrific events like serial killers and kidnappings. And obviously to make sure I don’t become Netflix’s next best series. So why dive into these mediums? Warning Please be aware this article contains gifs that may include flashing lights and patterns. Please read with caution! Well, I think it’s mainly more for creatures. I can’t get enough of monsters, beasts, aliens (shout out to the Xenomorph) or anything that isn’t a human. I remember being roughly eight years old, walking into the living room late at night, and seeing Stephen King’s IT. The one starring Tim Curry, and when I saw the part where this clown becomes a giant spide...