Paul, Author at Thumb Culture

Superhero Dramedy Dispatch Gets Release Details

29Sep

By PaulNo Comments

Superhero Dramedy Dispatch Gets Release Details

We are less than a month away from the launch of AdHoc Studio's debut game, Dispatch. This superhero workplace comedy-drama is being developed in partnership with Critical Role and features characters voiced by several members of the group. As we get closer to the release date, AdHoc Studio are gradually revealing more details about how the game will be structured, when it will be available, and announcing further characters and their voices. Let's have a look at the recently divulged info. Get Ready For Weekly Superhero Action The most important piece of information to come out over the past couple of weeks is of course the release date. Dispatch will debut on PC and PS5 from 3pm (BST) October 22nd. The first drop will be for episodes 1 and 2 out of the 8 total that make up the full gam...

Silksong Release Date Revealed – 4th September 2025

22Aug

By PaulNo Comments

News & Updates

Silksong Release Date Revealed – 4th September 2025

Retire the clown wigs and make-up! After many years, countless showcases, and infinite misplaced hope, the release date for Hollow Knight: Silksong has been announced; 4th September 2025. The follow-up game from Team Cherry will see Hornet transported to a land haunted by silk and song, in which she must ascend to its peak. The Wait Is Almost Over, For Real This Time The news came via Team Cherry's YouTube channel, in a brand-new trailer for the game. As well as the all important date, the trailer demonstrates the visual polish that has been applied since we first laid eyes on Pharloom back in 2019. Hornet is striking and clear against the various backdrops throughout the haunted land. The trailer boasts of Silksong's 200+ enemies and 40+ boss fights, making this follow-up to H...

19Aug

By PaulNo Comments

News & Updates

Team Cherry Break Silksong Silence

It appears the wait is almost over for the Hollow Knight community, as developer Team Cherry finally break their social media silence to tease an announcement for the game's upcoming sequel. Or maybe it's a prequel? We'll find out soon! It Is Time With Gamescom kicking off tonight — Opening Night Live begins at 7pm BST — and Hollow Knight: Silksong being playable on the show floor at both Xbox and Nintendo booths, it seems Team Cherry had one more announcement up their sleeve before the big event. At roughly 15:30 BST, they announced a 48-hour countdown via various social media channels and their blog. Bear in mind, the last time a blog post was made on their website was 13th December 2019… almost 6 years ago! Did they forget their password? Fans had been speculating since the Gam...

5Aug

By PaulNo Comments

Previews & Early Access

ROCKBEASTS – PC Preview

Ever wanted to manage a talented yet unorganised and volatile 90s rock band? Good news! Now you can, with ROCKBEASTS from Lichthund and Team17. This is an upcoming (2026) narrative management-sim set in a fictional world of anthropomorphic animals. Today I'm chucking out the PC version, which you can Wishlist on Steam here. Video Games Killed The Radio Star The game opens on a flash forward to 2009, where a couple of band members, Paz and Vernon, are being interviewed on the radio. They're in the build up to performing at the 'Aid The World' concert. The radio host, Iggy Pup (voiced by actual Iggy Pop), asks them if they always knew they would make it big. Apparently, the band were on the brink of breaking up back in 1993 when they decided they needed a manager to help them keep things i...

Game Discovery App Ludocene Launches 6th August

4Aug

By PaulNo Comments

News & Updates

Game Discovery App Ludocene Launches 6th August

With so many games releasing each month across many platforms, choosing your next adventure game be daunting. Enter Ludocene, a match-making app not for people, but for video games. After a successful Kickstarter campaign back in March, the app is set to fully launch on August 6th. There's Too Many Fish In The Sea Ludocene is part deck-builder, part dating app. When building your deck to help define and narrow your taste in games, you can select cards with varying purposes. Most obviously, you can select cards that represent games you have previously enjoyed — or you can discard games you don't like. If you see a game you're interested in playing, you can 'Pin' it so you can come back to it later. Alongside game cards you'll also find Special cards — based on genres, in-game activities, ...

Hauntii Joins Lost In Cult’s EDITIONS Line-Up

28Jul

By PaulNo Comments

News & Updates

Hauntii Joins Lost In Cult’s EDITIONS Line-Up

In May, Lost In Cult announced their entry into the physical video game publishing market. Their offering includes both high-availability, standard retail editions of games, alongside exquisite quality, trinket-packed, collectors EDITIONS. They've recently announced the 4th game in their line-up, Hauntii. Hauntii is a super stylish, 2-tone adventure that is summed up on its website by 4 words. Admittedly these are then expanded upon, but we appreciate the sentiment: Haunt - Possess objects and creatures to creatively solve puzzles and conquer combat Explore - Wander a meticulously crafted world where any path you take leads to new discoveries Collect - Stars complete constellations, which in turn uncover the story of Hauntii's past Relax - Enjoy a laid back pacing with occ...

28Jul

By PaulNo Comments

PC Reviews

Occlude – PC Review

What if you could erase your past mistakes? All it would take is for you to play a simple card game and figure out the hidden rules. Yes, you'd be tearing apart reality itself, but isn't that worth it? This is the premise of Occlude, where a card game similar to Solitaire, including 4 mysterious self-moving coins, stands between regret and relief. Or does it? Occlude comes to us from the small UK/US indie team at Tributary Games, whose previous title, King of the Castle, was highly praised by our EIC, Stuart. I've been enjoying my puzzle games recently, so I'm looking forward to racking my brain again. Occult Cards & Concealed Rules Join me as I doubt my intelligence and fight with RNG while making my way through this occult puzzler. Gameplay Do you know the rules of Solitai...

AdHoc Studio Join Forces With Critical Role For Exandria Game

23Jul

By PaulNo Comments

News & Updates

AdHoc Studio Join Forces With Critical Role For Exandria Game

AdHoc Studio, developer of the upcoming superhero workplace comedy game Dispatch, have announced a partnership with the TTRPG hotshots over at Critical Role. This deal appears to be a lucrative, two-way street that brings new productions to both entities. Roll For Initiatives We first heard whispers of the possibility of a Critical Role video game back in 2021. Back then, a Variety article covering the success of the at-home table-top campaign turned worldwide phenomenon mentioned the group's forays into other media, including an 'in the works' video game. At the time, Critical Role cast member Liam O'Brien admitted that doing a video game successfully takes a lot of time, and nothing has materialised since. However, after an initial meeting in October 2024 between the AdHoc Studio and C...

Paul’s 10 Most Anticipated Late-2025 Games

11Jul

By PaulNo Comments

Features

Paul’s 10 Most Anticipated Late-2025 Games

The first half of 2025 gave us some huge contenders for Game of the Year; Blue Prince, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and Split Fiction, to cherry-pick a few. Thankfully, the back end of the year also looks stacked with quality. Among them are a new Pokémon game, a follow-up to Ghost of Tsushima, a new Silent Hill entry, and the long awaited Metroid Prime 4. It's also alleged that a sequel to Hollow Knight is due to release before Christmas this year, but I wouldn't know anything about that. Ignoring all those games, though, here are 10 games set to release in the rest of 2025 that I can't wait to get my hands on. I've listed them alphabetically for fairness — I love all my children equally. Cairn | PlayStation, PC Genre: Simulation, Survival Developer: The Game Bakers | Publisher...

1Jul

By PaulNo Comments

Previews & Early Access

Dispatch – PC Preview

As an avid enjoyer of choice-heavy, consequences-matter games, I was sad to see the death of the original Telltale Games in 2018. While the studio kind of reformed in 2019, they're yet to release a new game. Some of the staff who left Telltale in 2016/17 came together in 2018 to created AdHoc Studio. They wanted their own studio where they could take the narrative genre beyond what Telltale was doing and where risks could be taken that would otherwise be avoided at a large company. Finally, in 2025, AdHoc are nearing the release of their first game. Dispatch is a superhero, work-place comedy with a stellar voice cast and an authentic, comic-book visual style. Z-uper Heroes — From Z to A? Robert Robertson, also known as MechaMan, has broken his mechanical suit in a battle with his neme...