Paul, Author at Thumb Culture

Signs of the Sojourner Review – Say Your Cards Right

26Mar

By PaulNo Comments

Signs of the Sojourner Review – Say Your Cards Right

Signs of the Sojourner is a narrative deck-building game developed by Echodog Games. It was originally released on PC in May 2020 and is now available on PS4, Xbox One, and Switch as of March 2021. Travel with a caravan of people, visiting different towns, having conversations, and building relationships as you go. Your town is in danger of being removed from the caravan's route due to a lack of attractive business there. Can you save your town's prospects? Signs of the Sojourner - A Little More Conversation, A Little Less Action Please Here we have another indie game shaking up gameplay mechanics, turning conversations into card matching strategy. What games have you played recently that try something fresh and new in this sort of way? Let us know below, I'd love to check them out! Gam...

19Mar

By PaulNo Comments

News & Updates

Life is Strange: True Colors Revealed

It has been just over 15 months since the final episode of Life is Strange 2 debuted and just over 6 years since the series came out. Today we finally got news on the 3rd main title in the franchise; Life is Strange: True Colors. From the rumour mill Prior to the Square Enix Presents | Spring 2021 stream, we had already learned that the game would feature a new cast, a new story and a new power. A full body picture showing a new character facing away from the camera was also posted on various Twitter accounts related to the game's development. Rumours originally posted on ResetEra touted that the new power would be telepathy and the rumoured title of the game, True Colors, would be related to the fact that the main character would see people surrounded by a colour that represented their ...

3Mar

By PaulNo Comments

Switch Reviews

Wind Peaks Review Hide And Peak!

Developed and Published by Actoon Studio, Wind Peaks is a hidden object game releasing onto Switch on 3rd March 2021. It originally released on Steam in July 2020. The game loosely tells the story of a group of Scouts who find a treasure map and go in search of the hidden bounty. Wind Peaks Switch Review - Hide and Peak! We've not seen many hidden object games recently. Have you spotted any in the wild? What's your favourite? Let us know in the comments! Gameplay Across the 15 levels in Wind Peaks, you will be tasked with searching for and uncovering a list of items. This is done by navigating around the level from a top-down perspective, locating the items and clicking on them with your cursor. You can zoom in and out of the map to give yourself a better view or navigate quicker....

Curse of the Dead Gods Review – Just One More Run?

23Feb

By PaulNo Comments

PlayStation Reviews

Curse of the Dead Gods Review – Just One More Run?

After spending almost a year in Early Access on Steam, Curse of the Dead Gods 1.0 is finally here. Feb 23rd 2021 sees the game receive a full release across multiple platforms. Developed by PassTech Games and published by Focus Home Interactive. Caradog McCallister has entered a temple cursed by the God of Death, Xbeltz'aloc. Trapped in an endless loop of death and reincarnation, can you reach Xbeltz'aloc and destroy him to end the cycle? Curse of the Dead Gods - Bring on the corruption This made my top 10 most anticipated Indie Games of 2021 and for good reason. Did you check this out in Early Access? Let us know what you think of the game in the comments. Gameplay Enter the cursed temple and attempt to fight your way through, avoiding enemies and corruption as you search for gold...

18Feb

By PaulNo Comments

Features

10+ Indie Games Coming In 2021

It seems that every year I become more attuned with Indie Games and stray further from AAA titles. 2021 is going to be no different. With so many great games on the horizon, I feel like it's going to be a great year. From long-awaited follow-ups to debut games from super talented studios, we've got it all. Check out the list below and let us know in the comments what games you're excited for this year! Games appear in alphabetical order. 12 Minutes Starting with a game that should be on everyone's list already. Billed as an interactive thriller, 12 Minutes sees you play as a husband stuck in a time loop, desperately trying to break a cycle of events that ends with his death and his wife accused of murder. Can you put what you learn in each loop to use in the next and alter the cou...

Bonkies Review – Pay Bananas, Get Monkeys

11Feb

By PaulNo Comments

PlayStation Reviews

Bonkies Review – Pay Bananas, Get Monkeys

Developed by Studio Gauntlet and published by Crunching Koala, Bonkies made it's way onto Playstation 4, Xbox One/Series consoles, PC and Switch a the end of January 2021. It is equal parts challenging, chaotic and fun and will certainly make a great addition to your multiplayer party game line-up... if your relationships can handle the strain. Bonkies - Bonkers Monkeys in Space! Bonkies provides a welcome return to couch co-op, albeit at a time when we perhaps can't get 4 people onto our sofas to play with. What are your favourite couch co-op party games? Shout them out in the comments below! Gameplay Bonkies is a physics based couch co-op party puzzle game. The aim of your crew is essentially to organise and stack shapes, Tetris style, within a set area using various tools and te...

Helheim Hassle Review – To Helheim And Back

22Jan

By PaulNo Comments

PlayStation Reviews

Helheim Hassle Review – To Helheim And Back

Helheim Hassle is a puzzle/platform game originally released in late 2020. It was developed and published by Perfectly Paranormal, the team behind Manual Samuel. You play as Bjørn, a Viking who shies away from violence and confrontation. After a freak accident and a botched resurrection, Bjørn joins Pesto, a being from human hell, on a quest to collect Satan's new sword from Hel. In return for his assistance, Bjørn gets Pesto to agree to try and help him stay in Helheim. To Helheim and back again. Pleasure or hassle? We're only in January, sure, but Helheim Hassle is my favourite game of the year so far. What have you played so far in 2021? Are you planning to add this to your list? Let us know in the comments. Gameplay The main mechanic in Helheim Hassle centres around Bjørn and h...

Override 2: Super Mech League PS4/PS5 Review

6Jan

By PaulNo Comments

PlayStation Reviews

Override 2: Super Mech League PS4/PS5 Review

Imagine at the end of Pacific Rim when all the Kaiju had been defeated and the Jaegers had served their purpose, the world governments decided to use the Mechas in WWE. That's the premise for Override 2: Super Mech League. Developed by Modus Studios Brazil and Maximum Games, and published by Modus Games, it is available on Steam, PS4/PS5, Switch and Xbox. This is the follow up to Override: Mech City Brawl which got average review scores seemingly due to framerate issues, lack of depth and difficulty in finding online matchups. Can the sequel address these issues successfully? I've not really picked up a Beat 'em Up since the likes of Tekken 3 and Soul Caliber 2. I'm interested to jump in and see what Override 2: Super Mech League has to offer. Override 2: Super Mech League - Rock 'e...

Spirit Of The North Enhanced Edition Review – Who Let The Fox Out?

11Dec

By PaulNo Comments

PlayStation Reviews

Spirit Of The North Enhanced Edition Review – Who Let The Fox Out?

Spirit of the North Enhanced Edition on PS5 was developed by indie team Infuse Studio and published by Merge Games in November 2020. It was previously released on PS4 in February 2019 and later on Switch and Steam in May 2020. This Enhanced Edition boasts 4k 60fps gameplay and updated textures, lighting and objects. There are also 3 new skins, 2 of those are exclusive to PS5. Spirit of the North was created by Taylor Christensen and Jacob Sutton who both specialise in art rather than programming. They’ve done a tremendous job at using this as a strength, rather than a weakness; leaning into visual design being a core element of the game. Spirit of the North Enhanced Edition PS5 Review - Who Let The Fox Out? This is a game almost devoid of hand-holding and relies on the player to pay a...

23Nov

By PaulNo Comments

PlayStation Reviews

Wonder Blade Review – Streets of Blade?

If you’ve played Streets of Rage or more recently and fittingly, Castle Crashers, then Wonder Blade will seem very familiar to you. This is a 2D side-scrolling brawler that doesn’t do much to separate itself away from other games of it’s kind. That’s not to say this is a bad game, but there is no new ground broken here. Filled with pop culture references and comical cartoon violence. It’s hard not to enjoy the simplicity of mashing hordes of enemies and bouncing around the screen in this colourful adventure. Having won iOS GOTY in 2018 from Reddit, TouchArcade and AppAdvice, Wonder Blade makes its way to Playstation 4. If you've had a chance to play Wonder Blade, I'd love to hear what your take on it is. Don’t forget to let us know your thoughts in the comments below! As always, y...