Paul Wright, Author at Thumb Culture

PowerWash Developer Assists With Video Game Study

5Jun

By Paul WrightNo Comments

PowerWash Developer Assists With Video Game Study

PowerWash Simulator developer FuturLabs has collaborated with the Oxford Internet Institute (University of Oxford) to conduct a study into how playing video games affects players' well-being. Wash and Learn If you've played PowerWash Simulator, Donut County or Unpacking, you'll have first-hand experience with how zen-inducing those games can be. When I'm playing this type of game, I often find myself entering a Flow state. A complete feeling of immersion, fulfilment and enjoyment. If you've ever looked away from the TV or monitor and wondered where the past 4 hours went, chances are you've experienced this too. Now there's a comprehensive data set created to explore this subject. The study was conducted by gathering data from over 11,000 PowerWash Simulator players. An open data resou...

10Dec

By Paul WrightNo Comments

PlayStation Reviews

Alwa’s Legacy Review

Alwa's Legacy is Elden Pixel's 2020 follow-up to Alwa's Awakening. It's a modern retro adventure game, bringing elements of 16-bit era titles to a new generation of players. Now having made its way onto Playstation, I've been given the opportunity to check it out. Alwa's Legacy - A Hefty Hit of Nostalgia Vibes I feel like this game has made me realise how spoiled we are in the modern generation of games in terms of instructions and tutorials. Do you prefer a game to drop you in and let you figure things out for yourself? Or do you like to have a bit of guidance? I'm probably most happy with a middle ground approach where there's some direction, but not a map full of icons and objectives. Let me know what you think in the comments. Gameplay The game opens with a short interactiv...

7Dec

By Paul Wright2 Comments

Features

Our Most Anticipated 2022 Games

2021 has been a great year for video games. We've had It Takes Two, Forza Horizon 5 and Chicory: A Colorful Tale just to name a few. The year has however seen a huge number of delays announced. The majority of those are pushing release dates out of this year and into 2022. The first quarter of next year is absolutely fit to burst with big releases. So much so that I'd expect at least a couple to 'blink' and push back further into the year. With so many great-looking projects listed for the next 12 months, we thought we'd share our most anticipated 2022 games with you. Games We Are Most Excited For In 2022 What's on your various platform wishlists for next year? Let us know in the comments below or check out the links to our social media platforms at the bottom of this post and get in tou...

Rainbow Billy: The Curse of the Leviathan Review

6Oct

By Paul WrightNo Comments

PlayStation Reviews

Rainbow Billy: The Curse of the Leviathan Review

Rainbow Billy is a colourful, wholesome, fun-packed game developed by ManaVoid Entertainment. It was originally a Kickstarter project back in May 2018 but has since won Ubisoft Indie Series Grand Prize and received funding from the Canada Media Fund. Looking back at the Kickstarter after having played the game it's easy to see where the extra time and funding have been used to improve the initial showing. The World of Imagination has fallen under a curse, cast by the monochromatic, evil Leviathan. The Leviathan is determined to make Billy and the rest of the world abandon their hopes and joys in favour of accepting a bleak reality. It's up to Billy, and their friends, to travel around the world, cheer everyone up and restore the colour. Rainbow Billy: The Curse of the Leviathan - In A ...

3Oct

By Paul WrightNo Comments

PlayStation Reviews

A Juggler’s Tale Review

German publisher Mixtvision presents A Juggler's Tale, the first full game offering from studio kaleidoscube. The team at kaleidoscube have previously worked on award-winning animated shorts along with lending their services to other projects. This experience has clearly informed many of the design decisions taken. Follow Abby, a circus artiste imprisoned and forced to work for her captors. Abby is a string puppet, controlled by puppet-master and narrator, Jack. With encouragement and a little help from Jack, Abby is able to escape and make her way into the wider world. However, many dangers wait ahead. Join me as we take a deeper look at the game. A Juggler's Tale - No Strings Attached Gameplay A Juggler's Tale begins with narrator Jack talking to an audience in a crowded pub, off...

2Sep

By Paul WrightNo Comments

PC Reviews

Golf Club: Wasteland Review

Post-apocalyptic golf sim Golf Club: Wasteland comes from developer Demagog Studio and publisher Untold Tales. I first became aware of this game through being in the Untold Tales Discord server following reviewing Beautiful Desolation (review here). From then I kept my eye on it and even had a question answered in a Q&A with the developers, which you can find on the Untold Tales YouTube page. The clean and low-detail aesthetic of the game grabbed my attention right from the unveil and can't wait to jet-pack my way around the golf course. Golf Club: Wasteland - Fancy a back 9 on the 3rd rock? If I was to take the Earth and repurpose it, post-apocalypse, for the ultra-wealthy, I'd have settled on a hunting reserve. What could you imagine the husk of our planet being used for when it is...

24Aug

By Paul WrightNo Comments

PlayStation Reviews

The Innsmouth Case Review

The Innsmouth Case is a text-based, choose-your-own-adventure game based on The Shadow over Innsmouth by H.P. Lovecraft. The genre of Interactive Fiction is one of the oldest in video games, stretching back to the 1970s with Adventure. Technological advances mean these types of games are no longer restricted to a text-only experience and are often supplemented with images, animations and music. Let's dive into Robot Pumpkin Games' horror comedy mystery adventure and see what's going on, shall we? The Innsmouth Case - There Cod Be Something Fishy Inn This Plaice I recently played Arcade Spirits, which is another example of an Interactive Fiction game and was very good. Other recent games include Doki Doki Literature Club+ and Overboard. Have you played any of these or others? Let us know...

16Aug

By Paul WrightNo Comments

Switch Reviews

Road 96 Review

The world of rogue-like games is ever-expanding and evolving, but I've never seen the concept used quite like this. Road 96 takes procedural generation, unlockable upgrades, and the concept of multiple playthroughs, and adapts them to a narrative-heavy adventure game. It comes from developer Digixart whose previous games were Lost in Harmony and 11-11 Memories Retold. With an authoritarian government in control of the country and the prospects of their future seeming bleaker and bleaker, teenagers are heading to the border in their droves. Can you help any of them make it past the border wall and security into a better country, a better life? While modern American political influences are seen in the game, the narrative was shaped from stories told by staff at 11 Bit Studios in Poland a...

3Aug

By Paul WrightNo Comments

PC Reviews

Toodee and Topdee Review

After cutting their teeth in a dozen game jams, dietzribi make their first commercial release with Toodee and Topdee. Having originally been a product of a game jam with the theme 'Combine two incompatible genres', Gonen and Ori decided to expand on the project and formally release it. Every once in a while a game comes out that does something new and you instantly think, 'How has no one tried this before?'. This is certainly one of those occasions. The story starts by explaining the creation of the universe. In the beginning, there was only Aleph. Aleph was a master of a special language that can turn words into worlds. He creates 8 worlds, balanced and kept safe by the mystical semi-colon. As he is filling the worlds with life, Glitches begin to appear. Toodoo, Alpeh's assistant, is c...

3Aug

By Paul WrightNo Comments

PC Reviews

Song of Farca Review

Song of Farca is the second game by developer Wooden Monkeys, following Save Koch. Instantly you can tell that they've built upon the style of game they created with Save Koch for this new release. What they've brought to us here is a 2D story-driven hacker sim with plenty of puzzles and choices to make along the way. You play private investigator Isabella Song, or Izy, as she starts to rebuild her career after spending a stint in jail. You'll meet a number of interesting, recurring characters as a multi-threaded narrative weaves together and the consequences of your actions take shape. Black Mirror-esque themes emerge in a world where technology and corporations rule. Join me below as I take a deeper look at Song of Farca. Song of Farca - Can She Hack It? Yes, She Can Having grown up pl...