Jose, Author at Thumb Culture

4Dec

By JoseNo Comments

Comic Book Store Simulator – PC Preview

Comic Book Store Simulator is a small shop-management game where you step into the shoes of a comic shop owner trying to keep a niche business alive. Developed by Akhir Pekan Studio and published by PlayWay S.A., the game tasks you with organizing your store, dealing with thieves, and juggling the constant flow of sales and restocks. I played it on PC, and overall, the game runs rather smoothly with only a couple of minor wrinkles. Organizing the Chaos Running a comic book store might at first sound a bit dull, but as anyone who has spent some considerable amount of time in these nerd dungeons will tell you, it is anything but. As a comic book store crawler myself, I found it intriguing to see the store from the other side of the counter. Let's explore the magic behind running a geek lai...

21Nov

By JoseNo Comments

PC Reviews

Coffee Bar Simulator – PC Review

Coffee Bar Simulator is a cosy café-management game, developed by Digital Melody and published by Games Incubator and PlayWay S.A. The premise is simple enough. Open up your own coffee shop, serve customers, and try to keep your tiny business running smoothly as rush hour hits. I played it on PC, and the game runs well with stable performance and quick loading times. A Relaxing Cup of Boredom As a newcomer to simulation games and someone with actual experience working in coffee shops and restaurants in the past, I really looked forward to playing Coffee Bar Simulator. Unfortunately, the game quickly became a monotonous stream of mouse clicks that didn't demand much brain power. It is only after I reached level three and the prompts stopped telling me what to do that things got a littl...

Vivi Gets The Ban Hammer in MTG Standard

10Nov

By JoseNo Comments

Features, News & Updates

Vivi Gets The Ban Hammer in MTG Standard

Wizards of the Coast announced new cards to be added to the ban list of several formats today. Most anticipated were the bans of Vivi Ornitier, Screaming Nemesis, and Proft's Eidetic Memory from Standard. For the last few months, Izzet Cauldron has been bending the Standard format to its image. After its omnipresence in most major Standard tournaments, it became clear that the Izzet Cauldron deck had to go for the sake of the meta. It is simply too fast, too powerful, and most importantly, too many people play it, hence warping the entire format around it. Izzet Cauldron Takes Over Standard Meta Instead of an emergency ban, as they used to call them, Wizards of the Coast moved up their ban schedule from November 24th to Monday, November 10th. This announcement was made shortly after the ...

Halo Fans Are Mad About a Missing Boulder

8Nov

By JoseNo Comments

Features, News & Updates

Halo Fans Are Mad About a Missing Boulder

The crown jewel of Microsoft Xbox games is officially going to cross enemy lines in 2026. Halo: Campaign Evolved will release next year on PlayStation 5. The news on the remake has been so excessively anticipated that it could barely even pass as actual news by the time the Gameplay Demo video dropped. The trailer looks impressive with re-worked lighting, stunning graphics, and sharp textures. The Warthog has a metallic shine to it, the plasma rifle fire glows, and Master Chief's visor glints. But, according to Halo fans on Reddit, these are actually all bad things. Most significantly, there is a large boulder missing on the beach in 'The Silent Cartographer' mission. Let's dig deeper into all the things that are seemingly wrong with a game that hasn't even been released yet. Gameplay ...

13Oct

By Jose2 Comments

Features

The State of Magic: The Gathering

Wizards of the Coast may finally have found out when it is just too much. Overwhelmed fans and viewers were left mouth-opened when Blake Rasmussen, Mark Rosewater, Gavin Verhey, and company took the stage at MagicCon in Atlanta and shared a series of new products and announcements. The Magic: The Gathering community has now had some days to digest the information, and many content creators have come out with statements of their own. Let's dig in, shall we? Good News First What were the announcements made during MagicCon Atlanta? Let's start from the top, in January 2026, Magic players will at long last revisit the enchanting plane of Lorwyn. A beautiful, lush, and vibrant world full of Magic's very own IP. Kithkins, hybrid mana, the evoke mechanic, and many other things that made this fa...

11Sep

By JoseNo Comments

PlayStation Reviews

Gears of War: Reloaded – PS5 Review

The iconic alien horror shooter best known for its over-the-top gore, its unironic use of macho bravado, and its high-adrenaline action is back (once again). That's right this is a review of Gears of War: Reloaded. The Coalition, the Xbox Studios developers behind this gory chainsaw party, could have delivered just another lazy, half-hearted remastered game like we have unfortunately grown used to in recent years, looking at you The Last of Us. Instead, they have delivered a significant visual upgrade compared to its 2015 remastered Xbox version. Welcome to the War (again)! Nearly 20 years since its exclusive release on the Xbox 360, Gears of War has arrived on the PlayStation 5. The remastered game, rebranded as Gears of War: Reloaded, signifies the end of an era known as the console wa...

LotR Over Hill And Under Hill Roleplaying Game – Review

8Sep

By JoseNo Comments

Features

LotR Over Hill And Under Hill Roleplaying Game – Review

The Lord of the Rings role-playing game Over Hill and Under Hill, created by the Swedish tabletop gaming company Free League, is a story-driven cooperative game inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien's world. The game is a fun mix of role-playing, narrative choices, and dice mechanics. The starter set, Over Hill and Under Hill, which we played, was released in July 2025. An Unexpected Journey into Middle-earth's Roleplay The starter set contains everything a group of new players needs to kick things off, from a rule book to cards of preset characters, a map, different types of dice, and a story book for the Game Master. The game is designed to help players new to the genre get started without requiring extensive prior preparation. Nonetheless, as a casual player myself, I must say that without the h...

30Jul

By JoseNo Comments

PC Reviews

Descenders Next – PC Review

Descenders Next, like its predecessor, is an adrenaline-filled downhill racing game featuring a massive array of mountain trails to explore and stylishly fall down from. This new title from RageSquid and No More Robots is out now in Early Access on Steam. Let's take a deeper look. Snow Big Deal The franchise retains its core DNA with short but intense runs full of helpful checkpoints, optional objectives, and tough choices. Whether you're speeding down through a beautiful alpine forest or racing over rugged dirt, your goal is to calculate risks, land tricks, and avoid brutal wipeouts. Although this time around, we got boards instead of bikes. Shred. Spin. Slam? Before you even make it to the main menu, the game immediately kicks off with a tutorial to get you acquainted with the ba...

Magic: The Gathering Spoiler Season Never Ends

8Jul

By JoseNo Comments

Features, News & Updates

Magic: The Gathering Spoiler Season Never Ends

Magic: The Gathering will start the official spoiler season for Edge of Eternities on July 8th, according to Mark Rosewater's Tumblr account, Blogatog. Barely three weeks apart from the release of the Standard legal Final Fantasy set. Oh, and just last week, they also announced another Secret Lair, this time casting Sonic the Hedgehog and friends. It almost feels like there is no time for fans, players, and collectors to just breathe and enjoy a new product before a new one is already announced, and another is close to launching. Back To Canon Lore Three weeks after its release, it is safe to say Final Fantasy was a tremendous success for Wizards of the Coast. Even among the most sceptical fans, such as myself, it is undeniable that this Universes Beyond crossover was a total hit. The em...

Wizards of the Coast Bring Out The Ban Hammer

2Jul

By JoseNo Comments

Features

Wizards of the Coast Bring Out The Ban Hammer

On June 30th, Wizards of the Coast (WotC) announced its updated ban list for all formats of Magic: The Gathering. Interestingly, only the Standard format was struck by the ban hammer. Seven times! Seven cards currently legal in Standard have been banned, effective immediately. While bans in Standard aren't unusual, seven at once is a rather rare occurrence. WotC is sending a clear message that what happened at Pro Tour Las Vegas can't happen again. Furthermore, no updates were made to Modern, Legacy, Pauper, Brawl, Vintage, or Pioneer. Further, giving the impression that Wizards is laser-focused on fixing and balancing Standard. What Went Wrong at Pro Tour Final Fantasy? Izzet Prowress took the Pro Tour by storm, pun intended. In the words of Magic: The Gathering Hall of Famer Reid Du...