Casual

24Sep

By Jason1 Comment

Mars Attracts – PC Review

Imagine building a theme park where the roller coasters snarl, the popcorn is mildly radioactive, and the main attractions are human exhibits from every era of Earth's history. That’s the deliciously twisted pitch behind Mars Attracts, a park-management sim from developers Outlier that drops you into the martian shoes or rather, the bulbous helmets of, the classic Mars Attacks! aliens. Ack Ack! Your job is simple: abduct humans, curate exhibits, run a smooth (if morally questionable) operation, and keep your martian guests entertained while you tinker with ethically dubious experiments. Mars Attracts launched into Early Access on PC recently and arrives dripping with retro sci-fi charm and a wicked sense of humour. Gameplay At its core, Mars Attracts will feel comforting to fans of...

23Sep

By Alex CrooksNo Comments

Previews & Early Access

Rita – PC Preview

If you too are mourning the loss of the NY Times mini crossword to the deplorable paywall, then maybe this will tickle your fancy. Rita by Sporktank is an upcoming, crossword solving adventure where you play as a small chick Rita and learn about your world. The demo launched earlier this month and I was lucky enough to snatch it away from everyone else at Thumb Culture! Okay so one down is... something you play? Does this cosy little adventure have a lot of promise? Or is it a failed wordsearch looking for a dictionary? Well, let me tell you everything I know about little Rita. You can try out the demo for yourself here! Gameplay The focus of Rita is the word games. You waddle around the map, collect letters and then solve puzzles that affect the world around you. Starting as a hat...

18Sep

By Kyle McGrathNo Comments

PC Reviews

Arctic Awakening – PC Review

If you're looking for a new story rich, narrative game, then you may have been looking at Arctic Awakening on Steam. The game is created and self-published by GoldFire Studios, and has us play as Kai, a pilot who crash lands with his companion therapy bot Alfie. We can expect to make hard choice and survive harsher weathers. You can survive anything with the right mindset. Arctic Awakening is out now on Steam, with an introductory 10% off until 25th September. Have you been keeping an eye on this game, if so, let me know in the comments below. Gameplay Arctic Awakening is at its core a walking simulator game. Players are able to pick up items, but besides food to stave off hunger, there isn't much need for carrying anything. Which is a shame since you can pick up almost everything ...

11Sep

By StuartNo Comments

Switch Reviews

Discounty – Switch 2 Review

Have you ever wanted to run your own supermarket? Then you need the game Discounty. Obviously it's not quite as straightforward as just running a supermarket though. Developed by Crinkle Cut Games and published by PQube, we enter this narrative-driven management sim with a nice-sized single-player campaign. Clean up on aisle 5 Having been out for a couple of weeks, we thought it was time to take off our uniform and sit down to write this review. Let's see if this is worth £17 from your local Nintendo store shall we? Gameplay Starting up the game and diving in, you find out that your aunt has invited you to Blomkest to run the local store, aptly named Discounty. Once you have created your person using the limited creation screen, you are thrust into the hustle and bustle of small-town l...

Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar – PC Review

9Sep

By CharlieNo Comments

PC Reviews

Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar – PC Review

Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar, a remake of the original Harvest Moon: Grand Bazaar, is a newly released farming game developed and published by Marvelous Inc. The game released on August 27th on Steam, Switch and Switch 2. In this game, you take on the role of a new farmer who has just moved to Zephyr Town, a place whose bazaar was once one of the grandest in the world. However, the bazaar has lost its spark, and it's now your job to help restore its prosperity and make the town thrive again! The Grand Remake While I unfortunately didn't get to play the original game, I used to be absolutely obsessed with watching Harvest Moon speedruns for a good while. I kind of remember most of the general gameplay. That's gotta count for something! Anyways. I've had an absolute blast playing this ga...

8Sep

By Tyler DenyerNo Comments

PlayStation Reviews

Maki’s Adventure – PS5 Review

Developed by ZoroArts and published by EastAsiaSoft, Maki's Adventure is a bite-sized platformer that blends classic side-scrolling action with clever mechanics and heartfelt design. It’s a short but engaging adventure that encourages exploration and experimentation, whether you’re dashing across islands or slicing through shadowy demons. With some ideas polished to perfection and others rough around the edges, you can’t help but root for the developer even more. Here at Thumb Culture we reviewed the PC Release; and now we return with a review for the PlayStation release. Maki's Adventure - Maki a big splash Let’s be honest, who doesn’t love the idea of shapeshifting into a shark mid-jump? We’re all in for that, and we’d love to hear about your favourite shapeshifting characters in the c...

3Sep

By Kyle McGrathNo Comments

PC Reviews

Monster Mop Up – PC Review

The latest game published by Yogscast Games is called Monster Mop Up, a new cleaning sim developed by the team at Terahard Ltd. I'll assume the role once again of a cleaner as I mop, vacuum, and capture little monsters that are causing havoc. If you're on the lookout for another cleaning sim, and like the sound of Monster Mop Up, then you can purchase it on the Steam store here for £12.79. There's also a demo available. Nothing like some secret spring-cleaning! Gameplay When it comes to cleaning we get four tools to do the job: our hands, mop, vacuum, and a trap. Like other games, you will mainly be cleaning up areas that have been dirtied by someone or something. In this case they're called Ragamuffins; small, cute, fluffy creatures that are usually asleep and scattered around the le...

22Aug

By Alex CrooksNo Comments

PC Reviews

Catto’s Post Office – PC Review

Waddling onto the Steam store to deliver a little cosy game is Catto's Post Office, developed by In Shambles Studio. This little cosy delight has you delivering the post in the cutest style as you explore an island of cats, each with their own personality. You can grab Catto's Post Office for just £4.29! Delivered faster than Prime, Catto's parcels pack a cute, gift wrapped punch Gameplay Catto's Post Office puts you in the tiny shoes of Catto, a post worker cat who has just woken up on their birthday. Brimming with excitement, Catto leaves their tiny room and greets their boss. There is no mention of any birthday celebration, not even a card! Instead, Catto is immediately set to work delivering packages around the island to his furry friends. This is essentially where the s...

18Aug

By CharlieNo Comments

PC Reviews

Whimside – PC Review

Whimside is a cute little creature-collecting game that lives right at the bottom of your screen, in which you can find and catch adorable creatures called Whimlings. Developed by Toadzillart and published by Future Friends Games, the game was recently released on Steam on August 7th. A Little Piece Of Whimsy I have been waiting for this game to release for ages. The big question now is: will it live up to my expectations and its hype? Gameplay In Whimside, your main objective is to collect adorable little creatures called Whimlings. Every Whimling you come across is a unique mix of different parts from different animals and mythical creatures, from their head and body to their ears and tail. It's really fun to see what kind of cute or wild combos you will discover next, like a cha...

Two Point Museum: Fantasy Finds DLC – PC Review

14Aug

By StuartNo Comments

PC Reviews

Two Point Museum: Fantasy Finds DLC – PC Review

Two Point Studios recently released the Fantasy Finds DLC, but what exactly does this add to the game that received a Platinum Award from me? Priced at £6.99 on Steam, it's super affordable if you enjoy the base game of Two Point Museum. Roll For Initiative! If you aren't sure about purchasing the full update, you can check out a small portion of the content in the base game. It's incredibly limited, but it gives you an insight into whether you are going to enjoy the fully fledged Fantasy Finds DLC. Gameplay I'm not going to go into the gameplay arc of Two Point Museum. If you want to read more about the actual game, then check out my link back at the top. Otherwise, let's dive into the Fantasy Finds DLC. Now, one thing to note is that this doesn't add anything other than bits a...