Feature

Steam Next Fest June 2026 – Mischief, Meows, and Maniacal Monsters

3Jul

By Rowen CameronNo Comments

Steam Next Fest June 2026 – Mischief, Meows, and Maniacal Monsters

A heatwave won’t stop us at Thumb Culture from soaking up as many of the hottest demos as possible when Steam Next Fest rolls around. Running from June 15th to June 22nd, approximately 4,200 game demos took part in this year’s summer fest. And so, with a fan on max setting and Pepsi Max Cherry in the fridge, I dove into my thrice-yearly deliciously difficult task of choosing just five favourites (and three honourable mentions) to highlight as shining stars. Here are this fest’s Top Five: Bunderkin: The Ocular Eclipse Developer: Studio Zubio Publisher: Studio Zubio Genre: Stealth Platformer Planned Release Date: TBA Platforms: PC If you’ve been pining for the sass of Jak & Daxter, the stealth of Sly Cooper, and the visuals of Wind Waker, Bunderkin: The Ocular Ecli...

10 Concept Ideas for Future Dark Pictures Games

15Jun

By Cameron J KeywoodNo Comments

Features

10 Concept Ideas for Future Dark Pictures Games

The Dark Pictures Anthology has established itself as one of horror gaming’s most compelling experiments. It combines cinematic storytelling, branching narratives with a healthy dose of fatal consequences. Directive 8020 recently emerged from deep space recently and the potential for the series feels broader than ever. Before we begin, a quick disclaimer: I have no knowledge of any future Supermassive Games projects. I also have no "insider" information, and no connection to the studio. I'm just a fan who enjoys watching fictional characters make consistently poor survival decisions. These are concepts I have come up with based on real life events and the possibilities of “what if?” storytelling. Here is how it will work. Each entry includes a quick photoshop concept image, title, setti...

28Feb

By CharlieNo Comments

Features, News & Updates

Pokémon Presents February 2026 Round Up

In today's Pokémon Presents, we got a few updates on current and upcoming titles, in-game events and an early look at the 10th Generation! Were your expectations met? Tell me in the comments! Let's buckle up and get into it. Game Music Collection To celebrate Pokémon's 30th anniversary, the Pokémon Red & Pokémon Blue Game Music Collection: Game Boy Jukebox has been announced. It is, as the name suggests, a mini Game Boy-style jukebox that comes with 45 swappable song cartridges. It is available for purchase today, February 27th, at the Pokémon Center in the US, Canada and UK. Pokémon TCG A new Pokémon TCG set is coming in 2026. The trailer showed cards from various eras, hinting at this being another reprint set, similar to Evolutions, with Mew and Mewtwo as the main features. ...

10Dec

By StuartNo Comments

Features

Alternative Tech Gifts For Christmas

As we steadily approach the holiday season, you might be left pondering on something. Just what do you get the person who has everything? Well, I want to help you out with a little list of great products. Gifts from the great people at Dekoni, Gravastar, Soundmagic, Final and Blacklyte. Pick Up Something Unique So sit back and see the list of a few items that you might just fancy picking up. Dekoni If you have someone special in your life and they like their audio gifts, then Dekoni might be just what they like. With their great replacement earbuds, the Bulletz, you can get replacement earbuds for a fraction of the price of the mainstream companies. They can fit up to 75% of earbuds out in the market today, with a great memory form solution, meaning they will adapt to your ear shape. W...

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves – Retrospective

12Nov

By KieranNo Comments

Features

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves – Retrospective

After the release of Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune in 2007, developer Naughty Dog greenlit a sequel to be released for the holiday season of 2009. With the foundations of the new franchise outlined by the first game, Naughty Dog now had to build on those foundations to deliver a sequel perfecting their vision of a playable summer blockbuster. This adventure takes Nathan Drake away from the lush green jungles of the Amazon, on a larger adventure over the Frozen Himalayas. With new characters, a much longer story and new bombastic playable action set pieces. A Vision Realised Set two years after the Uncharted: Drake Fortune, Among Thieves throws Nathan Drake on a new adventure in search of the Chintamani stone. This game continues a similar tone to the original, a fun swashbuckling adv...

7Nov

By Cameron J KeywoodNo Comments

Features

10 Franchises That Need a Good Scrub in PowerWash Simulator 2

Now that PowerWash Simulator 2 is in the hands of players around the globe, fans are soaking in the relaxing rhythm of blasting away dirt with high-pressure water. Indeed, the game hits that sweet spot of giving you a satisfying feeling every time a surface gleams once more. Furthermore, the sequel takes everything that made the first game a surprise hit and makes it even better. It refines the steady, methodical gameplay, adds more tools to get every job done right, and while that familiar rewarding ding still sounds when you finish a clean, you now also get free soap. With fresh features and new locations, it’s easy to imagine where FuturLab might go next with the series. The first PowerWash Simulator set a pretty high bar, especially when it came to fun collaborations. For exampl...

Metal Gear Solid: The Orange Box TUBBZ (First Edition) Review

20Oct

By CharlotteNo Comments

Features

Metal Gear Solid: The Orange Box TUBBZ (First Edition) Review

Now you may remember last month I shared a news piece about the opening of pre-orders for the The Metal Gear Solid: The Orange Box TUBBZ (First Edition) and I'm very lucky in that I got sent one to review. My household seems to have developed a bit of thing around ducks and rubber duckies at the moment. I don't know where it came from, or quite why the hyperfixation has landed so heavily on them, but thanks to TUBBZ the love of ducks, gaming and pop culture can combine in the form of awesome collectibles. Making a Tactical Splash As with all TUBBZ products this is of course, an officially licensed collectible. The Metal Gear Solid: The Orange Box TUBBZ (First Edition) has the recognisable Numskull Designs take on a PVC duck. Or at least their bill does. I'll be honest the whole thing jus...

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...

Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune – Retrospective

7Oct

By KieranNo Comments

Features

Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune – Retrospective

Straightforward narrative driven adventure games come very few and far between these days. We live in a time when most AA or AAA games on the market try to be wallet pinching live services, or bloated open worlds that require as much commitment as your full-time job. If Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune were to release today, it would easily be seen as an outsider among the crowd. With that in mind, it’s funny to think that not so long ago, Uncharted was the golden example that many AAA game studios tried to follow. That is what I want to explore with this retrospective: how developer Naughty Dog, with their first PlayStation 3 title, laid the foundation for Uncharted to become PlayStation’s poster child for nearly a decade. Not only that, but how they also changed how the industry approach...

30Jul

By Iain culverhouseNo Comments

Features

Playstation Plus August

The PS Plus October August Games have been announced today for all PlayStation subscribers. Remember that even if you don’t plan to play these games now you should still add them to your library so you can check them out at any time (as long as you have an active sub). Lies Of P | PS4, PS5 Genre: Action Adventure Longevity: 29hrs+ | Trophies: 43 (incl Platinum) Metacritic: 80 | OpenCritic: 82 Release: 18th September 2023 This dark Soulslike game draws inspiration from an unexpected source: The Adventures of Pinocchio. In this grim reimagining of Carlo Collodi’s beloved tale, Pinocchio is on a quest to find the mysterious Mr. Geppetto. His journey leads him to Krat, a city reminiscent of the Belle Époque, where madness and killer puppets have stripped humanity from its i...