Simulation

12Jun

By Alex CrooksNo Comments

Thrifty Business – PC Review

Ever wanted to run your own 90s thrift store? Spellgarden Games is here to help with their new launch, Thrifty Business. Buy products, expand your store, and meet a cast of amazing NPCs. The world is your oyster as you expand floor by floor, railing by railing. You can get Thrifty Business on Steam right now for £12.99. An entire business? What a steal! Gameplay Opening up your own thrift shop is surprisingly easy. After a quick tutorial taking you through the basics, Thrifty Business throws you right into it. It allows you to learn at your own pace through expansion and shopping. All in all the gameplay is laid back and allows players to sink into the gradually. Anyone with any level of experience playing games could quite easily pick up Thrifty Business and get right into it. Arr...

12Jun

By CharlieNo Comments

PC Reviews

FORENSIC – M.E. Protocol – PC Review

FORENSIC - M.E. Protocol is a new crime scene investigation simulator developed by k148 Game Studio and published by JanduSoft, that hit the Steam shelves on May 28th. Step into the shoes of a forensic investigator, check out crime scenes, and try your best to solve the case! A Different Kind of Murder Investigation An investigator game like this honestly sounds fun on paper. Usually, in these kinds of games, you are either just a regular cop or the guy who gets sent to clean up after the fact. Getting to actually work on the forensic side of things is a great concept, but the execution isn't without its flaws. Have you seen a game like this before? Let me know in the comments! Gameplay In FORENSIC - M.E. Protocol, you play as a forensic investigator tasked with analysing crime sce...

11Jun

By KatNo Comments

Previews & Early Access

Mr Toilet – PC Preview

Mr Toilet is a first-person cleaning simulator. The game was developed/published by Radikate Games and also published by FreeMind.games & PlayWay S.A. You take control of a toilet clerk in a restroom building. Cleaning and looking after the place. Making sure customers are charged for using the facilities and not committing vandalism. Mr Toilet first released a demo, which was available pre-release; the demo is still available now if you want to give it a try before buying! The game developer also discloses using generative AI elements on the Steam page, which you can view there. Mr Toilet is now available to purchase on Steam in Early Access for £6.27 here. Get ready to scrub, scrub, scrub! Gameplay Mr Toilet has you start off as a janitor, you stock up your restroom...

8Jun

By CharlieNo Comments

PC Reviews

Service Area Simulator – PC Review

Service Area Simulator is a new shop simulator game that puts you through the standard management loop of building, restocking, and running your shops. Developed by ikika Games and published by PlayWay S.A., it was released on Steam on May 15th to mixed reviews. Stranded on the Side of the Road As you know by now, we at Thumb Culture have a knack for Simulator games. The good, the bad, and the ugly. I really felt like this game could be one of the good ones. Sadly, the reality of the game doesn't quite live up to that. Let's get into the details. Gameplay Service Area Simulator's core gameplay loop starts off pretty much like any other store sim you may have played before. You have just bought a tiny little store, in this case, sitting right at the side of a lonely desert road,...

Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar – PS5 Review

5Jun

By Mike CreweNo Comments

PlayStation Reviews

Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar – PS5 Review

Story of Seasons, or Harvest Moon, is a long-running franchise dating back to the SNES days. I personally didn't discover the series until Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life for the GameCube in 2004. Since then, I've been a pretty casual fan, having played a number of titles over the years. Now, after a nine-month timed exclusivity on Nintendo Switch 1 & 2 and PC, Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar is coming to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S! What's interesting, though, is that this is actually a remake of a previous game! The original was released on the Nintendo DS under the name Harvest Moon DS: Grand Bazaar. Developer Marvelous Inc. has completely revamped this 18-year-old portable title for modern consoles. But is it any good? Let's take a look in our Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar ...

Mystery Egg Shop Simulator: Prologue – PC Review

26May

By Alex CrooksNo Comments

Previews & Early Access

Mystery Egg Shop Simulator: Prologue – PC Review

Obsessed with mini figures? Love opening mystery boxes? Rocinante Games is here to fill the hole in your heart when you're just desperate to open a plastic bag and see which figure you get with their new release. Mystery Egg Shop Simulator: Prologue is a long demo of their upcoming release. I played through the Prologue, which you can find on Steam, to see whether this game had high hopes or was going to end up in a back office never to be shelved. Mystery Egg? Don't mind if I do! Gameplay Mystery Egg Shop Simulator features the pretty generic simulator gameplay. Buy things through a shop; unload boxes from a van; stack the shelves with product; cash out customers. It adds another layer to the gameplay with the collectable mini-figures. Similar to the card elements in the game ...

20May

By Kyle McGrathNo Comments

PC Reviews

Space Haven – PC Review

Releasing out of early access is Space Haven a sci-fi, management sim, set in space. We can take to the stars thanks to the team at Bugbyte Ltd. You can pick up the game on Steam right now, for £19.99. Or pick up the soundtrack for an additional £4.49. Like any of my reviews I try my best to give a run-down of the game for more of a beginner's perspective. Space Haven, or Space Hell, I guess it depends on how things turn out. Gameplay Space Haven offers two different game modes for players to select. The normal one has us build a ship and explore the galaxy, and the other has us assume control of a space station and slowly grow it over time. Whatever one you pick, you can customise your beginning crew's stats to further change up your gameplay. Change their attributes to give them mor...

20May

By Alex CrooksNo Comments

PC Reviews

Toll Booth Simulator – PC Review

Ever wondered what it would be like to run a toll booth in the middle of nowhere? Well, now you can with Toll Booth Simulator by SifDev. Currently available on Steam for £10.99, we've decided to give it a go. Check out our other PC reviews here to see whether there's anything else you might be missing out on. Can't go over it, can't go under it.... going to have to go through it and pay the toll Gameplay Imagine if Papers, Please was 3D and you could beat up anyone that tried to get by without paying. That's essentially Toll Booth Simulator. Starting with just a small booth and a massive debt, your day begins with a simple law that you must follow. As things start to develop, the admission rules change and the scope of your job gets a bit more hectic. Toll bridge prices aren't t...

18May

By Kyle McGrathNo Comments

PC Reviews

Hotel Architect – PC Review

Looking for a new place to stay, I am sure I can create something to your liking in Hotel Architect. A new management sim where we design large or scaled hotels, all while trying to keep everything moving smoothly. The game has just left its early access and is officially in 1.0! So if you love management sims, then you will find it on Steam for £25.99. Maybe looking for something different? Why not check my review for Sintopia Hope you enjoyed your stay. Gameplay In campaign mode, each level will give you a task for you to fulfil, which will unlock the next destination. There are bonus objectives also for the player to work towards that will provide new items. And for those players who aim for perfection, you can work towards each hotel being 5 stars. Just like any other management s...

14May

By Mike CreweNo Comments

PlayStation Reviews

Bus Bound – PS5 Review

Simulator titles based on relatively mundane jobs are like marmite. You either love them or hate them. Personally, I quite like getting stuck into a virtual job. More so than my real job, anyway. Developed by stillalive studios, Bus Bound is the latest sim that puts players behind the wheel of the most unreliable of all public transport: the bus. Clue's in the name really... Available now for PlayStation 5, PC, and Xbox Series X|S, is Bus Bound another surprisingly fun public transport sim from the developer that brought us the well-received Bus Simulator 21? Let's find out! The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round In my short time working at Thumb Culture, I feel like I've covered a lot of simulators. However, I've yet to review one centred around buses! Although I don't like act...