I must say, I thoroughly enjoyed my play-through of Prim. The gothic hand-drawn monochrome art style is lovely. The entwinement of Greek mythology puts an interesting spin on the setting and storyline. The characters are all enjoyable and bring the narrative to life while the aforementioned skill of puzzle-solving is at just the right level of difficulty in my opinion. Kudos to Jonas Fisch and his team for bringing Prim to life.
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake is a fun-to-play 3D platformer that gives a solid representation of the TV show. While I enjoy having a good family-friendly game to let the children play, there is no ground-breaking game mechanics as such, however, there is a lot of enjoyment to be had while trying to rescue all of your friends and restore Bikini Bottom.
Maybe it is my age, but Golazo! 2 really struck a nerve with me. A good one that is. Its simple but fun nature means it is very easy to pick up and play.
Toy Soldiers HD gives players that nostalgic tower defence genre another run on modern devices, which is fantastic for those that crave a bit of the past. It is certainly not an easy game to play and lends a bit of challenge to the old grey matter
NFS Unbound feels fresh thanks to the urban hip-hop blend of graphical style and soundtrack. If you enjoy your driving games then it is one to pick up and have a play with. Customisation options are off the scale which gives you the ability to feel unique as you drive around
While each of the World Tour DLC adds a different flavour to your city, I felt that the Financial Districts DLC was the best out of the bunch. The main reason being that the implementation of the financial mechanics really added to your overall experience of running a city.
Having been a VR port to Nintendo Switch, I found Jurassic World Aftermath Collection to play ok. The were times whereby I could see how the VR experience would have made the gameplay probably feel a lot smoother and less clunky. That said the puzzles were achievable. For me, it was more the quick pressing of buttons as you try and hide inside a locker and shut the door again where it sometimes went wrong! Probably my age. I have played some VR ports to console before and you can tell that something is off with the way it feels. Aftermath did not leave me with that feeling thankfully. If you want to play a challenging game that combines puzzles, stealth and the lore of Jurassic World then this is for you. I award Jurassic World Aftermath Collection the Thumb Culture Gold Award!
I must say that I have massively enjoyed New Tales from the Borderlands. The comedic dialogues, graphics, interactions, and of course storyline, are each fantastic! It will certainly capture not only the hearts of Borderlands fans around the world, but also appeal to new players far and wide.
Way Of The Hunter does have potential, however with the high bar set by the Hunter: Call Of The Wild, there is some catching up and improving for it to do
While some of the background graphics didn’t appear to be top-notch at times, the overall gameplay and welcomeness of PGA Tour 2K23 was an amazing experience.
I must say that I enjoyed my time playing Train Life – A Railway Simulator. Despite the initial simplicity of what I was required to do, I still managed to pick the wrong tracks and slam into buffers countless times causing no end of problems for myself. If you fancy playing a sim game that is chilled at times but can be a little more practical than the usual run-of-the-mill management games, then I would say this is for you. Train Life – A Railway Simulator scores a Thumb Culture Gold Award!
Dinosaur Fossil Hunter is in a world of its own when it comes to simulators. This is simply one of the greatest simulators that I have ever played. When it comes to levels of detail and processes to follow the simulator does not want to stop. The museum interior design aspect in itself feels like its own game. For anybody that wants to experience being a palaeontologist or has a dino mad child in the household, this is a game you do not want to miss. Dinosaur Fossil Hunter scores a Roarsome Thumb Culture Platinum Award!
Cities: VR needs a bit of polishing in my opinion. While it is there for a majority of the game there are clearly some areas that need some work to make the immersion a bit more enjoyable
It is great to see a free next-gen upgrade for a game. While I appreciate that some developers charge for their upgrades, you can see that their time and effort needs to be paid for somewhere.
For a one-man studio, Radiangames has really come up with a fun and creative game that just captivates me. I have an engineering background but seriously, who doesn’t love smashing up buildings?! Even my four year old sat with me driving one of our homemade machines into buildings. It appeals to everyone.
GT7 is a must-have for anyone who loves racing games. It looks amazing and plays beautifully well. You can make it as easy or challenging as you would like it to make it enjoyable. Yes, I have brake zones and corner points showing but I haven’t learned the tracks very well yet!
For a free-to-play game, Century: Age of Ashes is actually really fun and quite innovative really. It could be likened perhaps to Star Wars: Squadrons in its dogfight style however this is fire-breathing dragons battling it out across a variety of beautifully drawn arenas!
Although only priced at £4.99, I can’t help but feel a bit let down by the Carnaval Streetwear kit. It does not bring the Brazillian vibe and instead looks like a summer range from Primark. If you are a die-hard fan of The Sims 4 feel free to expand your available items, however, sadly for me it missed the mark. The Carnaval Streetwear kit gets a Thumb Culture Silver from me.
Model Builder is an amazing game. For a small indie gaming company, this game makes something enjoyable that I really thought wouldn’t be. With a whole host of free DLC and very good support, Model Builder still receives a Thumb Culture Gold Award from me.
AVICII Invector is a brilliant and challenging rhythm-action experience and is very different from a lot of the games that are currently out there. I found the game to be refreshing, and considering the heartbreaking tragedy of AVICII during the making of it. This stands as a legacy to the amazing artist which will stand forever. Hello There Games should be proud of what they have achieved for AVICII’s fans, As well as the support they are giving towards the Tim Bergling Foundation. I give AVICII Invector a solid Thumb Culture Platinum award.