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Gothic 1 Remake really blossoms and shines once players get through the excruciatingly slow start, with the seemingly endless back-and-forth conversations and tasks. Whilst I do appreciate how heavily this game focuses on NPC interaction, and its importance in forming alliances, Gothic fails to make me care about any of these Old Camp Shadow thugs, Brotherhood of the Sleeper cultists, or New Camp Mercenaries. Diego is the only character that even comes close to being likeable. Gothic 1 Remake’s biggest achievement is to truly deliver that vintage gameplay experience to players. If you’re a big fan of old-school game design, minimal guidance, and unforgiving difficulty, then this game is for you. For players who have grown accustomed to modern quality of life features like fast travel and auto-saves, Gothic 1 Remake can feel rather frustrating. One of my personal pet peeves was the trainer-based progression system. I had to track down one of the many NPCs who can train me to level up a certain skill. Yes, I know I sound like I didn’t enjoy the game. On the contrary, it brought me back to my childhood, when games didn’t have guides, floating arrows pointing where you had to go next, or glowing objects that stood out so you knew which ones you could interact with. If you’re looking for that old-school feel, Gothic 1 Remake will not disappoint. Gothic 1 Remake gets the Thumb Culture Gold Award!
Overall, The 7th Guest Remake handles its transition to modern PCs incredibly well. Even though I was sceptical about how they would replicate the visual magic of the original, and even if the new Stauf didn’t hit as creepy for me at the start, the gameplay changes win you over. Being able to freely explore the rooms, rather than being teleported by a mouse click, completely changes the vibe for the better. It’s a wonderful trip down memory lane that stands on its own two feet, and it proved to my 13-year-old self that Stauf’s mansion still has plenty of secrets left to tell. I give The 7th Guest Remake the Thumb Culture Gold Award!!
All in all, Cheap Car Repair has a fun premise, but I feel like it doesn’t live up to its full potential. The bootleg repairs and improvisations are great when they actually happen. The main feature of the game feels pretty underutilized outside of some select story missions. Between the janky mechanics and the genuinely unnecessary use of AI, the game definitely has its flaws. Still, the fun quests and quirky story missions can give you a decent few hours of gameplay. Just don’t expect it to keep you hooked forever. Overall, I am giving Cheap Car Repair the Thumb Culture Silver Award.
Copa City takes a refreshing approach to the football management genre by shifting the focus away from what happens on the pitch. It instead puts you in charge of everything that surrounds matchday. Organising transport, entertainment, security, and fan experiences creates a unique challenge that helps the game stand out from the crowd. That said, issues with the interface and camera controls can make the experience more frustrating than it should be. Even so, Triple Espresso deserves credit for taking a risk on such an original concept that feels genuinely different. While it ultimately wasn’t a game that clicked with me personally, fans of management sims and football culture may find plenty to enjoy here. For its solid foundations, ambition and originality, I’m awarding Copa City a Thumb Culture Silver Award.
Dave the Diver: In the Jungle is a fantastic DLC to this fun and addictive. With the new mechanics that kept being added and me enjoying the new things that appear. We’re not being forced to speed up the story and take our time with it. I honestly feel that this is a great game to play while we wait for Bancho the Chef. So, don’t mind me, I’m going back into the diving suit and hunting for everything I can! I give Dave the Diver: In the Jungle the Thumb Culture Platinum Award
After playing Tour de France 2026, I came to the easy conclusion that the series does not justify a yearly release. There is only so much progress that can be made yearly for gameplay and visual upgrades. This year’s big example is the dynamic weather which to be fair does add unpredictability to races. However, the contrast in graphics between the riders and the environments is a chasm. The audio presentation lags behind others in the sports genre. To sum up, Tour de France 2026 does not inspire a strong connection to the sport for newcomers. For dedicated cycling fans, it offers more of what you probably know with a new weather system. Overall, I award Tour de France 2026 the Thumb Culture Bronze Award.
Moldwasher is cute, simple, and has various fun levels and tools to use. I never got bored with cleaning, and having different tools helps with switching things up. If you want something to just relax and play with, then Moldwasher is something that you can chill an afternoon away with. Unfortunately, my playthrough was stopped thanks to an issue with the beef monster level. But since I can see this being patched easily, I am still going to give Moldwasher the Thumb Culture Silver Award.
My time with the game has been enlightening. There are several flaws that I came across like the ability to see or remember Animon’s attacks. This is just one of a few things I hope they’re able to fix besides the issue with the controller choices I’ve encountered. I played on both the PC and on my Steam Deck and got to say that I rather play it on my Steam Deck. For a game like LumenTale: Memories of Trey, it feels more comfortable playing it in handheld mode. There is also the ending that felt kind of lackluster that almost killed my motivation to try to continue my completionist route. Again I hope this does get resolved over time. However, it is Beehive Studio to make the changes and we have a lot of time for change to happen. I give LumenTale: Memories of Trey the Thumb Culture Gold Award
Solarpunk is definitely something of an acquired taste. Whilst I do wish there was more of a structure to it, I did enjoy just building and exploring at my own pace. Some of the creations I’ve seen online are truly fantastic, and have given me inspiration to return to my various bases and improve their looks! Ultimately, what you get out of Solarpunk relies entirely on the player. Yes, due to the handcrafted worlds, there isn’t an infinite amount to see. But, as I’ve said, not every game needs to be infinitely replayable. This is mechanically rather simple, but still scratches that itch of creating things from bits and bobs. Therefore, Solarpunk receives the ThumbCulture Silver Award!
It turns out that Moonsigil Atlas was an enjoyable foray into a different format for the genre. At the end of the day, however, there just doesn’t feel like there’s a whole lot there. There are three characters with their own card sets, artifacts for variety, and a variety of cards overall. But it seems like something is missing to give it the depth it needs. Still, definitely a Thumb Culture Gold Award winner!
The game managed to pique my interest and even entertain me for more hours than I thought it would. The game developers did their best to create a variety of missions with a storyline that feels intriguing. Outside of that, the game feels rather lifeless, with very few cars on the Autobahn, very few NPCs to interact with, and even fewer activities to break up the routine. Unfortunately, due to the game randomly and abruptly crashing a couple of times, I can’t possibly give Autobahn Police Simulator 3 a positive review. Furthermore, the game lags and stutters constantly, despite the low specs requirements. Autobahn Police Simulator 3 receives the Thumb Culture Bronze Award.
Savara is a good little game that will definitely be comfortable in the library of rougelike fans. It’s a good game and there isn’t anything wrong with it. It just always doesn’t do much to make it a stand out game in a pretty packed genre. I really have been enjoying this game but I found myself just wanting a little bit more from the game. Ultimately, I have to give Savara the Thumb Culture Silver Award. As mentioned, it’s a good game but it doesn’t do enough for me to be really excited by it.
Incantation is okay, but it begs the question of why it needed to be made. The story keeps a steady pace and doesn’t drag on, but playing through can feel rather dull. Since the encounters are heavily scripted, and for the atmosphere, it never really feels present in the whole game either. No buildup, nothing. The upside with Incantation is that I never had any technical issues. So, for me, I think the game deserves the Thumb Culture Bronze Award.
At the end of the day, FORENSIC – M.E. Protocol is not a bad game, it just feels a bit clunky to me. The core concept is actually pretty fun, and since it’s quite cheap, just a bit over 10 bucks, it may be worth a shot if you are super into detective-style games and want to check it out for yourself! Just make sure to change the hint setting if you want a challenge, so you don’t end up stuck in easy mode like me. If you can look past some of the awkward mechanics and the AI images, this can be a decent little afternoon game, or something to keep you occupied after work for a day or two. All in all, I am giving FORENSIC – M.E. Protocol the Thumb Culture Silver Award!
After loving Spellgarden Games’ ‘Sticky Business‘, I had very high hopes for Thrifty Business. Maybe I went in with too high expectations as Sticky Business was a game that sucked me in for hours on end and constantly had me engaged. By all means, Thrifty Business is a wonderful game and Spellgarden have done an amazing job at expanding their exceptional game catalogue. It offers so much as a game and has plenty for a player to do but the waiting for the day to finish took me out of the game a little bit. Other than that this is a really good game and is very much deserving of the Thumb Culture Gold Award.
Ultimately, I enjoyed my time with Speed Freeks. Mostly… It’s hard to be too critical of the lack of solo content and game modes, especially for the price. There is fun to be had here, especially with friends. Plus, the creation utilities work surprisingly well using a controller, and was something I didn’t even expect to be included in the console version. The love for the 40k universe is on display in full force; there’s no doubt about it. Franchise veterans will absolutely get a kick out of burning rubber as a bunch of Orks. That aside, Warhammer 40,000: Speed Freeks is still a competent vehicle combat game with some genuinely good ideas. It’s just a shame there isn’t more of it. So, with all that said, Warhammer 40,000: Speed Freeks receives the Thumb Culture Silver Award!
Voidling Bound is honestly a great game with some very creative combat for each voidling I collect. Getting gold eggs from time to time and hatching some unique voidlings even a completely god one. Eventually, I got to play each species at least once, but always returned to the same ones that have great combat mechanics. So, if you like creating the strongest little helper to help save the world and making glass cannons or tanks. Then pick Voidling Bound when it releases. You can say you shouldn’t be avoidling a good time. I give Voidling Bound the Thumb Culture Platinum Award
Schrodinger’s Cat Burglar is clearly a labour of love, which is obvious from the thought and effort that went into it. It may have certain shortcomings, but they pale in comparison to how much of a blast I had with the game, making me excited for what the studio may come up with next. It’s for this reason that I give it the Thumb Culture Gold Award!
I don’t normally like to skip the Longevity section, but there really isn’t much I can say here. The answer is: I have no idea. I have absolutely no idea how long the game would keep you occupied if it actually worked as intended. I’m sorry. To get to the final thoughts, in the current state that the game is in, the mixed review score on Steam is entirely justified. It has a solid foundation that blends some fun ideas together, but it desperately needed more time in the oven. Between game-breaking progression bugs that leave you sitting AFK for ages, technical issues and just some very needed tweaking of the details, it is just a frustrating experience right now. If the developers can patch the game into a working state, it might be worth a look. Until the core gameplay loop actually functions though, I can’t really recommend this one. The game has potential, and if you look at the trailer, it actually does look fun. I believe if they had let it cook a bit longer, it could have been at the very least a Silver Award game. But sadly, this is just nearly unplayable. I’d give it the Broken Award, but since it is technically playable, even though you can’t really progress, it doesn’t really qualify for that either. I will instead give Service Area Simulator the Thumb Culture Bronze Award.
I had a blast with Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar, and I’m not through with it yet! Its wonderfully charming art style is incredibly endearing, and the performance is consistently solid. Overall, it’s just a very fun, chill game. I’d highly recommend this to series veterans, or to newcomers who want to try something unique. It’s so easy to lose track of time playing, which, for what it’s worth, is some of the highest praise I can give. Try it out; you may be pleasantly surprised at how engaging it (and the rest of the franchise) can be! Therefore, Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar receives the Thumb Culture Gold Award!