Thumb Culture
HomepageThumb Culture's Reviews
Frostpunk is in a word awesome, it’s beautifully crafted, enticingly simple and wholly captivating. Words truly do not do the magnificence justice, buy it, play it, love it. Many hours are going to be lost, my children’s names will fade from my mind as I plan my next move. Frostpunk is a city-building game fan’s delight. 11 Bit Studios need to go out and have one hell of a celebration unless that hell freezes over of course. Frostpunk romps it’s way to an easy Thumb Culture Platinum award.
The Fisherman is a very enjoyable and relaxing game, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time playing it. As a new player, I can recommend it, for the initial purchase you get a lot of game for the money and the removal of the microtransactions and the reworked economy make for a much more enjoyable and relaxing game, which in my eyes a fishing game should be. If however, you’re a seasoned Fishing Planet player I can’t see it being a worthwhile purchase, If you’ve already invested 100’s of your own hours or more importantly money into the free game, it’s a lot to give up for reworked mechanics. I feel The Fisherman deserves the gold thumb award!
Vampyr is a flawed gem which is unfortunately a bit more flawed on the Nintendo Switch. It feels a bit like a game from a by-gone era, when technical issues and rough plotting often went hand-in-hand with passion and a unique vision. If you’re willing to turn a blind eye to the technical issues you’ll most likely have a ghoulish time, even with the Switch port. I give Vampyr a vampire-destroying Thumb Culture Silver Award.
I don’t know how simply I can put this: Close To The Sun is brilliant. I’ve already gone back to play it and I’m still getting caught out by the jump scares and the wrong-turns when being chased. It’s bloody fantastic. The game encompasses all of the best parts of survival horror games, brings to life alternate realities with adaptations to non-fictional characters such as Tesla and his wacky inventions, and really grips you with the storyline. If you haven’t already got hold of it, go and get it. However, I can’t just let the graphical deficiencies slide, so as much as I like the game and I do recommend it, I’ll be giving Close To The Sun a Thumb Culture Silver Award!
I fairly enjoyed Disco Elysium. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a very impressive game in its deep approach to role-playing but I found it extremely text-heavy and with no combat, was for me at times quite mundane. Disco Elysium is a very well written RPG, with deep conversations and an intriguing city that will make you want to make sure you are constantly on top of all things regarding your investigation. Whether that be talking and then re-talking to characters to see if you’ve unlocked some new dialogue to extend the investigation, or whether you’re constantly roaming around Revachol making sure you haven’t missed out on any new areas to look into, I just felt it was a lot of slow grinding and to bridge that with a bit of an un-motivating story, it didn’t keep me wanting to play all the time. Politics play a huge part in the story and I kind of got the feeling that as we have enough politics in the world right now what with BREXIT, that having it within Disco Elysium it’s got on my nerves a little. I am making Disco Elysium sound like a chore of a game, but I was, for the most part, enjoying it. Disco Elysium is currently £34.99 on Steam. I am awarding Disco Elysium a Thumb Culture Silver Award!
Into the Dead 2 is astoundingly expense for an auto-run game. There are two DLC packs, Ghostbusters and Night of the Living Dead, which look better than the base game however, these are available for an additional £4.49 each! The game’s core mechanic will most likely bore most people. It may appeal to the casual gamer and if you’re interested in the title then download the free to play mobile version as the Switch version is definitely not worth your time or money. This game needed to stay dead. I award the game a Thumb Culture Bronze Award.
Wrapping up, Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair is a fantastic game and well-deserving of high praise. Between the goofy dialogue, lovely cartoony art style, and super-smooth gameplay. I’m ecstatic to be able to award them with the Thumb Culture Platinum Essential award. If you own a Nintendo Switch, you don’t want to miss out on this gem of a platformer. Available now on the Nintendo eShop for £24.99, Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair is every bit worth your time and money.
Farming Simulator 19 Platinum Edition is immense, tricky and certainly not a walk in the farm! There is a handy tutorial to set you on your way but be warned, you will lose many days if not months of your life to this game in order to perfect your farm. As a father of 4 boys I would personally struggle to sit down every day for a few hours to carry on what I was doing from the day before. That said this is the perfect form of escapism if you just need to go chill and take time out from your life, which let’s face it, we should all do from time to time. The attention to detail within the game as well as the amazing CLAAS vehicles that have been included in this edition really bring something to the table if you love your farming and engineering. I award Farming Simulator 19 Platinum Edition the Thumb Culture Gold Award!
I’m happy to report that the game is worth checking out. I was surprised with the quality of the game in terms of level design; it’s varied, challenging and feels like classic Monkey Ball. Unfortunately, the party games lack the quality and depth of its predecessors and due to this, I award the game a Thumb Culture Silver Award!
CHIKARA: Action Arcade Wrestling IS the wrestling game I have been waiting for after the slew of WWE games that really hasn’t been great. Sure, Fire Pro Wrestling World is good but its a bit hardcore for those that are looking for some quick-fire wrestling action. With its button bashing simplicity but allowing you to do some amazing moves along with fighting with your makes. I hope the Online play gets busy as this game will be doing some high flying manoeuvers off the top ropes. For this, I’m going to give CHIKARA: Action Arcade Wrestling a Thumb Culture Gold Award
I really enjoyed playing this quirky, parody golf game wherefrom level to level you don’t know what the hell you’re going to be golfing. From swinging toasters to tv’s, to controlling missiles across the crazy courses to seeing games like Portal, Guitar Hero & Mario being incorporated into the game is a very very brilliant touch. Massive thumbs up to Triband for this. You don’t have to be a golf fanatic or someone into sports to enjoy this game. If you have a good sense of humour and like a laugh, then this is a MUST buy. There were many times I was shocked (in a good way) with what I was having to fling across the course, and this made me all that more excited for what was coming around the corner. I couldn’t recommend What the Golf anymore!!! I am awarding What the Golf a Thumb Culture Gold Award!
Ghostbusters made me feel all tingly in a good way. Many remasters do not stand the test of time however I felt that with the way the game was initially written and developed as well as the use of most of the amazing original cast from the movies it is the talent that has held it all together. If you ain’t afraid of no ghost, wanna relive that nostalgic ghostbusting atmosphere and also celebrate the 35th anniversary of the original movie you will not be disappointed. I award Ghostbuster: The Video Game Remastered the prestigious Thumb Culture Gold Award.
Community Inc. isn’t a game I particularly enjoyed as it’s not the type of game I’m usually interested in, but that’s not to say it doesn’t have redeeming qualities. It has a pleasant aesthetic and lovely music, making for a relaxing slow-paced game. So for that, I’m going to give Community Inc. the Thumb Culture Silver award, just because it’s not the kind of game I could see myself picking up to play over and over again. The gameplay got repetitive after a couple of hours of playing, and I felt like I had seen all there was to see. The $14.99USD price tag on Nintendo eShop makes it so that if you wanted to try it out and didn’t like it you’re not out much money. In my opinion, it’s a decent game, but probably a game better played on a PC.
To conclude personally I enjoyed the game, although not so much the competitive side, I can see myself returning for a relaxing fish on a rainy afternoon I feel Fishing Sim World: Pro Tour deserves the Thumb Culture Silver Award!
Unable to throw me off any high ledges or lay down to be consumed by Harpies was frustrating. Walking around looking for items in unusual places was frustrating. Not having the ability to have true freedom of movement was frustrating. The narrator was frustrating. Most of all though, the fact that there was no actual game was the most frustrating thing. Argonus and the Gods of Stone looked like it had so much potential, but it’s just a jumbled up scavenger hunt with no logic. I wanted a Monet and I got a Pollock. There is paint, it’s on the canvas, but it’s simply a mess. I was hoping for better. It wasn’t so many gods of stone, but a game of stone. Based on all of this I award Argonus and the Gods of Stone a Thumb Culture Bronze award.
I really enjoyed Call of Cthulhu. Like I said at the beginning, I am a lover of horror/psychological thriller games and this suited me to the ground. I thought the length time of 12-15 hours for the game was perfect and the graphics, especially in handheld mode, looked nice, apart from a couple of issues that I mentioned. With these types of games, the story is pretty important to me and I thought Cyanide did a good job, especially with the plot twists, as it kept me intrigued and wanting to find out what was happening right through until the very end. This is why I am awarding Call of Cthulhu a Thumb Culture Gold Award!
I really enjoyed Megaquarium, I found it refreshing to take on the challenge of designing and managing my own aquarium and it took me right back to my childhood roots. There has clearly been a lot of love and attention given to the game mechanics as well as the background understanding for each of the various marine species. Will I ever get to Megaquarium status? Watch this space! I award Megaquarium the Thumb Culture Platinum Trophy!
Is this the Breath of the Wild fresh air you’ve been waiting for or is it a Link to the Past PS2 era adventure games? Is this worth your rupees? Can I think of any other Zelda based puns? Probably but that will annoy the hell out of you and only keep me mildly amused… Anyway, I award A Knight’s Quest the Thumb Culture Silver Award! It’s a fun adventure game that will keep you entertained but is plagued by some technical issues.
Deliver us the Moon is a well crafted, aesthetically pleasing, audio delightful little game. KeokeN Interactive should be very proud of Deliver us the Moon as it ticks all the boxes. I hope that their next game moves onwards and upwards, who knows, maybe mars? Longer sections, more intricate puzzles and more intuitive gameplay. My only advice is simple. Get this game as it is the winner of a highly coveted Thumb Culture Gold Award.
Sniper Elite III Ultimate Edition is an excellent port of the original game and feels right at home on the Switch. Unfortunately, repetitive gameplay prevents it from achieving greatness. Nevertheless, I would like to pin the Thumb Culture Silver Award over its heart.