Jason Patrick

“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.”

“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”

“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!”

“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”

“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”

“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.”

“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.”

“Let’s Sing 2020 seems more aimed at people in their early 20’s with a few token classics spuriously thrown in for the older generations. Based on the game’s current track listing I personally probably would not have bought it, however, the DLC packs provide an assortment of tracks that opens the game up to more people that are over the age of 25. Let’s Sing 2020 plays well and can easily be used to form the basis of a party when people want to get together and also compete to see who the best singer is! I award Let’s Sing 2020 the Thumb Culture Silver trophy.”

“With some games, when a DLC drops it can sometimes feel like a half-arsed attempt to cash in on something that is already successful however Mutant Year Zero: Seed of Evil is refreshing as it introduces new plant-type enemies as well as a new character, new areas to explore and a continuation of an epic story. If you really want to challenge yourself and reckon you are strategic mastermind then I highly recommend departing with your hard-earned money as you will not be disappointed. I award Mutant Year Zero: Seed of Evil the Thumb Culture Platinum Trophy.”

“I award Car Mechanic Simulator the Thumb Culture Silver trophy. What it sets out to do is really quite clever however I do not think the Playstation console shows it at its best due to the controller.”

“Overall I enjoyed my experience although I found I needed to be in a very tactical frame of mind to take on World of Warships Legends as there is a lot to take on board and a lot of careful decisions to make when out on the water! Happy hunting! I award World of Warships Legends a Thumb Culture Gold award.”

“I won’t lie, I feel really let down by Riot: Civil Unrest. I felt like a kid at Christmas who was excitedly looking forward to opening a present under the tree to realise it was a potato and not what I had wished for. On the face value of it, I was intrigued by the concept and what I was going to discover, however, the way the game has been designed and drawn lets it down majorly. With polished graphics, better sound and a tutorial that helps you understand what the hell you are doing, this game could have had so much potential. For me, it is currently being deleted from my console. Harsh I know, but it is for the best.”

“If you love puzzle solving or are a die-hard fan of the series then give it a whirl, but for me I found it a little repetitive and too brain taxing to enjoy!”

“Dead Purge: Outbreak by Microlith Games is a first person zombie shooter set in a post-apocalyptic era that is available for the PC. With the zombie shooter genre constantly being pushed upon me via the daily shared videos on social media of Days Gone and my friend's showing off their latest gameplay from Call of Duty Zombies my appetite is constantly whetted. Boasting of "beautiful locations & dozens of weapons" along with a "realistic combat system & multiple game modes" I sat down at my PC and looked forward to what was going to unfold.”

“Perfect Universe by Indie Developer Will Sykes Games is this weeks deployment onto my Ps4.  From the title I was not sure what to expect; a universe where Arsenal FC play consistently enough to win the Premier League? A day where Donald Trump's latest antics aren't plastered across my news feed?  Unfortunately only one of these can probably happen (Arsenal winning the Premiership) however Perfect Universe is actually a cool collection of 9 mini games that are based around physics and gravity.”