Wax Heads

A grounded story about the importance of local shops, communities around the same passion and values, the passing of time along with the death of physical media and also the daily challenges against capitalism. The light puzzles to search for clues feel interesting, personal and original. The music, obviously, is amazing!! truly the game plays almost like a visual novel with especially believable characters yet the game somehow feels very unique.

I’m a local record store worker, game dev, and I get mistaken for a punk all the time(actually more an emo-crust/screamo fan, it’s all of my patches that get people confused, but that’s not important), and I tried this game with high hopes that I could find something to send to people who wanted to know what it was like to work in a record store. But I was pretty disappointed with what I got. Much of this game feels like it was developed by someone who has never worked in a record store before, and this is what they imagine it’s like. There’s little that grounds this game in reality, and it feels like this game is stuck in the past, despite having a semi modern setting. The story is written in a very similar way, much of it feels like it’s trying too hard without understanding the substance of the genres. It feels like the sum of the devs knowledge of punk ends at the riot grrl movement of the 90’s, both modern diy movements and industry led movements are not even considered possibilities. This game lives in a bubble of nostalgia unfortunately common for many indie developers. Much of the actual content of this game doesn’t really exist. The story is 100% the priority, and the gameplay exists purely to serve as a means to an end for it. You never once feel like you work an actual shift, your tasks consist of finding a record based off a description, and then check out. The main puzzle mechanic is the recommendation of record, but there’s a choice of only a handful of records to pick from. One of the real challenges in working in a record store is sifting through rows of hundreds of records to find what you’re looking for; which I understand to create all those assets as an indie dev would be impossible, but at least add some blurred filler assets to help with immersion! The records you find are all from displays, or east to see places, the puzzle mechanic is actually kind of cool, but there’s just not enough to make it feel challenging or even necessary. There’s also a checkout mechanic, but it’s not built in a way that feels intuitive, which is fine if there was something else to this game to compensate for it. But there isn’t, there’s no filler content, no store inventory management, order placement or unboxing, used record grading, or anything else that would immerse you in the games setting. Story based job simulators that prioritize story over gameplay are fine, but you have to have enough of a game to make it believable(think a game like coffee talk. Enough of a game to make you feel like you are working an actual shift and experiencing a story simultaneously), because nothing about this game even touches that. You work at a struggling record store yet you have coworkers who don’t do anything but just stand around, and the mc does a handful of tasks and her day is done. Like no wonder it’s a struggling record store your boss doesn’t understand how labor management works. You do more customization than you do actual retail, which is just crazy to me, I wish I could clock into my job to put stickers up and slack off with my coworkers lol. I think what bothers me more than anything else is that this was a game directed straight at me, but it trivializes both my job and my passion, and that feels insulting. If you truly want to make a love letter to punk physical media then you need to at a minimum have an understanding of how a punk record store even operates. Overall the game is a story based game where the mc clocks into their job purely to progress said story, and from I played it wasn’t enough to make the lack of substance in the rest of the game feel worth it.

TLDR: You should give it a try if you like visual novels. All I can say is it's a real shame. I started the game with extremely high expectations, waiting for months for its release and buying the game on day 1. I was so excited and so sure I would love it that I bought the supporter bundle blindly, because I wanted the full experience with all the extra material included (especially after learning about all the work that went into creating original songs and designing fictional albums). I was ready for the ride. Unfortunately, I soon realized my idea of the game was very different from the final product. Honestly, I was expecting a game like Tiny Bookshop, with music instead of books. Lots of sales, recommendations and material to discover, with some fixed, endearing characters popping up from time to time and a few side-quests to fulfill. However, Wax Heads was the opposite. Lots, LOTS of dialogues and interactions with the main cast and very little space left for sales and customers. It's a visual novel, with some CD sales on the side. The more I played the game, the more I missed PLAYING. I never do it in games, but 30 minutes into chapter 2, I started skipping the dialogues. It got to the point where I realized it didn't make sense for me to keep going, so I decided to drop it. Don't get me wrong: this is not a bad title. If you like visual novels, you will probably enjoy it. It was just not suited for me. It's not my genre, I'm probably not the target audience. I like to be the protagonist of my games, not just a passive bystander or listener. And I might have given up too early, but I couldn't get past the visual novel parts, unfortunately. They were too many, too long and not that interesting to me. Maybe one day I'll give it another try.

I came to know of Wax Heads through a Gab Smolders playthrough (thanks Gab!). While it was enough to pique my interest, I did not expect to fall head over heels for this game! <3 My playthrough wasn't flawless by any means, but the positives far outweigh the negatives for me. I decided to get this game because Gab's 1 hour playthrough hinted at an unfolding story with layers (which is very much up my alley) and I'm pleased to say I got what I came for. I was hooked throughout the entire plot. The way it unfolded was perfect for me and kept me guessing how it would resolve at the end. I was invested! And I love the ending so much! <3 The story is great, but to me the biggest highlight of this game is the world-building. I really enjoyed learning about all the tracks and artists featured in the Wax Head universe, it really helped me to immerse myself in this fictional music world that was so so captivating! I constantly kept my customers waiting (and the story waiting too) as I took my own sweet time reading everything. As a music fan in real life, the in-game music was such a dream! I thought I would be a Sister stan, but upon reaching the credits, I became a Becoming Violet fan instead. "Davey B" and "Misunderstand" were my standout singles, but against my own expectations "XATC" was surprisingly my favourite song on the jukebox. I think all the songs were so good! Kudos to all who made these banging tracks! And the background music was great too! They perfectly accompany the scenes. I definitely wish some of these tracks were real songs. XD I also loved all the characters. Well, I meant the good guys, because the bad guys were truly loathsome (Mr G in particular can go f himself). I truly had fun with all Repeater Records employees and I love them all the same. <3 I felt like I could get a sense of each character's personality, and by the end of the story, I was genuinely rooting for all of them. I also had favourite customers, for example Winston was such a gem. I also enjoyed admiring all the different album covers, they were so diverse and yet each of them had a distinct feel to it. It really helped each album stand out, which made it so easy for me to search for it in the shop whenever I had an album in mind. The difficulty level was alright for me. I really struggled with certain customer requests (thank the devs for the option to rechoose the album before making the selection final, because otherwise I wouldn't get so many "RAD!") but otherwise I was able to decipher them most of the time. It was helpful that there was no time limit so I could take my time to think it through and try out several albums until I eventually got it. What was truly difficult for me is Diggy Doggo. Yes, it's a fun arcade game, but my inferior gaming skills meant that as of writing this review I still haven't beaten the bloody game after 20+ attempts. I wonder if I'll ever get that last achievement. Speaking of achievements, I'm surprised unlocking the hidden contents inside the secret storage room is not part of the achievements. I'll try not to spoil it too much, but I learned the hard way (including a 3.5 hours rushed speedrun because I completely missed it in my first playthrough FML) that I needed to be very alert and observant to unlock all of them. But when I finally did, it was worth it for me as the secret contents further deepened my appreciation and affection for the game, or should I say the people behind the game. ;) To conclude this review, here are 3 albums I recommend! :D - "Post-Traumatic" by Mike Shinoda (this guy is one half of my heart along with the other half that is Chester Bennington </3 ) - "Everybody Scream" by Florence + The Machine (imo one of her best albums!) - "Even Though You're Gone" by Echos (she's a really underrated artist who I think deserves a bit more love)

Really cool art and designs. Good writing that provides a grounded indie music scene tale and a vibrant cast of characters. Unfortunately not fun as game. It is not enough that it has great parts when the gameplay is just a minor detective puzzle where you must be aware of the album descriptions and be aware of the music news. Sadly the weakest link in this game about music is the music. It felt like the music was just an afterthought, never something essential. It is not a game about music. Music is merely the theme.

This game is such a beautiful breath of fresh air in a world of late-stage capitalism dread. The characters feel like real people--but also more than that. They feel like real *friends* that I have met and know in my life, and it's so cool to see so much love poured into every minute of this story. Side note: I would adore having a real LP of this game's music because WOW. ALSO CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW GINA COMPOSED EVERY SINGLE FREAKIN SONG???? That's so many different genres and lyrics and AGH. I don't even know how music composition works, but man, that's impressive!!

I played the demo on Steam Next Fest, and it had me wishing to play even more, and I'm glad I got it right after! One of my favorite games of the year, so well thought and fun to play! I recommend it to everyone! I loved how the credits were built, with the actual team recommending their games!! I wish this list is available somewhere for us to review!! Also wishing this games gets translation in more languages, especially in brazilian!!

Great!

I bought this game because I came across an Instagram reel by the devs, talking about how this game was a labour of love and an ode to music. Not only did the reel resonate, but the devs were also amazingly kind when I commented on it, so I bought the game to support them. If you love music, this game is for you. Its so nicely made, has a nice storyline, and the playstyle is fun and relaxing. The visual art is beautiful, and the music in the game is absolutely amazing. The fact that the devs went as far as to make all these songs and albums themselves, despite the albums in-game being of so many different genres and styles, is nothing short of amazing to me. I had so much fun playing this, and I've already started my second playthrough!