A friend of mine who worked in a bookstore used to complain about customers who couldn’t remember what they wanted. They’d say unhelpful things like, “I think it had a red cover?” At first the thought of gamifying that only with music instead of books seemed off-putting to me, as someone who goes shopping with overly detailed lists and would sooner bury myself in the ground than ask for help.
I’m glad I gave Wax Heads a chance though, because it’s more than just a puzzle game where you figure out which record with a saxophone on the cover somebody wants.
Like Strange Horticulture with punk instead of plants, it’s about an extremely specific kind of shop: the record store that promotes local bands and zines. Repeater Records is a struggling hub for a town’s music scene—but maybe putting on a gig can save it? You know the type of place, from movies if not reality. In terms of tone it’s halfway between Empire Records and High Fidelity. With Scott Pilgrim’s art style thrown in that puts it right up my alley.
All the lovable weirdos who work there have their own story, and so do the regulars. To figure out what customers want you have to explore the mazey store, keep up with a daily music press and an Instagram-like called Phonogram, and even pay close attention to what people wear for clues about their preferences. Some customers are just forgetful, while others want you to recommend something new they’ll like based on their taste.
I think they could do with checking out these things called reviews, but getting to know Repeater Records and the music it stocks is genuinely fun. The invented album blurbs are well-observed—the saga of a metal band rumored to have killed their original lead singer rang true as exactly the kind of subculture mythology people discuss over the vinyl.
You can even queue up songs on the jukebox, each one a perfect recreation of a niche subgenre. I wish several these bands were real so I could listen to more of their work.
Wax Heads is available on Steam and has a demo you can play now.
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