Wax Heads

Wax Heads is a wonderfull and extremely queer game about a struggling indie record store, run by a disillusioned aging 80:s pop-rock star whose band broke up due to drama. It's a visual novel with some puzzles about finding the correct record for each lovable wierdo (and a few not so lovable...) that visit the store with increasingly specific requests. You need to find what they are looking for, even if they almost never know it themselves, parsed from what they say, the album covers, songs on the albums and suplementary reviews and blog posts that talk abour drama and news. Some are ridiculously straight forward, others require quite a bit of sleuthing, but you can play a mode with unlimited retrys if you just want the story and want to make eveyone happy and don't have to worry about the recomendations. There is something special with nailing a recomendation for something obscure and outside of the mainstream to someone, be it games, movies or music and if anything, the game get that part right. The main story and all the side plots are cute, funny and endering (the young exitable girl who starts her own Riot Grrrl band after being inspired by one of the legendary bands you recomend to her beeing just one of those, same with the aging widower whos husband passed and his unexpected friendship with another patron in the store), sure it plays it a little safe, arguable too safe, it's a sitcom not serious drama, after all. I don't even think there is a bad ending really and the Bad guys are almost cartoonishly wicked with almost zero nuance or redeaming qualities. But it's a "Save the rec centre" story after all. I'm not sure if I even would have wanted a more darker story, sometimes you just want something wholesome, and Wax Heads has that in spades. The final point i'll make is about the music, it's quite frankly way better than it has any right to be in a small indie title. Several of the songs from the made up bands you sell records for and play in game are genuinely pretty great. The love the devs have for indie music of all genres and the very hard stance they take against AI in music is palpable and great to see. The fake bands feel like they could be real, and while there isn't that many in each genre, having too much would probably be to frustrating when you walk around in the little maze that is your store trying to find the record. Also "Girl Junk" would seriously be an amazing name for a all trans femme punk band.

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!!

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.

story and vibes were so good i started making zines again

I adore everything about Wax Heads. The heartwarming story is seasoned with an engaging puzzle mechanic that feels very rewarding every time you get a "Rad!".

As someone who used to work at HMV, my favourite part of the job was finding things for people based on obscure, half-remembered details they gave me. I was over the moon when I found out they made that experience into a game! The vibes are immaculate, the mini-puzzles are varied and fun and the character design is especially good - they really feel like people you've met before! I didn't expect to get so caught up in the story and feel genuinely moved by the end, and all the little extras like the tape recordings really created a fully fleshed out nostalgic experience. Playing this game feels like hearing a great song for the first time, coming across an awesome band at a local bar, getting excited about a new album... Definitely my new favourite game, one of those ones you don't want to keep playing because you know it's going to end! I recommend it to anyone who loves music or wants to fall in love with music again.

Wonderful and stylish Va-11 Hall-A-like about a record store in a small English town that uses a ton of made-up artists (complete with actual music by the dozen) to tell a story about how important music and real live connection and communication is important for humans to, well, stay human. Also occasional clever themed puzzle, like which beer to buy or how to best pack a collector's edition.

[b] 请确保可以英语游玩&喜爱摇滚[/b] 推理客户喜好推荐唱片，阅读专辑评论，故事很有一种社区的人情味。 推荐唱片的解谜100%正确比较难。一直重复有些无聊。 其次 [b] 我是拿翻译器玩的 [/b]。文字、故事的美式风格，加剧了阅读的难度。ai优化后我也不太能理解[i] 语言逻辑 [/i]和[i] 部分谜题双关 [/i]。（怀疑是否真能完全信达雅） 我喜欢买唱片所以购入了。游戏中专辑摇滚朋克贯彻得很好。bgm放专辑音乐很有代入感，很艺术，但太摇滚了我听不太惯。

By far my favorite game of 2026! Reminds me a little bit of the movie Empire Records, but so much cooler!

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!