If you’re a big fan of music, you may have already decided to recommend songs, and even entire albums, to friends, based on their requests, personalities, and whatnot. So imagine turning that delightful pasttime we’ve all done at least once into a video game. Many developers would have turned it into a menial repetitive task in a robotic gameplay loop, but today’s subject is not the case. I’m here to talk about Patattie Games’ Wax Heads, and how this amalgamation of genres and influences is actually worth your time.

The dude is a cheapskate, looking for the cheapest music he can find… yet he has never heard of Limewire.

One half of Wax Heads is pretty straightforward: you work in a record store, and people show up asking for recommendations. Based on your current catalogue, trends you can see via social media, and that particular person’s own personality, you gotta tie them to the perfect album. In one case, an older gentleman might request for an album to remind him of his youth, so you decide to recommend him a smooth jazz LP. In another case, you might wince at a person’s vague description of what they want, but you notice they’re wearing clothing from two different bands… and oh my god, what a coincidence, they’ve released a new collab album this week! It’s basically a logic puzzle game, coupled with a ton of music composed for this game in particular.

You just don’t get her, you boomer.

That, by itself, is already very nice, in a Papers Please sort of way, but you’ve may noticed that I wrote that this is just half of what Wax Heads has to offer. To break the repetition of its gameplay loop, the game is also a visual novel, set in a multitude of chapters. A very interesting and well-written visual novel, mind you, the kind that makes even the most skeptical judges of the genre look at it with a lot more respect than usual.

In Wax Heads, the record shop you work for is owned by the former lead singer of a famous post-punk band from the 80s. She has issues with the other co-leader of the band, who just so happens to be her sister. Drama ensues from there. Furthermore, the staff of the shop is comprised of a multitude of characters, ranging from an older dude still trying to make his big break on the music industry (you even get to hear him play his original song at a pub at one point), to a hipster who is just so much cooler than you, man. The dialogue is surprisingly good, there are emotional bits, as well as the occasional good joke. All in all, it’s the storytelling glue that sticks the gameplay loop together.

Hank. You might be in your 40s, but I’m sure you’ve heard of SOCIAL MEDIA before.

Wax Heads checks all the boxes with gusto. It takes the simple concept of recommending songs to people and transforms it into a clever puzzle game that not only revolves around knowing a bit about music, but also tests your logic and attention skills. Then, when the gameplay loop starts getting a bit samey, the game stops it for a while, transforms into a visual novel, and captivates you with a surprisingly well-written story until the next chapter starts. Add in decent visuals and an obvious killer soundtrack, and what you have here is an easy recommendation for all of us who once tried to convince our significant others to listen to one of our thirty-seven Spotify playlists.

Wax Heads is available now on PS5, Xbox Series S/X, PC and Switch.

Reviewed on Intel i7-12700H, 16GB RAM, RTX 3060 6GB.

A copy of Wax Heads was provided by the publisher.