Wax Heads review – record selling indie game

After Mixtape, a second indie title arrives to celebrate the joys of physical music media, in this charming cosy game set in the UK.

Given its digital nature, a video game might seem like an unlikely repository for general ruminations on the superiority of physical, analogue vinyl records over the ephemeral, bland and increasingly AI infested nature of music downloads. But that’s one of the things that Wax Heads provides, albeit in a gentle, unpolemical manner. In fact, thanks to Mixtape, it’s not even the only indie game to raise the subject this month.

Cosy games in general are enjoying a period of popularity and Wax Heads is very much that. Impressively, it also projects a DIY, handmade indie vibe, which is very much in keeping with its subject matter. It casts you as a new recruit, working behind the counter of Repeater Records, a homespun indie record shop somewhere in small-town, contemporary Britain.

Essentially, it’s an ode to the joys of going to physical record shops and hunting down new music – a once ubiquitous pleasure which is now all but lost to younger generations, although a precious few high street establishments just about keep the flame alive.

Developer Patattie Games is essentially a two-person operation, although various specialists were drafted in to shape aspects of the game. However, Wax Heads mostly reflects Creative Director Murray Somerwolff’s experiences of frequenting record shops in his twenties, when he was fuelled by a passion for buying CDs, and realised that record shops provided an entry point to the whole indie music scene.

Gameplay-wise, Wax Heads is essentially a point ‘n’ click adventure, punctuated by a variety of minigames. It’s dialogue heavy, and it soon becomes apparent that its primary appeal is as a sort of indie music soap opera. There’s also a certain amount of detective work required; as you beaver away behind the counter at Repeater, you must cater for a never-ending flow of customers, providing misheard artist or album names and catering to the vaguest of instructions.

You must pay attention to the shop’s stock of records, which changes by the day and encompasses everything from mainstream pop to old classics, experimental hip-hop and indie bands whose members leave and form new offshoots, or who are just starting to make their way onto the music scene.

The shop is owned by Morgan, a mysterious figure who formed a hugely successful band in the 1980s with her sister, which split acrimoniously, and that story arc underpins everything that occurs at Repeater, since the shop comes under threat from the rapacious, AI-evangelist husband – and fellow former band member — of said estranged sister.

Repeater isn’t the game’s only setting; sequences also take place in local venue The Apple Bed, a music pub, where, amusingly, you get to reprise your record-finding skills by selecting drinks for your friends and colleagues, cementing the whole sense of a burgeoning musical community.

All the bands and music featured in Wax Heads are fictional. Composer Gina Loughlin has done an incredible job of creating 20-odd distinctive and very listenable tracks that span a vast number of genres, and feature playing and singing from various members of the development team. Overall, Wax Heads contains about 35 original tracks, and finding out about the game’s fictional bands and artists is one of its most pleasurable aspects.

Despite its overriding air of DIY charm, Wax Heads oozes quality, not just in its music but in its art style, which is hand-drawn but very distinctive: The characters’ chunky outlines and general look are influenced by the Scott Pilgrim comics, but it’s certainly not a direct copy.

The finest aspect of the game is its storyline, which takes a diverse web of characters – your fellow workers at Repeater all have differing musical ambitions and involvements, as well as a comprehensive set of neuroses and character-quirks – and weaves them into a confection which really draws you into their world.

Along the way, it demonstrates, in the most charming way possible, that things like record shops can actually function as community hubs and catalysts in a way that no algorithm ever will. And if it leads anyone to tear themselves away from Spotify, in search of more fulfilling, analogue musical journeys, it will have fulfilled a thoroughly laudable purpose.

Wax Heads isn’t perfect: some of the puzzles are a tad basic and you never really get punished for recommending the wrong records or rewarded much for getting things right. Although to be fair, that fits the general cosy-gaming ethos. Nor does it have a vast amount of replayability, although it does offer about eight hours of gameplay, which is decent for an inexpensive indie game.

Anyone who has a more-than-passing interest in music will find it irresistibly charming, often funny, and gently thought-provoking in a musical landscape which is increasingly rejecting the modern trend towards digitisation and rediscovering the joys of something more analogue and physical. Immerse yourself in Wax Heads’ inviting world and you might just find that it will lead you to a more satisfying journey of musical discovery in real life.

Formats: PlayStation 5 (reviewed), Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S, and PC
Price: £11.99
Publisher: Curve Digital
Developer: Patattie Games
Release Date: 5th May 2026
Age Rating: 12

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