myEvery time I go through a breakup, I’m forced to rewatch the ’90s classic High Fidelity, in which OG softboi John Cusack sadly recounts a “top 10 list of worst breakups” of all time, with the soundtrack of the albums that accompanied them.
Instead of his parade of fascinating exes, including a wonderfully vapid Catherine Zeta-Jones, it is Cusack’s record store, Championship Vinyl, that is the star of the film. A sanctuary for a wounded Cusack, this battered boutique becomes a refuge for Chicago’s other lost souls, giving its permanently hungover owner and a group of local music nerds a place to lick their wounds.
It’s this kind of DIY community spirit that spills off the screen as I dive into Wax Heads, a narrative game about running a struggling record store. A self-described “cozy punk life simulator,” this colorful comic-book-style caper channels everything great about High Fidelity, as the player learns the ins and outs during a chaotic first turn at the fictional Repeater Records.
To my delight, Wax Heads is not a business simulator at all. He doesn’t worry about the logistics of running a store, but rather throwing records to the obsessives who covet them. As I design posters for a local punk concert while kicking back with a legally distinct knockoff of a Tamagotchi, it’s clear that Wax Heads view the local vinyl store as a musical mecca, a place where you play tunes and make friends with their strangers and wonderful. customers.
“Wax Heads is the idea of the record store as a conduit,” says the game’s co-creator, Murray Somerwolff. “It’s a slice-of-life game about community, music, and people, where you constantly meet interesting characters, swap sleeves, recommend records, and hang out.”
As someone who spends hours rummaging through dusty vinyl stores in every city I visit, Wax Heads has an intoxicating authenticity. With little guidance from your boss, Morgan Macintyre, a jaded former rock star who opened shop after a dramatic breakup of a band worthy of Fleetwood Mac, it’s up to players to be trendsetters for the litany of lovable weirdos passing by. over there. Recalling the point-and-click classics of yesteryear, Wax Head casts you in the role of a retail worker and music detective, taking advantage of the clues around you to deduce the perfect album recommendation. With customers ranging from tween pop fans to insufferably cocky shirtless hipsters, you get points based on how much they enjoy the records you choose. Finally, my own John Cusack simulator.
It’s unusual to play a music game that isn’t about being a musician. “I really love music and I wanted to scratch that itch to sit in the cultural space of music instead of just making a rhythm game.” says Somerwolff. “That has already been done to death, and much better than I could ever do it! I also really like the idea of, well, because Does this person want this record? Who is this person and what makes them that particular gender?
What I’m playing is the result of just six months of work, a proof of concept collaboration between Somerwolff and his programming partner, Rocío Tomé. With lawyers moving in to close up shop at the end of the demo, Wax Heads’ story is littered with a series of messages about the constant decline of the music industry and the death knell of Main Street, a playable tribute to the in-store experience. that we are losing to companies like Amazon.
“What I continue to inspire is that idea of empathy and community, of capturing that excitement and euphoria that you get from attending a good concert.” says Somerwolff. “I’m not interested in Wax Heads being just a business simulator. By focusing entirely on that, you just get gamified capitalism. “This is a game about our collective connection to music.”
Every new work day begins with a snippet of music blasting over the store’s sound system, and every song you hear at Wax Heads has a personal connection to Somerwolff. “My wife is singing on one song,” he reveals, “my sister-in-law on another… my friend’s band is on it too… I even have an old song from one of my old bands, because, damn, why not? ?”
Wax Heads seems pretty authentic to me, a nostalgic record collector, but how does Murray’s game compare to running a record store in real life in 2024?
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“I know this guy!” says Adam Taylor-Foster, co-owner of Hasting’s beloved waterfront coffee and vinyl emporium, Dark Circles. A Wax Heads customer just walked in and demanded a bargain. “I think what this game understands is that a record store is about developing trust and building those relationships.” Taylor adds. “Places like (vinyl stores) have traditionally felt a little imposing, intimidating… our store and local stores like in this game are the antithesis of that.”
“I think the biggest surprise for me in opening a record store is the breadth of the demographic that comes in.” says Dark Circles’ other owner and Adam’s wife, Kim Taylor-Foster. “We have a couple who come every day, mothers with children; This is now part of his routine. My experience walking around record shops in London with Adam, although probably about five years ago, was that they were all middle-aged men.”
High Fidelity’s Cusack and Jack Black mock and belittle their clients’ tastes, but Somerwolff sees his fictional music emporium as the polar opposite. “I’m really against the idea of elitism. For me, an album is a gateway to connecting people,” he says. At Wax Heads, the “right” recommendations earn you a perfect score and the trust of every satisfied customer, and this is the kind of bonding and discovery Taylor sees in her real-life record store every day.
“We’ve had 13-year-old kids come in with their dad and suddenly you have this relationship blossoming in front of you, where dad and kid have discovered De La Soul together,” Taylor says. “That’s really lovely and I can see that (in the game).”
It’s the feel of the local record store as town hall, church and musical meeting point that always struck a chord with High Fidelity, and it’s the same with Wax Heads. The game is a love letter to music retail, a digital creation that feels decidedly analog. It’s still early days for Wax Heads; has yet to find a publisher. However, as the world grows increasingly tired of streaming services and the appreciation and demand for vinyl continues to rise, it’s refreshing to see a game that highlights the joy of musical discovery that awaits you at your local record store. .