There is a subgenre in simulation games that can be described as “store analogy”, in which you are in charge of a store or establishment, such as Papers, Please, Strange Horticulture or Coffee Talk, about taking orders from customers and chatting with them.
Patattie Games’ new game Wax Heads falls into this category. Speaking to Gamereactor at IndieDevDay 2024, its creators Rocío Tomé and Murray Somerwolff described it as a “comfortable, punk, slice-of-life record store simulator.” There are a lot of narrative elements, but the focus is also on the puzzles: you need to deduce which record will prefer each customer.
“Customers come in and you talk to them, but they never tell you what exactly they want,” Somerwolff explains. “So your job is to figure it out from what they say, from the look in their eyes, from what you know about the world, to browse the record store and figure out what’s the best record for that person.”
Despite the puzzle elements, Tomé added that the game isn’t as strict as Papers Please and is more about “interacting with customers and understanding what they want.”
“Maybe they didn’t really make the request directly, so you need to investigate, like a detective game. Every band, their story, even the art of the cover, because maybe someone comes along and says, do you remember this A pink record, you know, the one with the cat on the cover? You have to look at all the information you have to guess which one is the best record and the best fit for that person.
Wax Heads will be full of reference material, but you don’t need previous knowledge to enjoy it
Where did this idea come from? Murray admits he was a music geek who used to play in bands and buy records, “probably too much.” He thinks there are a lot of games with music, rhythm-based games, but not many games that talk about music from a cultural perspective.
“So I was looking for ways to experiment and how to express that in the game? The record store felt like the perfect conduit.” But, as Rocío says, the goal of the game isn’t to make the most money from a record store, but to explore people’s relationship with music.
The game will feature the fictional band, but will obviously be filled with Easter eggs and references. However, it doesn’t require you to have prior knowledge of music history, and the aim is to make the game feel authentic and believable, “where you can enjoy the gossip between the bands, the stories they’re telling,” says Tomé.
Murray is the music geek (hidden nods to Sparklehorse’s Mark Linkous, among others), while Rocío is the opposite force in making sure everyone can enjoy the game. “If we were all as geeky as me, it would be a disaster,” he joked. “We were like, if we climb too far, we’re going to disappear.”
“So, we really want it to be approachable, and it’s nice to keep that balance. We want to celebrate the music, and celebrate it. But broadly speaking, not everyone feels like, you know, you have to have the pedigree, Yes.
You can watch Gamereactor’s full interview with Rocío Tomé and Murray Somerwolff above, including local subtitle options. In the video, we also discuss how Tomé’s own Diggy Doggo: Daylight Dungeon comes to the game as a full arcade console.
