When I was younger, I moved around a lot so would generally get my hair cut at different places every time. For some weird reason when they asked me what I did for a living, I would always make up a different job. I was a deep sea diver, a teacher, a botanist, and a sailor.
But in my heart I would have liked to be a hairdresser. It’s an amazing job, one that, if you’re good enough, allows for you to make someone feel like a million dollars.
And now you get the chance to test your styling and shampooing skills in Hairdresser Simulator. Do you know your bobs from your buzz cuts?
Hairdresser Simulator starts with the campaign and guides you through what to do. What is a nice feature about this game is that there is a sort of story here and the clients you meet will happily chat about their lives, just like they do in real-world hairdressers. The game teaches in sections throughout the game too, so you learn the basics, but as you progress you can go on courses to learn more techniques and more styles which is really quite cool.
Hairdresser Simulator plays out as part hairdresser, part interior designer, and part business manager. First, the hairdressing side of things takes place in the first person. You can move around the salon and direct your customers to the different seats. For example, if you need to shampoo the hair, you have to wet it first, then shampoo, and then rinse. Doing this requires you to wet all the hair on the head, utilising a little heat map in the corner which helps you work out what areas you missed and need to cover. When all is done you move on to the next stage.
When hairdressing, the technique is similar on controller, no matter whether you dye, brush or cut. It’s all there for you and you just have to carefully and methodically do the job in hand. Sometimes the controls don’t feel as accurate as is needed, a bit awkward and rarely fluid. But hats go off to those behind Hairdresser Simulator for attempting to focus on all the different aspects of hairdressing. The amount of different styles to unlock keeps interest high, and makes you want to progress.
When you get your own salon, you start with a shell of a building. Here the interior design element comes in, where Hairdresser Simulator almost becomes like the House Flipper games. You clean up the building, do repairs, and then decorate as you see fit with a range of options for wall colours, fixtures and fittings. It’s an engaging system that works well. The management side is also interesting as you have to manage your client list, hire staff, and keep the money rolling in. You even hire robot cleaners to get rid of the hair on the floor. There’s certainly an addictive quality that sim games have where if they can grab your attention in the first hour you could be hooked.
Visually, Hairdresser Simulator has some great interiors and choices in the design department, especially when interior decorating. I think the hair does look very good which is a massive bonus for a hairdressing simulation game. However, the character models get a bit glitchy when they move around.
The sound is bouncy and light, but surprisingly this is a game that is voiced too, complete with some little cutscenes. The actors do a great job.
I’m not sure there’s another game on the market quite like Hairdresser Simulator. That should mean budding hairdressers will have a lot of fun with it. The mechanics work, as you get to grips with different hairdressing techniques, but rarely does it feel natural, left to be a bit fiddly. The interior design side of things is good though, likely to appeal to fans of House Flipper, whilst the business elements gives it extra playability and a different viewpoint on the salon enterprise.
Whether there’s long term appeal though…
