Come for Beastfolk Barber’s cute, furry hairdressing, but stay for its thoughtful approach to worldbuilding
Beastfolk Barber is an upcoming Steam game that casts players as Freddie, a hairdresser running a once-a-week salon whose clientele are entirely anthropomorphic "beastfolk". Rock Paper Shotgun's preview of the demo praises it for pairing charming, Coffee Talk-style visuals and gameplay with unexpectedly serious worldbuilding, which lifts it above a simple novelty haircutting sim.
Freddie uses a magic mirror, made by a deceased friend, to preview haircuts up to three times per customer, chatting with clients to learn their stories before cutting, shaving and styling through small minigames. A demon has tasked her with attracting ten regular customers by a set deadline in exchange for a wish, and her first proper client, a legally contested two-headed dragon working for a senator, introduces political and social themes around beastfolk rights that the writer felt were handled with unexpected weight. The reviewer says the demo won them over, though they remain unsure whether the full game, which is available to wishlist on Steam, will sustain its parallels to real-world minority issues.
- Beastfolk Barber demo blends cute hairdressing gameplay with serious worldbuilding.
- Players style anthropomorphic customers while chasing a demon's wish-granting deal.
- Preview praises its pixel art and thoughtful social/political themes.
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Beastfolk Barber is an upcoming video game for Steam in which players run a small, once-a-week hairdressing salon whose customers are anthropomorphic animal-people known as "beastfolk". The player character, Freddie, uses a magic mirror to try out different haircuts before styling clients through short minigames, all while chatting to learn their stories.
The game has been previewed ahead of release by the gaming outlet Rock Paper Shotgun, based on a playable demo. Alongside its cosy, cutesy visual style, the demo introduces a storyline involving a deadline set by a demon and a legal dispute over the rights of a two-headed dragon customer, touching on questions of prejudice and identity among the beastfolk.
The coverage is a preview of the demo rather than a review of the finished game, which is not yet released but can be added to a wishlist on Steam ahead of launch.