"It's like Power Wash Simulator except you relentlessly remove hair from hairy men. It's creepy, but it feels good."
That's Shuhei Yoshida, former head of PlayStation's worldwide studios, talking about his standout pick from this year's Tokyo Game Show. And honestly? That description alone makes it impossible to ignore.
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The man behind the recommendation
Yoshida spent decades at Sony, producing some of the original PS1's most iconic titles before becoming one of gaming's most recognizable faces as a champion of indie development. His enthusiasm for smaller games wasn't just a PR angle. He tweeted out indie recommendations so consistently that Capybara Games immortalized him as a playable character in Super Time Force Ultra. Since leaving Sony in 2025, that energy hasn't slowed down.
Here's the thing: when Yoshida talks about a game, people pay attention. His track record of spotting interesting, off-the-wall projects before they blow up is genuinely strong. So when he drops a Tokyo Game Show favorites list, it's worth reading carefully.
What actually made his TGS list
Yoshida's picks span a decent range. Finding Polka gets a mention for its charm, Haunted Streamer catches his eye on the first-person horror side, and Sonic Pico Park earns a nod as a new Sonic the Hedgehog indie collaboration that blends the franchise with the co-op chaos Pico Park is known for.
But Hair Removal Salon Simulator, developed by Yoshio Games, is where he lingers. The game's concept is exactly what it sounds like: a stream of hairy men walk into your salon, and you remove their body hair through increasingly absurd methods. Sticky tape, swords, fire, and a miniature goat are all apparently valid tools of the trade.
Yoshida's full quote frames it well: he appreciated how "the setting and the grotesque appearance were built on top of the basic feeling of satisfaction from making someone clean." That's a genuinely sharp read. The game is leaning into the same satisfying loop that made Power Wash Simulator a surprise hit, but wrapping it in something deliberately uncomfortable. The tension between gross-out visuals and deeply satisfying cleanup is the whole joke, and it sounds like it lands.
Why Yoshida's indie eye still matters
What most players miss about Yoshida's post-Sony career is that his influence on indie visibility hasn't diminished. If anything, without the constraints of a platform holder role, he's freer to talk about whatever he finds interesting, regardless of whether it fits a publisher's lineup strategy.
The TGS list he's put together this year reflects exactly that freedom. Hair Removal Salon Simulator isn't the kind of game that gets a major publisher spotlight. It's weird, niche, and built on a single comedic premise. The fact that a figure with Yoshida's background is calling it out by name is a meaningful signal for Yoshio Games and for the broader indie scene.
Tokyo Game Show has always had a strong indie track, and Japan's indie developers in particular have a history of building games around single, absurdist mechanics done extremely well. Coffee Talk Tokyo is a great recent example of that tradition, and if you want to dig into everything that game offers, the complete achievement and trophy guide has every unlock covered.
For players who want to see what else is worth tracking from Japan's development scene right now, the gaming guides hub is a solid place to start building your backlog.
Yoshida's TGS picks are a reminder that the most interesting games at any show are rarely the ones with the biggest booths. Hair Removal Salon Simulator has no release date confirmed yet, but with this kind of word-of-mouth from someone who has been right before, it's one to watch. Ghost of Yotei is another Japan-set title generating serious attention right now, and players already planning their PS5 time might want to check out the best graphics mode settings guide to get the most out of that one while they wait.
