ShearQuery GamingShop Life: The Block

Shop Life: The Block

A free game you play in the browser. Walk one block of Shop Life (the barbershop, the salon, the beauty supply, the barber supply, the school and the State Board office) as a barber student, and earn a Texas Class A Barber license over eight missions. Characters talk in text bubbles, and the stations are mini-games scored the way the real practical exam is scored.

The Barber Student missions

  1. Clock In. Day one at barber school, and the hours a Class A Barber license takes in Texas.
  2. Clean Station. Set-up and disinfection, scored on the four safety points the practical exam uses.
  3. Wrong Building. The State Board office explains who actually gives the exams.
  4. Written Exam. Ride the bus to a PSI test site, check in with the right ID, and pass a timed exam.
  5. The Kit. Pack the practical exam kit at the barber supply, and leave out what doesn't belong.
  6. Mock Practical. Run the haircut station in the order the examiner scores it.
  7. Practical Exam Day. Set-up, a blood exposure incident and the haircut, with no hints.
  8. License in Hand. Apply for the license and take it to the barbershop.

Run your own shop

Pick the Barbershop Owner or Beauty Salon Owner profile and walk into Marcus's Barbershop or Miss Loretta's Salon: inside is your own Barber & Beauty salon. Serve clients, sweep up, wash towels, keep supplies on the shelf, buy up to six chairs and stations, and hire booth renters or commission staff until your team does the hair and you run the shop. Thirteen missions, ending with a big Saturday. It uses play money, and the rent and splits are part of the game, not advice. Any other profile can walk in as a customer.

Where the facts come from

Every licensing fact in the game comes from two documents: the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation's page on applying for a Class A Barber license, and PSI's Barber License Examination Candidate Information Bulletin, dated January 1, 2026. Both were re-read on October 28, 2026. Each mission ends by naming its source.

Studying for the real thing? See the Texas barber practical exam kit list and Texas barber exam prep, or see every ShearQuery game.