While I have to respectfully disagree your understanding and interpretation of the theme, this is a very unique idea with stellar execution.
Your friend did a fantastic job with the music, I was thoroughly immersed into the environment.
The art style somehow reminded me of Rusty Lake, which gives the game a "dated" feel.
The gameplay and progression is very promising. Restoring antique electronics is rather satisfying, and the game seems to engage me into its progression with creative ways.
For the future recommendations, you would need tutorialization not only on what the tool do, but also how do they work. I thought I have to spam click the brush just like the pliers. I think the dusts should also be more opaque, I missed them entirely when I first fixed the cash register.
The cassette tape is a fantastic end screen because it symbolises "replay", 10/10