The cover art was criticized by feminists for showing a teenage girl looking afraid in a boys' restroom,[4] possibly relieving herself by placing her bottom over the bowl of the urinal.

[4] Atlantic Records publicity director Stuart Ginsburg pointed out that "head is a naval term for bathroom" and Foreigner's media coordinator Susan Steinberg stated that "the girl on the cover is shocked by the graffiti.

"[5] In August 1979, the release of the album was preceded by its first single, the hard rock song "Dirty White Boy", which peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

"[16] The San Bernardino County Sun opined that "Foreigner has maintained a quality control, and Head Games is the band's third impressive album in a row.

[18] Classic Rock critic Malcolm Dome rated two songs from Head Games as being among Foreigner's 10 most underrated – "Rev on the Red Line" at #10 and "Dirty White Boy" at #3.