At Summer Game Fest Play Days, we had the chance to play Mixtape, thanks to developer Beethoven & Dinosaur (The Artful Escape) and publisher Annapurna Interactive. Their upcoming coming-of-age adventure taps into the nostalgia of late teenage life to strike a chord with anyone who can remember the final days of high school. Set to launch soon on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S, the game will also be available day one on Xbox Game Pass.
Mixtape follows three friends on their final night together as they relive pivotal memories through a dreamlike mixtape of gameplay vignettes. Players will skateboard through empty streets, sneak into abandoned theme parks, set off fireworks from the backseat of a car, and experience the chaotic beauty of adolescence—all set to an iconic soundtrack featuring DEVO, The Smashing Pumpkins, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Joy Division, and more.
Non-Spoiler Hands-On Experience With Mixtape
Imagine the films Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, The Big Fish, and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty fused to create a highly interactive, narrative-driven video game experience. That is the best way I can describe the feel of Mixtape. The gameplay, music, and story not only captivated me, but the room where we played the game, designed by Annapurna Interactive, was a time capsule of the 80s and 90s. Items like Gushers candy, Tech Decks, 80s wood-paneled walls, and VHS tapes helped transport us to a simpler time for a truly immersive demo experience.
The fourth wall is broken liberally and uses the tracklist as a way to mark decisive moments within the story. What made this game stand out was its ability to take kids from an era I did not grow up in, a town with few similarities to mine, and characters who look nothing like me. And yet, they encapsulate that feeling of the final moments of high school life so perfectly. At this point, there is no official release date for Mixtape, but if the entire game has the same feel as the demo, it’ll be worth the wait.
Leave a Reply