Mixtape (2026)

Always awesome to read about what a game developer considers a "successful launch". Got a big smile on my face when I read (GameInformer) about Johnny Galvatron and the team over at Beethoven & Dinosaur and what "success" meant to them. Ignoring all the negative noise this game generated, I'm very glad they had their successful launch :).

Yessss... I finally got the Platinum trophy for Mixtape 😭! To any trophy/achievement hunters out there trying to go for the "Front to Back" achievement where you have to "Find everything in the bedrooms and all unique conversations", and you swear you've clicked on everything using chapter select - I HIGHLY recommend using chapter select and start the game from the very beginning and immediately click on Rockford's family portrait on the wall when you get to her house. I know I've clicked on it before, but for some reason only now did it just pop.

This game though.... can we please normalize the ability to skip cutscenes when you've finished the game lol

I think Mixtape's biggest sin was masquerading as an 'indie darling' while having Annapurna's backing and the spectacle of creator/backer kits they had (we're talking PRAGMATA levels of marketing for influencers/creators), not to mention the ridiculous amount of licensed music in a videogame that indie struggle to get and the production value is off the roof.

And its other, biggest, sin is being unapologetically the developer/writer's own music views embellished on a teenager whose tastes would have been dramatically plied by the 90s commercial music airing in that year.

I think the line "he's a meathead, use him and dump him" upon Cassandra saying he was looking at a boy whose musical tastes encompassed Pearl Jam or Green Day says most of what I actually mean with the phrase above.

Probably won't play this one til it goes on sale, I've very little nostalgia for the harrowing, ceaseless depression of my high school years. Music was always a bright point for me back then, though, so Mixtape's core conceit of an all-encompassing, 22-track high school playlist is fun to think about. By consulting the ancient texts (i.e. Last.fm) I can guess that my own would look something like this:

• My Chinchilla - Cub
• Me Robaron Mi Runa Mula - Juaneco y Su Combo
• Knights - Crystal Castles
• Not Going Anywhere - Keren Ann
• Crayon - Caribou
• Indestructible Life - Old Time Relijun
• 17 Years - Ratatat
• Gathering Allies - Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
• Rain in Numbers - Beach House
• Terrorist - Heavens to Betsy
• Team Zissou - Seu Jorge
• Mr. Tough - Yo La Tengo
• Cooper - Deerhoof
• Distortions - Clinic
• Pin - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
• Adventure - Be Your Own Pet
• Bridges and Balloons - Joanna Newsom
• Blind - Hercules and Love Affair
• 50s Parking - Tapes 'n Tapes
• The Good That Won't Come Out - Rilo Kiley
• Aluminum - Mahjongg
• PS - The Books

For maximum effect you'd have to play this on an old Walkman MP3 player, dunno where I'd be without this champion:

I fully appreciate the vibe and audience who jam with its sensibility. I'm sure its wonderful. Truly.

However, I know its not for me. I would read my teenage journals if I wanted to revisit self doubt with with half a grip on mental health.

My Before Era wasn't filled with friends or cool tuques and ripped jeans. It was not knowing I had anxiety or even how how to spell it.