Review
"Darwin's Paradox!": the most unlikely hero of the year
by Kevin Hofer
Mixtape is three hours of pure bliss
12/5/2026
Translation: Elicia Payne
Mixtape isn’t any old game; it’s a perfectly blended mix of nostalgia and friendship – with the most fitting soundtrack I’ve ever heard in a game.
The story begins with a familiar setup: high school trio Stacey, Cassandra, and Slater is at a crossroads, and their last night together is set to be legendary. But instead of focusing on the usual prom clichés, the game focuses on the subtle nuances of friendship. Stacy provides the libretto: she breaks the fourth wall and explains her gift for finding the right song for every situation. Her dream? Working as a music supervisor in the Big Apple, pulling all the strings. She’s brought along a mixtape, and I get to actively participate in putting it together.
A game like a music video
Mixtape falls most easily into the adventure category, but plays more like a series of interactive music videos. As soon as the first track starts playing, the game pulls me in, and I can’t resist it.
The game skilfully interweaves flashbacks with the events of that fateful evening. Every moment is accompanied by a perfect melody. I’ve never heard half of these songs before – and yet, they’re like a 100,000-watt Marshall amp, making my heart race to the beat of the ’90s.
It starts with a daring but harmless skateboard run down a street. If I crash into a car, the game rewinds like a cassette player. This isn’t about a challenge; it’s about feelings.
Mixtape is a tribute to the 1990s, even if it sometimes feels more like the 1980s or even the 1970s. If you grew up during that time, like I did, you’ll be completely swept away by a wave of nostalgia. Rewinding tapes by hand with a pencil, painstakingly labelling blank CDs and pulling faces in photo booths. These aren’t just props. In every line of code, you can sense that the developers have remastered their own childhood memories.
The first real spine-tingling moment comes in a car scene: the trio rocks out to Silverchair’s Freak. Even if I reached for the Australians’ grunge debut, the energy immediately reflects this. With the push of a button, I can direct my friends’ headbanging moves as well as my own. What’s just as intense is when Portishead’s Roads kicks in, perfectly capturing the typical melancholy of a coming-of-age drama.
Tongue-in-cheek kisses of horror
The game is a perfectly curated playlist of these kinds of moments. Some of them are completely out of touch – literally. While searching for alcohol that Tracy’s older sister had hidden in an abandoned house in the woods, the three of them came upon a huge clearing. Suddenly, a gust of wind catches me and I dance through the air to the gentle strains of Bertrand Dolby’s Airwalker. It symbolises the carefree spirit of youth. Did I just cheer, or was it Stacy? I’m completely immersed in this game.
That being said, not all the scenes in Mixtape are so idyllic. Part of being a teenager is also that first kiss. I can’t remember my own, but I’ll never forget that flashback in the game – not without some therapy. I’m deliberately not showing you a picture of it so you can «enjoy» the moment just as much as I did.
Visually, the game is just as brilliantly put together as it is acoustically. The stop-motion style of the characters against a fluid background gives the whole thing the charm of an arthouse music video. The facial animations are expressive, and the way the colours are used is enchanting.
Australian studio Beethoven and Dinosaur has already demonstrated how to convey emotions through music and visual opulence with The Artful Escape». In contrast, there are no filler tracks on Mixtape. The nearly three-hour runtime flies by. I connected with the game so much so that – for the first time since Max Payne 2 over two decades ago – I hit Play again right after the credits rolled.
_ Mixtape is available on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Game Pass and Switch 2_
In a nutshell
The perfect mix
I rarely take the time to really listen to music any more. A mistake that Mixtape makes abundantly clear to me. It’s been a long time since I’ve come across a game with such a clear vision. Mixtape shows just how magical music can be and what emotions it can evoke. Throughout the nearly three hours of this audiovisual masterpiece, I had butterflies in my stomach the whole time. With its blend of retro charm, a killer soundtrack and the boundless energy of youthful friendship, this film is a surefire hit.
Mixtape takes you on a wonderful journey that will resonate particularly strongly with millennials. Still, the game itself is universal enough to appeal to other generations as well. I may not have cried at the end – but the game still lingers in my mind long after it’s over.
Pro
- Fantastic soundtrack
- 3 hours of pure joy
- Original narrative style
Contra
- Nothing
Philipp Rüegg
Senior Editor
Philipp.Rueegg@digitecgalaxus.chAs a child, I wasn't allowed to have any consoles. It was only with the arrival of the family's 486 PC that the magical world of gaming opened up to me. Today, I'm overcompensating accordingly. Only a lack of time and money prevents me from trying out every game there is and decorating my shelf with rare retro consoles.
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