A game that brings back the ’90s is coming: Here’s what the new hit ‘Mixtape’ is about

The last nightć in “The Big Hole”

The plot follows three friends who live in a building they affectionately call “Big Suck”. Stacey is about to move away to pursue her dream of a career as a music supervisor, and this is their last night together. While they are driving to the party, the perfectly composed playlist on the cassette will trigger a series of dreams and memories of the key moments that shaped them. Each song on the “mixtape” becomes an interactive vignette that brings to life the formative experiences of friendship, from the first kiss to the last dance. The game explores the universal themes of growing up, changes and bittersweet feelings that accompany the transition to the world of adults. The story is influenced by classic “coming-of-age” films such as John Hughes and Richard Linklater, celebrating small, seemingly insignificant moments that become cinematic with the right musical background.

When every song becomes a new game

What sets Mixtape apart is the fundamental idea that music is not just a background, butć literally every song is a unique level. As explained by the creators of the game, the mechanics change with each new song in order to improve the mental and emotional state of the protagonist. You can’t have the same playability with Devo and Roxy Music. That’s how he plays, one moment frantically skateboarding and destroying everything in front of him with The Smashing Pumpkins, while the next he’s mindlessly floating through the heartbroken city with BJ Thomas. The game is full of such interactive sequences, from flying and taking photos in an abandoned amusement park to playing baseball and setting off fireworks from the backseat of a car. The entire experience of the game Mixtape is based on the perfect combination of music, story and gameplay. The soundtrack is an impressive compilation of hits featuring acts such as Joy Division, The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Iggy Pop and many others.

More than 90s nostalgia

Although the first-ball game is nostalgic for the 90s, the creators insist that the accommodation in that era is just a backdrop for a universal story. The characters don’t even feel like they belong to the same time; Slater is like 1988, Rockford is 1994, and Cassandra is 1996. The idea was to create the feeling that the building is in which they live like a “greatest hits” radio station, without a strict time frame. The main theme is not the celebration of a past time, butć celebrating kids finding themselves in art.

​- The mixtape doesn’t say that it was a better time or that it was a better moment. He says that these things are always the same. Those feelings of exclusion. And what’s more important, kids take to art to define who they are when they don’t have life experience – explained the creative director of the game, Johnny Galvatron.