When Mixtape celebrated its release on May 7, players were conscripted into an internet war to debate its video game status.
On the day of release, one of the most popular platforms covering major video game releases, Imagine Games Network [IGN] Senior Editor Simon Cardy controversially scored the game a 10/10. As IGN’s first masterful score of 2026, the review places the game among the likes of The Last of Us, Elden Ring, and Baldur’s Gate 3 for “set[ing] a new standard for coming-of-age stories in video games and does so with a masterful sense of style.”
In Mixtape, players follow melomaniac, Stacey Rockford, who curates the perfect mixtape to soundtrack her last day with her friends, Van “Slater” and Cassandra, before escaping to New York City with the dream of becoming a music supervisor. Players interact with minigames that accompany Stacey’s songs, but these actions do not influence the outcomes of decisions, giving the game little interactivity.
This positive IGN review incited thousands of keyboard warriors to critique Mixtape, challenging its classification as a video game because of its limited interactive gameplay and simple quick-time events. Hybrid games like Mixtape have been chewed out for decades for breaking the rules, giving video game genres like walking simulators and visual novels a bad reputation online.
Despite the negative discourse surrounding the game, Mixtape remains a moving story and a much-needed love letter to counterculture. Players can relax with Devo’s “That’s Good” as they skate down highways or rebel as The Smashing Pumpkins soundtrack explosions detonated by middle fingers, and reminisce with homages to films by John Hughes.
These musical sequences inspire elements of magical realism, blurring the lines between reality and fantasy as three high school friends prepare to say their final goodbyes. As a player, you can enjoy a narrative experience that reminds you of your own rebellion, including all the awkwardness of adolescence, and the joys of once living without responsibilities — other than remembering to recover the hidden booze stash, of course.
Highlights include headbanging to “Freak” by the Australian post-grunge band, Silverchair, where players can button mash to their heart’s content. The level design mimics music videos to embrace the ridiculousness of rocking out.
Later, players let loose by hitting home runs to “The Touch” by one-hit wonder, Stan Bush, as a stadium manifests out of thin air. Then, players must heroically reunite the trio when running away from the police while avoiding obstacles to the beat of John Paul Young’s “Yesterday’s Hero.” Although there are no narrative consequences for failing these quick-time events, the mixtape goes out of sync.
Rather than aimlessly criticizing its gameplay, there are critiques to be made about the omission of certain nineties counterculture movements within a game about counterculture.
The feminist punk movement, Riot grrl, was pioneered by Bikini Kill, Heavens to Betsy, and Bratmobile, but these bands don’t play on Stacey’s mixtape. Since Riot grrrl emerged to address sexism in the punk scene, the perfect opportunity to riot would have been after the party sets ablaze, when Cassandra confronts her cop father for not being a perfect daughter.
Mixtape’s publisher, Annapurna Interactive, is known for publishing innovative video games designed for emotionally-driven, narrative experiences, such as the award-winning games What Remains of Edith Finch, Outer Wilds, and Stray. When stubborn gamers defend narrow-minded views on video games, they risk missing out on these masterpieces: interactive journeys that let players venture into worlds they’ll never experience in real life. Mixtape is no different.
It’s worth noting the irony in rebelling against authorities in-game when the game itself is being published by a company founded by Megan Ellison, the daughter of tech billionaire Larry Ellison. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Larry Ellison saved Annapurna Interactive from financial struggles, and currently, Ellison is financing the merge behind the future media conglomerate Paramount-Skydance-Warner Bros.
Their actions are assisting in the creation of a cynical cycle where art created by indie studios like Beethoven & Dinosaur must acquire corporations to publish their games if they dare to break even with the hopes of continuing to create.
Despite bending to corporate power, Mixtape remains anti-establishment, defying the rules of what video games are expected to be.
If hating Mixtape is going mainstream, then it’s counterculture to enjoy playing it. For those who reject conventions, this heartwarming musical journey offers a groundbreaking playing experience.
Tags
counter-culture, Mixtape, Music, videogames
All final editorial decisions are made by the Editor(s) in Chief and/or the Managing Editor. Authors should not be contacted, targeted, or harassed under any circumstances. If you have any grievances with this article, please direct your comments to journal_editors@ams.queensu.ca.