Mixtape is a coming of age story that's a literal mixtape of music, gameplay and art styles. It focuses on three friends spending their last night together, with a perfect mixtape of music to accompany their final adventure as friends. It's also, according to creative lead Johnny Galvatron, got GTA beating toilet paper tech and getting the rights to use one song involved sending someone up a mountain.
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Mixtape is odd to explain initially but instantly makes sense when you see it in action. "The music is a mixtape and so is the gameplay," says Galvatron. "There's everything from skateboarding to pulling slushies; there's an amazing level where your toilet paper a house. I just have to say, our toilet paper tech is second to none. The way you can toilet paper that house? I'm extremely proud of that. Grand Theft Auto? Nothing on our toilet paper tech."
Even without the soundtrack it's an interesting clash of genres with a distinctive art style. But it is all about the music. "On their last night together [three friends] listen to this perfectly curated mixtape, containing music from DEVO, Roxy Music, Lush, The Smashing Pumpkins, Iggy Pop, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Joy Division, The Cure and many more," he explains. "Through the gameplay, through the music, you relive their finest hours."
Getting a soundtrack with such a high pedigree wasn't easy either. "One of the things I enjoyed the most was collating the soundtrack and then getting the wheels in motion for how to get that music," admits Galvatron. "I'm not saying it was The Cure, but we were trying to get a song and one of the people that owned the copyright was up a mountain and we had to send a sherpa to go and find this guy so we could get the rights." (Founding member of The Cure, Lol Tolhurst, we're looking at you.)
Mixtape is looking like a cinematic, arty take on the familiar whimsy of growing up, with Galvatron name-checking films like Dazed and Confused, Ferris Bueller's Day Off and even Wayne's World. It's coming '2025' to PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X.
If you’re looking for more excellent games from today's Future Games Show, have a look at our official Steam page.
