There were a lot of demos to check out at Summer Game Fest 2025, but there was only one Mixtape. 

The latest from The Artful Escape developer Beethoven & Dinosaur, Mixtape is a coming-of-age adventure dripping with '90s nostalgia. Three friends are spending their last night together before one of them moves away, and you're along for all the ups and downs. 

The demo shown at Summer Game Fest covered the first 30 minutes of the game, and it not only gave us an early look at the dynamic trio taking this last ride together, but featured a killer soundtrack that still has our toes tapping. Mixtape is already shaping up to be a wild time based on our brief hands-on with it, and we're more than ready to take the full trip back into the past. 
 

Teenage wasteland

Mixtape, as its name implies, is a mixture of different play styles and genres rolled into one. Each playable challenge in the demo stood out as unique, even when the actions on-screen seemed similar on the surface. Rolling down a hill on a skateboard, for example, felt pretty similar to rolling down those hills in a shopping cart, even if the circumstances were much different. 

From the minute we pressed Start and began the demo, we were enthralled. Skating down that hill to the sounds of Devo, with the sunlight peeking through the branches of golden-leaved trees, was simply serene. Once in a while one of the three teens would yell "Car!"—a familiar sound to anyone who played street hockey as a kid—but eventually we were free skating again. Even interruptions are nostalgic in the world of Mixtape. 

The rest of the demo followed the trio as they planned their night, with small moments of control offered to us naturally as the scene played out. When two of the friends do their secret handshake, we get to press a sequence of buttons to make it happen. In one of the teens' bedrooms, we get to look around at the tapes and photos strewn about to initiate flashbacks. 

One of the best scenes featured the trio driving around the neighborhood listening to "Freak" by Silverchair. Throughout the drive, all we were expected to do is press a button in rhythm with the song, which made the three kids rock their heads to the beat. Each button also made the kids bang their heads in a different way—with air guitar, with fists pumping, and so on. 

At one point, the car stopped at a drive-thru window, each kid ordered food, and then it was back to headbanging with food in hand. Sound effects reflected the changes too. After the drive-thru visit, rocking out made the ice shake in the drink cups. 

The way Mixtape seamlessly switched from gameplay to cutscene was impressive, and it left us not knowing what would come next. That unpredictability played to its advantage too, as there was one scene that made us laugh out loud. 
 

Never forget your first

A flashback scene featured in the Mixtape demo at Summer Game Fest centered around one of the teens' first kiss. The scene starts out as if it were cut from a film, a sunset over the lake framing a romantic scene with blossoming young love. We wondered how we would take control during this scene, and, well…the answer soon presented itself: Their tongues. 

We were asked to control the teens' tongues during the kiss. Each joystick on the controller manned one of the tongues, and we could move them both around to our heart's content. Gasps, giggling, and incredulous questions to the developers ensued, who reacted to our shock by pointing out the "very expensive spittle effects" on each of the tongues. 

When it was time for the scene to end, we didn't fade to white or see any flowery romantic effects. Our heroine simply said "Okay, that's enough," and we were back in the present. Amazing stuff.

This was the first hands-on experience we had with Mixtape, and we couldn't help but be completely enthralled by the decision to add this scene to the demo. It's brilliant in its silliness, and it solidifies the design philosophy of the entire game: This is a mixtape, not just of music, but also of settings and situations. We never knew what to expect next, and Mixtape is better for it. 

When all was said and done, Mixtape was one of the breakout stars of Summer Game Fest 2025. Its unpredictable and delightful gameplay is intertwined with interesting storytelling that could play out in any number of ways. We left the demo immediately wanting to check it out again, our minds already nostalgic for the 30 minutes we saw—and that is the mark of an incredible game in the making.

Mixtape is set to launch later this year on the Epic Games Store.