Although the upcoming narrative adventure game Mixtape is set against the 80s alternative rock fuzzy tones of bands like Lush and Roxy Music, Woody, producer of developer Beethoven and Dinosaur, said that is one of the game’s core intentions.
“We don’t have ideal players,” Woody said. “We don’t think about the target players or audience when we make games. We just make these weird little games, hoping that people can find escape and fun, and maybe get a moment of breath from this bad reality right now.”
He continued: "After The Artful Escape, we knew we wanted to make another music-related game, but there was no specific direction at the time." Beethoven and Dinosaur's previous game, The Artful Escape, also tells the story of a teenager with a dream of a rock star, and was released by Annapurna like "Mixture Tape".
The story of "Mixture Tape" is set between the manicured lawns and the same-sized driveways in the suburbs of the United States. Its visual style is more restrained than the previous work, but its protagonists are still confirming Beethoven and Dinosaur's philosophy: good music has the power to change everything.So on the night of the last party in high school, friends from “Mixture Tape” will let songs like “Just Like Honey” inject energy into their cart “Crazy Riding.”
As for the extent to which the mischief in Mixtape originated from the real experience of the developers, Woody replied: "I was once in a shopping cart tied behind a motocross and was dragged away in a cattle farm. The ending was as 'exciting' as you can imagine, including a beautiful scar and cow dung."
In any case, back to the topic of "embarrassing things" - some experiences from young age are common, whether you are in the suburbs of Ronald Reagan era or someone who holds the "iPhone 1000,000" decades later, you may experience it.
For example, most children will feel "that strong emotional vortex: desperate to be someone, but don't know what that is," Woody said.
“Every band you hear, every movie you see – hold on to these things and use them as a way to define and anchor yourself to say ‘this, this is me’,” he continued. “It’s all like the most important thing in your life, that’s crazy time.”
Mixtape will be available on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S platforms this year.
