Mixtape isn't 2026's only great music game

Some video game trends are easy to trace back to their source. When we got a wave of battle royale games in 2018, there was no question that they sprung up around the popularity of PUBG and Fortnite. Other trends are harder to pin down. For example, I can’t figure out why we’re getting so many video games about music this year. I’m not complaining, though, because that trend frankly rocks (and rolls). Not only does it mean 2026 has had some fantastic soundtracks, but it has also offered some poignant reflections on how important music is to our daily lives.

This week alone saw the release of three new video games centered around music. I don’t mean three traditional rhythm games, but rather three games about the culture of music: Mixtape, Wax Heads, and Dead as Disco all play with music in very different ways, making them perfect complements for one another. But those are far from the only music games released this year — and they won’t be the last, either, considering games like Rockbeasts that are scheduled to launch this year. If you’re a music lover looking for a new game to play, you have plenty of great options in 2026.

Mixtape

The most high-profile of this week’s new releases is Mixtape, the latest game from The Artful Escape developer Beethoven & Dinosaur. Mixtape is a teenage coming-of-age story that’s heavily indebted to John Hughes’ feel-good films. It follows three high schoolers who set out to create one final memory together before splitting up at the summer’s end. All of that is soundtracked by a carefully curated mixtape featuring the likes of Devo, Portishead, The Cure, and more. The needle drops are every bit as exciting as the gameplay, as each chapter is an excuse for Beethoven & Dinosaur to introduce you to a great deep cut or pull out a classic alt-rock jam. It’s a fantastic, genre-spanning playlist that you rarely hear in a game outside of a Rock Band playlist, and it makes for a warmly nostalgic experience if you’re over the age of 35.

Wax Heads

Mixtape isn’t the only game about music culture that launched this week. Wax Heads is another must-play if you fancy yourself a proud music snob. The new game puts you in charge of a record store, where you’re tasked with finding the perfect vinyl records for your customers. Though it doesn’t feature any licensed music, Wax Heads makes a lot of references to real artists when creating its roster of fictional bands that you can dig into. (My favorite is a respectful nod to the late Mark Linkous, the voice behind Sparklehorse.) Aside from being a fun Easter egg hunt, Wax Heads also tells a timely story about how hand-selected musical curation can be an important pillar of a community, especially in the age of algorithms and AI.

Dead as Disco

Rounding out this week’s trio of music games, there’s Dead as Disco. The beat-’em-up, which launched in early access this week, takes the Batman: Arkham series’ free-flowing combat and drops it into a rhythm game. Your goal is to hunt down a gaggle of evil idols by beating up their minions to the beat of music. (One notable boss fight is set to a cover of “Maniac,” Michael Sembello’s 1983 hit and training montage staple.) It leaves a great impression in its early state, with snappy fighting that cleanly maps to the music. The best part of it is that you can import your own music into the game and fight along to it. Why not drop Mixtape’s mixtape into it?

People of Note

People of Note is an ode to the wide spectrum of musical genres — and how a shared love for music overcomes any differences in taste. Released in April, the musical RPG stars a pop singer, Cadence, who is on a quest to obtain stardom. To get there, she needs to fight her way across a musically themed world in a turn-based RPG that adds some rhythm to Paper Mario’s button-timing battle system. Along the way, she gathers a party of musicians who are experts in respective genres: EDM, rap, classic rock. It’s uneven in parts but earnest enough to work. And the best/worst part, it’s full of goofy puns that music nerds will get a kick out of. (Wait until you meet the accorgion.)

Dead Pets: A Punk Rock Slice of Life Sim

Where Mixtape is romantic about the power of music, Dead Pets is very realistic about how hard it is to produce music. The life sim tells the story of a demon punk band that’s struggling to make it big. That’s no easy task when you’re dead broke. You control Gordy, who has to cobble together enough money to keep the band going, even if it means taking some boring day jobs to do it. It’s a relatable game for anyone who has spent time jamming in moldy practice spaces and playing shows to mostly empty crowds in dive bars. And as a fun little Easter egg, you can find a Wax Heads reference in Dead Pets, while one of Dead Pets’ characters makes a cameo in Wax Heads.

Perfect Tides: Station to Station

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Music plays a huge role in Perfect Tides: Station to Station, Meredith Gran’s award-winning point-and-click adventure, even if the game isn’t about a band or record shop. Set in the 2000s, it follows college student Mara Whitefish as she starts a new life in a big city. There, she crosses paths with prominent bloggers of the time who welcome her into a world of local indie music. It’s an ode to both the internet’s Pitchfork era and the New York City rock revival scene that birthed bands like The Strokes and Interpol. Like Mixtape, Station to Station ties musical culture into a coming-of-age story to explore how songs can become an inseparable part of our memories. If you’re a millennial who grew up in the 2000s, you’re sure to see yourself somewhere in Mara’s journey to emotional maturity.

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