Instantly one of the best-rated games of 2026, nostalgic adventure Mixtape flies up Metacritic

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Early reviews for Mixtape – the new game from The Artful Escape developer Beethoven and Dinosaur – place it as either the best game of 2026 so far, or still pretty good depending on what review aggregator you use.

Over on OpenCritic, Mixtape currently sits at a critic average of 94, which makes it the top game of 2026 by a margin of four points, taking over from Pokemon Pokopia. However, 20 critic reviews listed at the time of writing, the lowest score is a sole 8/10 amid a sea of nines and tens for the title. Regardless, it is an undoubtedly impressive debut for Mixtape, which is set to launch as a day one Xbox Game Pass launch like last year's top game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

But for whatever reason, over on Metacritic, Mixtape sits at an average Metascore of 85, placing it in 18th place (albeit, tied with four other games), with a few more 8/10's sprinkled in there. But despite the disparity in scores between sites, it's not a game that's catching negative reviews at all, with the two lowest scores – a 7/10 from Metro and a 3/5 from The Guardian – being the only ones categorised as "Mixed" by the website.

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In the GamesRadar+ Mixtape review, US managing editor Rollin Bishop gave the game 4/5 stars and said "Mixtape is a nostalgic, vibes-based experience set to a shockingly solid soundtrack that's narratively important and also kind of a bop all its own. Teenage ennui permeates but never overwhelms while Stacy and her buds try to have one last wild night before it's splitsville in what's ultimately a short, meaningful game that's relatively light on mechanics."

Obviously, when both sites update with more reviews we'll be more likely to see where Mixtape really lands in terms of the highest-reviewed games of the year, but regardless of placement, the sheer amount of 10/10 scores it's been given if enough to put it on my radar. But unless it has funky tunes about cat poop, I can't see it beating Mewgenics as the actual best game of 2026 (for me, anyway).

Why not check our our list of 10 games like Life is Strange that are hella good?

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Scott McCraeContributor

Scott has been freelancing for over three years across a number of different gaming publications, first appearing on GamesRadar+ in 2024. He has also written for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, VG247, Play, TechRadar, and others. He's typically rambling about Metal Gear Solid, God Hand, or any other PS2-era titles that rarely (if ever) get sequels.

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