Published May 11, 2026, 4:30 PM EDT As a period piece, Mixtape plays it too fast and loose What year is Mixtape even supposed to take place anyway? Image: Beethoven & Dinosaur/Annapurna Interactive It’s no surprise that Mixtape is a huge hit with a very specific audience. Beethoven & Dinosaur’s critically acclaimed coming-of-age adventure is a nostalgic treat for anyone who grew up in a small American town, listening to Joy Division and pining for an escape from their suburban prison. I enjoyed it well enough as a light crowd-pleaser, but one mystery has been bugging me ever since I rolled credits: When the hell does this thing actually take place? That should be a straightforward question with a clear answer, but it isn’t. Mixtape never outright says what year it’s set in. Divorced from any major current events of the time, it only offers context clues that roughly locate you somewhere in the ‘90s. Even then, the tone of the game doesn’t always line up with the likely setting.…