Mouthwashing is a 2024 first-person psychological horror adventure game developed by Wrong Organ and published by Critical Reflex. The game follows the five crew members of the freighter spaceship Tulpar after a mysterious crash leaves them stranded in space, trapped within the Tulpar as supplies dwindle. The captain, alive but severely maimed and unable to speak or move, is blamed by the remaining crew for deliberately crashing the ship for reasons unknown. The game uses a split, nonlinear narrative.[1][2]
| Mouthwashing | |
|---|---|
 Steam artwork | |
| Developer(s) | Wrong Organ |
| Publisher(s) | Critical Reflex |
| Producer(s) | Kai Moore |
| Designer(s) | Jeffrey Tomec, Johanna Kasurinen |
| Programmer(s) | Jeffrey Tomec |
| Artist(s) | Johanna Kasurinen |
| Engine | Unity (game engine) |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows |
| Release | 26 September 2024 |
| Genre(s) | First-person adventure game, psychological horror |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Plot
editDuring a routine shipment, the freighter spaceship Tulpar is sabotaged into crashing into an asteroid. The crew – consisting of captain Curly, co-pilot Jimmy, medic Anya, mechanic Swansea, and last-minute intern Daisuke – survive. However, most of the ship's resources are blocked off by airbag-like foam, damage to which could potentially breach the ship's hull and trigger lethal decompression. Curly is also mutilated by the crash and cannot speak or move; he is kept alive via a dwindling supply of painkillers. Jimmy declares himself acting captain as a result, claiming that Curly caused the crash after going postal.
When food supplies run out after two months, the crew open their confidential shipment, discovering that it consists solely of mouthwash. The sugar and ethanol content result in them consuming it, and the ensuing drunkenness inflames tensions further. Eventually, Anya locks herself in the medical bay. After failing to convince Swansea to help him break in, Jimmy knocks him out using a mocktail roofied with the ship's sole bottle of rubbing alcohol and coerces Daisuke into crawling through a damaged vent to reach Anya. However, Daisuke is severely injured in the process, and his wounds become infected when Jimmy uses the mouthwash as an impromptu disinfectant. Swansea, who had been treating Daisuke protectively, reluctantly and crudely euthanizes him with a fire axe before violently turning on Jimmy.
Flashbacks to the days leading up to the crash reveal that the Tulpar crew were due to be laid off following their delivery; Curly breaks the news prematurely, distressing his crewmates as he is the only one who can financially support himself afterwards. Later, in a private conversation with Curly, Anya reveals that she is pregnant with Jimmy's child. Other interactions between Curly and Anya imply that Jimmy raped her. Curly attempts to ease tensions with Jimmy, only for Anya to reveal her pregnancy to Jimmy behind Curly's back. The stress of his impending layoff and the possibility of being held accountable for Anya's pregnancy ultimately drive Jimmy to crash the Tulpar in a failed murder-suicide bid.
Back in the present, Jimmy breaks into the medical bay, where Anya is revealed to have killed herself via an overdose, and uses the ship's emergency revolver to kill Swansea, who condemns Jimmy's cowardice and selfishness in his last moments. With his sanity rapidly declining, Jimmy holds a mock birthday party with the crew's corpses, where he cuts off and consumes part of Curly's leg; he also force-feeds the captain his own flesh in a surreal hallucination. After a series of additional visions where he is accosted for his actions throughout the game and for his inability to take responsibility for them, Jimmy places Curly in the ship's sole working cryopod, which Swansea was previously guarding for Daisuke. He tells Curly that he was proud to be his friend and co-pilot for he always had his back, even though Jimmy's actions hurt him greatly in the process. Jimmy then kills himself with the revolver, still viewing himself as a hero. The game's credits roll as Curly is placed into a 20-year cryosleep, his fate left uncertain.
Gameplay
editMouthwashing is a single-player narrative-focused adventure game played from a first-person perspective with little in the way of survival or combat mechanics.[2][3] It can also be described as a walking simulator.[4] Gameplay primarily involves exploring the Tulpar, engaging in dialogue with the crew, and solving puzzles using items.[5]
Presented as a nonlinear narrative, the game plays out across disjointed scenes taking place in the weeks and months before and following the crash.[6] Jumps in the timeline are sometimes delineated by non-diagetic transitions that mimic glitches or crashes.[3] Players experience captain Curly's perspective in the scenes before the crash, while scenes taking place after the crash are from the perspective of former co-pilot Jimmy, who takes on the role of captain in the aftermath of the disaster.[5]
Development
editThe team behind Mouthwashing includes producer Kai Moore, audio designer Martin Halldin, art and narrative designer Johanna Kasurinen, designer and programmer Jeffrey Tomec, and technical designer Dave van Egdom.[7] The developers took inspiration from films including Alien, Event Horizon, Sunshine, The Thing, and Pandorum.[8]
Mouthwashing was first announced as part of a free update (inspired by Katamari Damacy) to developer Wrong Organ's debut title How Fish is Made.[7] A demo for the game released during Steam Next Fest in February 2024 to positive reception,[9][10][11] with the full game releasing on Steam on 26 September, 2024.[12][13]
Reception
edit| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| OpenCritic | 90% recommend[14] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Hardcore Gamer | 3/5[15] |
| Noisy Pixel | 8.5/10[4] |
| Bloody Disgusting |   [2] |
| Paste | 8.7/10[6] |
Mouthwashing was well-received on release, achieving an "Overwhelmingly Positive" rating on Steam within the first two weeks.[16][17] "Overwhelmingly Positive" is the highest possible rating a game can earn on the platform, indicating that a game has received at least 500 user reviews with at least 95% being positive.[18]
Azario Lopez of Noisy Pixel described Mouthwashing as "a walking simulator that anyone who enjoys psychological horror should play" and praised the game for its engaging narrative, creepy visuals, and sound design, but criticised it as having "limited replay value".[4] Kyle LeClair of Hardcore Gamer praised the game's plot and visuals, but described the gameplay as "shallow" and "repetitive".[15]
References
edit- ^ Hanson, Katy (24 September 2024). "Review: Mouthwashing". Rely on Horror. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
- ^ a b c Boehm, Aaron (24 September 2024). "[Review] 'Mouthwashing' Is a Surreal Trip Into High Tension Horror". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
- ^ a b Marshall, Cass (6 October 2024). "Mouthwashing is a great horror appetizer in the lead-up to Halloween". Polygon. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
- ^ a b c Lopez, Azario (24 September 2024). "Mouthwashing Review: A Haunting Space Horror With Deep Psychological Themes". Noisy Pixel. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
- ^ a b Golmohamadi, Shahrbanoo (25 September 2024). "Mouthwashing Review: A Deep Dive into Descent". Gazettely. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
- ^ a b Gonzalez, Elijah (24 September 2024). "Mouthwashing Is A Suffocating Lo-Fi Horror Game About Slowly Dying in Space". Paste. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
- ^ a b Donovan, Imogen (4 September 2023). "'Mouthwashing' is a retro horror where "God is not watching"". NME. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
- ^ Graves, Dylan (11 September 2024). "In Mouthwashing, You're "Cursed To Live and Forced to Think" - Discussion With Producer Kai Moore". EIP Gaming. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
- ^ Castle, Katharine (5 February 2024). "15 Steam Next Fest demos you should play first this February". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
- ^ Gerblick, Jordan (7 February 2024). "What goes down in this Steam Next Fest demo is too dark to put in a headline, but this PS2-style indie horror has my full and undivided attention". GamesRadar+. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
- ^ Allen, Eric Van (6 February 2024). "Mouthwashing is sublime space horror that burrows into your brain". Destructoid. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
- ^ Gardner, Tyler (26 September 2024). "Story-Driven Psychological Horror Game Mouthwashing Launches Today on Steam". Games Press (Press release). Retrieved 6 October 2024.
- ^ Sheehan, Gavin (26 August 2024). "Psychological Horror Game Mouthwashing Reveals Release Date". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
- ^ "Mouthwashing Reviews - OpenCritic". OpenCritic. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
- ^ a b LeClair, Kyle (24 September 2024). "Review: Mouthwashing". Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
- ^ McHugh, Alex (1 October 2024). "Psychological horror game from Buckshot Roulette publisher soars on Steam". PCGamesN. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
- ^ Fischer, Tyler (4 October 2024). "New Steam Horror Game Has a Nearly Perfect Review Score". ComicBook.com. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
- ^ Morris, Daniel (6 October 2024). "New Steam Horror Game Has 'Overwhelmingly Positive' Reviews". Game Rant. Retrieved 7 October 2024.