A copy of Mouthwashing was provided to the Create-Context team for review purposes. A link to our ethics policy can be found below.

Mouthwashing, the new psychological horror game from Wrong Organ and Critical Reflex, is a slow burn dread-filled trek through space. The game begins by forcing you to crash a spacecraft carrying five souls on board. And it only gets more dire from there.

Mouthwashing takes a lot of inspiration from horror films set in space. The narrow corridors of the Tulpar are reminiscent of Ridley Scott’s Alien, among other space horror movies. Mouthwashing creates a haunted house in Space but the real horrors are the people themselves. The crew of the Tulpar quickly descend into jealousy, paranoia, and madness trying to figure out the reason for the crew’s imminent demise. The actual reasoning laid out by the plot gets a little muddied in the final execution, but the lead-up and journey are a frightful delight.

In Space, No One Can Hear You Scream

Mouthwashing follows the five crew members of the Tulpar. A freighter ship carrying an unknown shipment on a journey that lasts slightly over a year. The company employing the five freighters is the ironically named Pony Express. A company not quite as evil as Weyland-Yutani, but pretty close.

The overarching mystery is secondary to the thrills and vibe of Mouthwashing. There are very few gameplay mechanics and only a few sections with a fail state, but it’s immediately evident that wasn’t the type of game Wrong Organ wanted to make. They wanted to make a playable movie with crude PS1-style graphics. And they delivered that experience in spades.

PlayStation 1 Horror

The survival horror genre began in earnest in the early days of the PlayStation 1 and has continued on. Growing ever-popular with each console generation. There were some games that tried there hand and it before but it wasn’t until Alone in the Dark, Resident Evil, and Silent Hill came along that the genre truly began to take shape.

One of the reasons these games became classics and were able to use fear so effectively is their use of the limitations. Silent Hill coated its world in fog. A necessary limitation but one that also raised the tension of the entire experience. Resident Evil had rudimentary tank controls that were a beast to master. But this added to the fear and intensity of every action encounter. Wrong Organ uses many of these same limitations to create beautiful and horrific effects. The monsters in this game, both real and imagined, are gorgeously grotesque made even more horrifying by their crude polygonal style.

Less is More

It feels like Wrong Organ’s entire goal with Mouthwashing was to create more with less. The game takes place in one location that feels more and more claustrophobic as the narrative goes on. The characters, though few, are well-designed and written. We have all worked with a gruff mechanic who is bilingual in both English and profanity and it’s easy to see real people in the characters of Mouthwashing.

Mouthwashing also uses this small contained space to tell a grandiose story about addiction, capitalism, and responsibility. As the true story of the Tulpar starts to take shape, we get a glimpse into the dire circumstances of the people who must work on these long-haul freighter missions. Each person on the voyage struggles with their own demons and there are no real heroes in Mouthwashing.

Responsibility and Mouthwashing

It’s revealed fairly early on the meaning behind the game’s name and what these five fated freighters were hauling. It’s a punch in the face to both the players and the game’s characters. That all of this dread and destruction is brought on by something as inane as mouthwash. But the game wisely chooses to use mouthwash not as a MacGuffin, but as a catalyst for its numerous themes.

The banality of such an ordinary home product is on full display but its existence has dire consequences for all on board. The name Mouthwashing starts to take on a more sinister meaning. Not just the daily ritual of cleansing germs post teeth cleaning but also taking responsibility for one’s actions. Washing away the guilt and shame in whatever way is necessary. Even when those actions make as little sense as a year-long freight mission to deliver redundant home products.

Death, Taxes, and Mouthwash

Others have described Mouthwashing as a walking simulator and while that may be true in concept, the game itself is so much more. The best story-rich games are the ones that use gameplay in a meaningful way to tell their story. Mouthwashing hits it out of the park in every aspect of its storytelling. From crashing the ship to running from monsters and even cutting a birthday cake, Mouthwashing puts you in an uncomfortable situation and forces you to see it through.

The result is a small game with big ideas that sticks its landing. There is a lot going on in this game and some of the subject matter may be hard for certain audiences but it’s all effective. Mouthwashing feels like living in a David Lynch movie trying to ascertain what’s real and what’s in your head. It’s a spectacular game for people who love stories and a special experience from a talented team.