REVIEW: ‘Mouthwashing’ Is Both Harrowing And Exemplary (PC)

CONTENT WARNING: Mouthwashing discusses heavy story elements, including sexual assault and suicide.

Mouthwashing starts off with a simple set-up. A five-man crew has been in-transit for over 140 days aboard the Pony Express long-haul freighter, Tulpar. Its estimated travel time is just over a year. Oh, and one more thing: “I hope this hurts.”

That last part is important. Mouthwashing is eager to see you endure the proper amount of suffering. Something happens aboard the Tural; a hand changes the ship’s course, and rather than slowly drifting through space toward its final destination, it crash-lands in a random sector of the endless void, and the Tulpar’s five crew members are left to fend for themselves.

You mostly play as Jimmy, the second-in-command forced to take over, and Captain Curly, who seems to be behind this disaster. Curly himself suffered burns and dismemberment during the crash, with only an eye and a mouth visible amid a sea of bandages. The stern, older handyman Swansea, naive and optimistic intern Daisuke, and timid nurse Anya round out the band of souls now stranded in space.

Days turn into months as you flash back and forth between the time before and after the crash. Through Jimmy’s eyes in the present, and Curly’s in the past, you see things fall apart. Daisuke is lambasted by Swansea, who keeps a tight hold on the utilities and equipment that still functions. Anya seems shellshocked from the player’s view, often asking Jimmy to handle tasks like unlocking captain-coded doors and feeding Curly painkillers.

Soon, the crew gets desperate. Though it might cut into their pay, they break into the cargo hold to see if there’s anything there that could help them survive until a potential rescue. There, they find mountains upon mountains of boxes, each filled to the brim… with mouthwash.

Hey, at least it will kill 99.9% of germs.

It’s the 0.1% that can fester, though. All it takes is one parasite in the system. That’s the real horror of Mouthwashing: not some supernatural, cosmic horror or flesh-tearing, acid-blooded hunter. The decor of the Tulpar—which I would describe as “what if the Nostromo also housed the Overlook Hotel”—and character designs indicate you’re in for some classic horror. Alien, The Thing, The Shining, etc. You’d be on the right track.

Only, the terror aboard the Tulpar is its real, vividly human terrors. The horror is the way Mouthwashing uses perspective to twist our understanding of interpersonal relationships. Developer Wrong Organ has some grotesque monstrosities in-store; don’t worry. But the fright that creeps in the back of your mind isn’t from some indescribable entity. It is a horror that is, for some, all too familiar.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions, after all. And Mouthwashing makes sure you understand that. Every step forward seems like a frustrating fight for survival amid a gradual psychedelic breakdown. Simply opening a door might trigger some vivid change in tone, throwing you from one part of the story to a connected fragment of the past or future.

Mouthwashing is also pretty brief, clocking in at around two hours, rarely losing its momentum. If I were to find some faults, it would be in some of the more traditional horror game sections, with success or failure determined by outrunning or outsmarting a “monster.” While they make up some really rich imagery for the themes of Mouthwashing, they were also the only times I felt myself hitting a narrative speed bump.

I want to stay as vague on Mouthwashing as I can, so I’d really stress that if any of this sounds appealing, you should just download and play it right now. It’s one of the best ways you can spend two hours playing games this year. But if you need just a little extra help hitting the download button, here’s the full-blown, spoiler-laden reason to play.

Mouthwashing isn’t, or shouldn’t be, subtle. For most playing the game, you’ll start to read the writing between the lines pretty fast. As you may have noticed when I listed the crew, Mouthwashing’s cast is predominantly male. By shifting perspectives around the timeline and beautifully laid out environmental insights, you can quickly intuit how that feels for the one woman aboard the ship. Sexual assault lies at the center of everything that happens in Mouthwashing. One that should shatter any notion of tranquility amongst the Tulpar’s workers.

Instead, in the flashbacks, we see the ways in which Anya tries to seek assistance without instigating her attacker and how people fail her. She asks Captain Curly why there are locks on the medical bay but not individual sleeping quarters; Anya makes sure she knows where the one gun is on board, and who has access to it.

Still, Curly tries to peacekeep. He mimics the corporate phrasebook plastered around the ship on posters and fliers. Everyone can just get along, make it to the next port, and move on with their lives. He’s a good captain, just doing his job.

Mouthwashing is about what happens when a parasite is allowed to persist in the system, even by those with the best intentions for everyone around them. It’s about how nothing, not even a mountain of mouthwash, can dislodge the 0.1% that’s allowed to fester. Mouthwashing drives home how that 0.1% can do a lot of damage.

This is why I think the notion of “I hope this hurts you” is so crucial. The game wants you to feel how bad this is going to get. It’s clear, not five minutes into Mouthwashing, that this story will probably not have a happy ending. As the crew unravels, secrets are laid bare, and hope dwindles. No amount of camaraderie and good intentions can dislodge the rot. It’s burrowed too deep. As one character is subjected to torment after torment, they eventually just laugh.

How can this not be karma?

So yes, Mouthwashing is brutal to play. It is gory, chilling, even scary (though thankfully doesn’t lean into the jump-scares all too often). The use of lo-fi graphics helps build some of the unease, as well as the uncanny and surreal nature of some story moments. On sound design alone, Wrong Organ deserves some awards for this.

Mouthwashing is a must-play horror experience and has cemented Wrong Organ as a team to continue to watch moving forward. Beautiful, crushing, harrowing, resonant – Mouthwashing will sting in a way that sticks with you for some time.

Mouthwashing is available now on Stream.