Mouthwashing – A story that may or may not have happened

• DEVELOPER: Wrong Organ
• PUBLISHER: CRITICAL REFLEX
• PLATFORMS: PC
• GENRE: Psychological Horror
• RELEASE DATE: September 26, 2024
• STARTING PRICE: 11,51 €
• REVIEWED VERSION: PC

The Horror Game Awards 2024 winner in Best Narrative and Player’s Choice categories. The Indie Game Awards 2024 nominee for Game of the Year and Best Narrative. IGN Awards 2024 nominee for Best Horror Game. And last, but not least, nominee for Outstanding Story-Rich Game at The 2024 Steam Awards. That’s quite a lot achievements for a 2-hour long indie game that Mouthwashing is, especially considering the fact it is only second game from developer Wrong Organ (the first one being How Fish Is Made, which later got an expansion titled The Last One And Then Another).

Mouthwashing triggered movement in the gaming industry, getting praise from both critics and gamers, even outside indie games bubble. Now that almost half a year has passed since its release, looking back at the heated reactions and discussion caused by the game, the important question starts to pop up: was the hype for this title deserved? I decided to see for myself once the dust settles, so that I could experience the game with a fresh perspective. Here are my thoughts after playing Mouthwashing twice in 2025.

Trapped among the stars

In Mouthwashing we follow the story of five crew members of the Tulpar space freighter. After the tragic crash leaves one of them in miserable state, they are forced to deal with starvation, isolation and slow descent into madness. Soon their artificial sun gets eclipsed by hallucinations, despair and the dark secrets of each employee of Pony Express.

Mouthwashing is the type of game that is best experienced with as little knowledge about it as possible. We get to discover the story by jumping between three different moments in time: days before the crash, months after the crash and hours before the final events. It’s up to the players to piece fragmented narrative together – it can be done by inspecting different places on the ship, talking to other survivors and searching for ways to increase the chances of survival.

For the most time then it kind of feels like a “walking simulator” focused on traversing the ship back and forth in order to complete another task – given that many times it requires walking through long corridors and going back to previous locations, it can be seen as a deliberate solution to prolong the gameplay, which can be rather annoying. Then again, I cannot say that it made the game completely boring, since it could also work the other way: by letting the players’ guard down the scares and anomalies leave even greater impact on them.

Another strong feature of the game is the cast of characters. Each one of them has been given a remarkable personality, hidden struggles and an unique role to play in the story. While both their designs and traits are memorable, I wish we could get more focus on their individual fates and backgrounds, which are remotely mentioned mostly as a mean to move the plot forward.

Extremely graphic vivisection

The game greets players with a bright, reddish sunset accompanied by calm, yet melancholic synth song. This combination right at the start instantly manages to capture the unique and mesmerizing style of Mouthwashing: low poly, retro graphics resembling the designs from the PS1 are skilfully utilized to turn gory and dark moments into surreal psychological trip. The industrial interior of the ship unexpectedly turns into ocean in space, abandoned cemetery or labyrinth of absurdly large organs, each time presenting something brand new, yet kept in the same distinctive, pixelated fashion.

Mouthwashing is a first class game not only when it comes to visual, but also auditory design. The music plays crucial role in indicating the emotions players experience during different passages: setting casual melody to release the tension, playing warning rings to alert players about incoming threat or causing chills during disturbing moments. Sounds are even more salient when the visuals are blocked or completely removed, leaving the most gruesome and distressing stuff to our own imagination. Needless to say, it happens quite often.

Well, that escalated quickly…

Mouthwashing is an intense experience, although it takes its time to prepare a build up for the reveal of major twistst. From my point of view, it definitely deserves the recognition not only for the story alone, but also for the way it is told – the plot and short duration make it feel like an interactive movie, but choosing a video game format for presenting its plot opens up a whole lot of storytelling possibilities.

Although the events are set in space, the horrors of Mouthwashing doesn’t come from alien creatures or unexplored areas – the real terror is centered around the characters and their interactions. The game tackles very sensitive and severe issues through metaphors, symbolic dialogues and actions, as well as frequent foreshadowing (though not the “subtle” one), which makes the story feel genuine, raw and fascinating to unravel.

The narrative presented in nonchronological order, as well as with a thick layer of mystery, accounts for a great replay value of this game. First playthrough is mainly about fully experiencing haunting and bonkers events, while next replays help to better understand the complexity of the story. Although I enjoyed my second time playing Mouthwashing as much as the first, I finally wrapped my head around shortcomings that were bugging me during these two playthroughs.

Primarily, the ending – in my opinion it’s strong and thrilling, but it drags on for too long. There were few sequences that required stealth and precaution, which broke the fast pace and intensity of the gameplay, stalling the further progress. Also, I really admire the attention to detail and diverse methods to increase the tension, but really: you don’t have to distort my screen every few seconds to get the message across. Especially when it interrupts crucial events of the story.

Ending thoughts

Despite its apparent and inapparent flaws, Mouthwashing is a game that legitimately deserves to become an instant indie horror gem. It’s quite extraordinary that each time I stumble upon something related to this title, I learn some new facts and characteristics that show how well-thought-out this production is. While there are many motives to point out and analyze, the greatest advantage of this title is emotional charge it carries – it’s impossible to go past it indifferently. So to those who didn’t get a chance to experience it yet, I highly recommend to go into it with an open mind and heart, as there is a lot to discover. After all, it is a story that may or may not have happened – and not only in terms of video games.

Review copy provided by the publisher

4.8