Indie Horror Game: Mouthwashing

The indie horror game that took Steam by storm this fall, Mouthwashing, was developed by Wrong Organ and released September 26th, 2024. You may have seen edits of it to Imogen Heap's song "Headlock" or recognize the iconic Captain Curly, a bloody, limbless figure poorly covered in bandages. This game has the simplest controls, a small map, and there's not much free-will the player can exercise, as it is a walking story game. However, the quirky characters and the complex plot have drawn a massive fan base. This game may have some of the most impressive fan art I have ever seen.

The plot follows a group working for Pony Express: an intergalactic cargo shipping company. Things quickly go wrong as their ship crashes, yet the details around it are fuzzy and the blame falls on their captain, who was mutilated in the crash beyond being able to communicate or walk. As the game goes on, details behind the situation are uncovered, and the player can form their own opinions around the narrative as the characters descend into madness and resources run out.

What I think was the most impressive aspect of Mouthwashing was its art style and soundtrack. Reminiscent of PS2 graphics, paired with vivid colors and upbeat corporate tunes, this game is a fever dream come to life, quite literally. The use of sound is crucial to the gameplay, especially in one of the scariest scenes where you must navigate a dark maze while an evil horse entity hunts you. The soundtrack will slowly drive you to insanity as well, it really helps you get into character as you play in first-person.

The story is extremely compelling as it's told not chronologically from multiple characters' perspectives, and the lines between reality, flashback, dream, and madness become more and more blurred. Despite its fun colors and cartoonish style, Mouthwashing tackles dark themes, and has a strong content warning for sexual assault, violence and gore, and psychosis. Sexual assault is a big part of the plot but it is not explicitly shown or addressed; I think younger players may not pick up on it, but it is woven into the story line in a way that an older audience will see it and I think the situation is treated (unfortunately) very realistically, which is something many video games struggle to do.

An aspect of the Mouthwashing universe I find super appealing is that the characters are actors, and the game is treated as a movie, so there's several videos released by Wrong Organ of the characters' actors walking the red carpet and interacting with each other as normal people, despite being animated. It solidifies the game as fiction and makes the overall Mouthwashing universe a bit more lighthearted and allows for fans to interact with the characters like they would with real celebrities in their favorite movie.

Initially, I was not a fan of the game as I found the walking simulation style gameplay slow and boring, and I was looking for more free will. However, after the first few chapters, I was so immersed in the story that I was able to overlook the controls in the pursuit of uncovering the full story. The psychological horror vibes are maintained throughout the game in the ominous music and dark environment, as well as in a few intense scenes straight out of a horror film. Overall, I rate Mouthwashing 3.5/5 stars and I would recommend it to anyone over the age of 12 who is looking for a good psychological horror or mystery game.

All images sourced from Pinterest & Gameplay