A Terrifying Narrative Experience: Mouthwashing
A great horror game lingers in the back of your mind well past the end credits. With the arrival of October comes even more spooky games to get us nice and scared before Halloween. Mouthwashing immediately gripped me with its jarring, off-putting visuals, and kept me pinned under the weight of mounting dread.
Mouthwashing is a three-hour narrative experience that takes place on the Tulpar, a Pony Express courier ship in the middle of a long-haul trip through space to deliver cargo. Despite the crew’s tight bond, a horrific crash leaves them stranded and off course.
The game jumps around on the timeline, showing us the crew’s dynamic before the crash, and the mounting despair after the disaster. Months after the crash, still lost in space, the crew is eager to find an alternate source of food as their supplies dwindle. The captain was badly burned, leaving him reliant on a dwindling supply of painkillers.
As Mouthwashing progresses, reality begins to smear and falter. The surreal transitions mimic game crashes or glitches, adding to the eerie atmosphere. There isn’t much in the way of combat or survival mechanics; instead, the narrative is a grim march toward an inevitable conclusion.
If this nightmare scenario has you even slightly intrigued, I heartily recommend checking out Mouthwashing on Steam or Itch.io. The game will leave you with an unsettling feeling long after you’ve finished playing.