Mouthwash is one of the best games of the year

Of all the games I’ve played so far in 2024 – and there are a lot of– the one that made me feel the worst was Mouthwash. I mean this as a compliment. This short narrative game from developer Wrong Organ is an emotionally and mentally taxing game with a clear story. It may not be the easiest game to get through due to its tricky themes, but it’s remarkable nonetheless and stands out as one of the best games of this year.

Despite what MouthwashThe first sequence might suggest that this isn’t really a horror game that thrives on adrenaline-pumping jump scares. After running through the winding corridors of a spaceship, chased by a horse mascot, the game changes into something much more surreal and narrative. You meet the five-man crew of the freighter Tulpar, which is stranded in space with no hope of rescue after its captain (Curly) nearly destroys the ship in the midst of a nervous breakdown. Then he and the four other crew members of the Tulpar to their own existential crises about the likelihood of their impending death.

This is quite a disappointment of a plot, to say the least. It’s also a setup for what becomes a surreal journey through the lives, hopes and struggles of each crew member. While the game loosely guides you through its walking simulator-like structure, the writing sharply dissects each character and puts their insides on display for you. You will empathize with the nervous nurse Anya, the young intern Daisuke and even the grumpy older Swansea.

The two remaining crew members, Curly and Jimmy, will take on most of the focus of the game. Curly survives what appears to be a suicide attempt in the form of the ship crashing, but is now bedridden. Because you cannot speak or move, the only contact you have with him is by giving him medication. You do this in the shoes of JImmy, the co-pilot and current captain after the crash. Jimmy sometimes seems to be the only person on the road Tulpar who still has some common sense. While the rest of the crew deals with their impending death in unique ways, Jimmy tries to keep the crew together. But Mouthwash digs even further into Jimmy.

Although not traditional horror, Mouthwash still retains hallmarks of psychological horror in its claustrophobic atmosphere and dark themes. It evokes that way Silent Hill 2. That comparison becomes even more striking when the truth about Jimmy becomes clear. Like Silent Hill 2‘s James, Jimmy is not the hero he is made out to be. On the contrary, he is the cause of the problems on board Tulpar. By flashing between scenes before, during and after the crash, Mouthwash slowly reveals that Jimmy, not Curly, caused the crash in an attempt to kill the entire crew. This was in response to the discovery that Anya had become pregnant after he sexually assaulted her.

While Silent Hill 2 ultimately forgives James for his crimes and encourages the player to see him as a flawed but redeemable character, Mouthwash does not use such an approach with Jimmy. Despite living in his thoughts for most of the game, Jimmy proves to be a disease among the crew who, even in his final moments, cannot take responsibility for his actions. As the game progresses, the slowly decaying state of the Tulpar and the crew members act as a reflection of Jimmy’s declining mental state, which is further illustrated by the fact that the structure of the story becomes increasingly fractured and twisted as you progress. By means of Mouthwash‘s ending, there is nothing that seems to be based in reality about Jimmy’s existence on the Tulpar. He cannot live with the reality of his actions.

In a year full of great games, many of them lengthy AAA RPGs that will take you dozens of hours to beat, Mouthwash is a short but very impactful title that you should not miss.

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