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INDIES CONTINUE TO OFFER UP NEW TAKES ON SURVIVAL HORROR THAT AAA GAMES WON'T TAKE RISKS ON. MOUTHWASHING IS THE LATEST EXAMPLE. 10:00, 05 Jan 2025 Mouthwashing is one of the most

chilling experiences of 2024, but not for the exact reasons you would think. It might now be the new year, but I still catch myself in a state of reflection. Writing lord knows how many

listicles, ‘Best Of’ articles, and video game rankings will do that to you, I suppose! However, one of the benefits is being able to check out some 2024 games I missed based on what friends

in other gaming circles are recommending. One particular viral indie horror hit that came up time and time again is Mouthwashing. It's a difficult game to write about given that it’s

one of _those_ experiences best played completely cold. Yet for the sake of (hopefully) getting more PC players to try it out on Steam, I feel implored to share my thoughts on developer

Wrong Organ’s expertly paced and written sci fi tale, and how it made me feel about roleplaying as one of the most despicable characters ever. Primarily set aboard the freight ship Tulpar,

Mouthwashing doesn’t waste time spinning its wheels and instead grabs you right away with an arresting countdown sequence. Facing the control board in the cockpit, you’re swiftly informed

that the ship is about to hit an asteroid. This would normally lead one to assume that the character you’re playing as would want to set a course _away_ from the impending disaster. Instead,

however, the actions that you as the player make have the opposite effect. You adjust the controls so that the Tulpar crashes on purpose, kicking off countless devastating ramifications for

yourself and the entire crew (who you’ll soon get to know) that means they're forced to survive adrift amidst dwindling resources. The rest of Mouthwashing’s time-hopping horror story

is then spent trying to work out two factors: what kind of person would do this and why? I won’t give away the answers to both these questions here. Rather, I’d encourage anyone who enjoys

tightly plotted sci-fi horror stories – in the style of Moon, Alien, or even Dead Space – to give Mouthwashing a go. I promise you the relationships between characters and the way the

general narrative throughline sprawls off in directions you won’t expect is primed to keep you invested in the events that follow. In fact, one of the best methods the game implores to keep

you guessing is regularly flipping between the perspectives of two specific crew members, Curly the captain and his resident pilot Jimmy, both of whom you quickly learn are caught in a power

struggle, vying for the ultimate leadership role in the group. Article continues below OPEN WIDE Despite events in Mouthwashing frequently playing out of order and oftentimes setting you

off in areas that are borderline supernatural, I never lost hold of what was happening. Rather, you learn to just go with it, performing such necessary tasks as hacking away at so-called

protective foam keeping the hull sealed, settling crew member disputes, and even baking a cake to celebrate someone's intergalactic birthday, all while knowing full well that there

won’t be a second wasted. The deeper into Mouthwashing’s mystery you fall and the more the unusual nature of the cargo you’ve been hauling starts to become apparent, the more you realise

that the character of Jimmy is someone impossibly despicable. It's not unusual for games to place you in the shoes of unknowing villains, of course. Last year’s Silent Hill 2 remake,

for instance, also did an exceptional job at (re)tackling this precise territory. However, the beauty of the way Mouthwashing handles similar subject matter is by asking you to complete

tasks under the guise of survival. You have to send the untrained intern mechanic in the air vent, right? How else will you retrieve what’s left of the painkillers. You could say the same

about drugging fellow crewmate Swansea with a spiked cocktail to get past his watchful eye… It’s all in the name of saving as many people as possible while preserving what’s left of the food

and medical supplies before the inevitable rescue arrives. At least, you assume so at first, before things quickly spiral. Article continues below What if the apparent ‘hero’ of this story

hasn’t been entirely truthful with their intentions, perhaps unknowingly? This is just the tip of the iceberg by way of moral questions that Mouthwashing basks in, challenging you as the

player to press on against your better judgement. Such quandaries are mixed in with characters I personally couldn't help but care about, as well as a truly convincing sci-fi ship

setting that is small but mighty in terms of its storytelling potential. By the time I rolled credits, the handful of areas like the med bay, cockpit, lounge, and utility room had all become

easy to navigate despite the lack of an in-game map. Seeing them reduced to varying states of disrepair also worked wonders to keep me grounded as to whereabouts I was in the timeline.

Alongside the likes of Crow Country and Sorry We’re Closed, Mouthwashing is yet another effective example of how terrifying the early PlayStation aesthetic can be when used in the right

context. It just so happens that this bite-sized horror story about one person’s thirst to be everyone’s saviour has an equally intoxicating narrative and setting to back it up. If you have

a spare two hours to hand and want a taste of what indie horror can achieve without any semblance of compromise, Mouthwashing should absolutely be next on your playlist. It’s one of the most

chilling interactive experiences I’ve ever played about how despicable and flawed human beings can be – only possible as a video game. READ MORE: Best Nintendo Switch games 2024 – the

absolute best titles on Nintendo’s hybrid consoleREAD MORE: 10 upcoming 2025 video games we're most excited for coming to PS5, Xbox, Nintendo and PC