I love things that are set in the cosmos, just give me a spaceship and I’m happy. That said, I don’t think I’d like to actually let slip the surly bonds of Earth and touch the face of god, as you have all the negatives of being in a submarine with the added threat of not being able to pop a hatch open should things go wrong. In Mouthwashing, a new psychological horror game that’s making waves on Steam, things have gone very wrong indeed.
Everything in Mouthwashing centers around spaceship The Tulpar and what happens when it goes off course, stranding its entire crew far from home with ever-dwindling supplies. As you can imagine, being stuck in a small tin can with little hope and even less in the way of stuff to eat is a prime location for a horror game. If that were all Mouthwashing offered it still could be a tense, intriguing proposition, but it’s got more up its blood-soaked sleeve. Which is what you might expect from a game published by the team behind Buckshot Roulette, Lunacid, and Teleforium.
Developer Wrong Organ isn’t joking when it says that this is a psychological horror, as the psyches of your character and those of the slowly dying crew are the focus of much of what occurs. It appears what’s happened to you all isn’t an accident, and that your captain has decided to take you all down with him, so it’s up to you to figure out what’s going on and why anyone would do such a horrible thing. All this means that you can’t trust anyone, they might be out to get you or they may have lost their grip on reality. In fact, you might have lost yours too, so you’d best watch out for that. If you can.
With an aesthetic that reminds me of the best horror titles of the 1990s and a fuzzy, off-kilter feeling that runs throughout, it’s no wonder that Mouthwashing is smashing it on Steam right now. At the time of writing, 97% of its 955 reviews are from fans enjoying the game, putting it into the coveted ‘overwhelmingly positive’ category on the platform.
“Great writing and immersion,” reads one review. “This is THE, I am not joking, THE best horror game I’ve ever played, like, everything, everything is good,” enthuses another. “This game is never what you think,” says one more.
Mouthwashing is out now and as an introductory offer you can save 10% until Thursday October 10. Head over to the game’s Steam page to learn more, and see if you can stand the terrors that await you on The Tulpar.
Should you want something a little different in your life, our guide to the best survival games will keep you full of tense action. You can also take a look at our picks for the very best indie games you can play on PC, for all your small but wonderful titles.
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