LEVEL 4 - MOUTHWASHING MENU

i hope this hurts

Mouthwashing is a game, a short game but one that contains a disproportionate number of emotional gutpunches. It's a surreal psychological horror experience, that takes a mere couple of hours to roll credits on but keeps ticking away in your mind long afterwards. The narrative of the game follows a crew aboard the Tulpar, a freighter ship delivering a shipment across space. This crew consists of 5 people: Curly, Jimmy, Anya, Swansea and Daisuke. The player takes responsibility of Curly and Jimmy at different points throughout the game - the ship's captain and second in command respectively. There's no clear indication of who the player is when a new scene starts, the game bounces across time freely but all scenes revolve around 'the crash' - the start of each scene stating how much time until said crash or after it. This crash refers to the Tulpar's collision with an asteroid, leaving the ship in a state of disrepair and the crew stranded. This is one of themes present in Mouthwashing, that being 'big company that doesn't care about its workers'. The crew are left for months after the crash with not a scrap of assistance, save the reminder that their pay will be docked if they access the cargo to scavenge for supplies. Desperation causes the crew to break in several months after the crash, and they then find that the cargo they are transporting is an ungodly amount of mouthwash. No medicine, no food, no spare parts, just bottle upon bottles of mouthwash. The fact that the crew have risked their lives and are ultimately stranded due to mouthwash is a real kick in the teeth, they're just workers transporting some meaningless products across the galaxy, not heroes. Anya, the ship's medic, remarks that the mouthwash has no use whatsoever, as the sugar content nullifies its potential use an antiseptic. Swansea, the ship's mechanic, quickly discovers another use - its base of Ethanol means it functions as an improvised way to get drunk. For the rest of the game, Swansea is in a state of mouthwash-drunkenness.

Another theme present in Mouthwashing, and one you've likely heard about if you've seen mention of the game online, is one that requires a trigger warning. Trigger warning for sexual assault. Mouthwashing's story heavily revolves around SA, with the incident in question being the main initiator for the events of the game. At some point during the cruise Jimmy raped Anya, resulting in her becoming pregnant. As they were due to reach their destination in just under a year, Anya would come to term and give birth before they arrived. This means Jimmy would be all but guaranteed to be incriminated, so he purposely crashes the ship into an asteroid to hide his crimes. Evidently this doesn't go exactly to plan, as the crew all survive and are left stranded. Well, not everyone comes out unscathed. Curly is horribly injured in the crash, as he was in the cockpit at the moment of impact trying to prevent it. He's lost his hands and feet, all his skin has burned off, and most of his face is missing. He's bedbound whenever the player isn't controlling him, in a state of constant agony requiring regular doses of painkillers. This already grim situation spirals out of control in the months following the crash, with Jimmy assuming leadership due to Curly's incapacitation. He blames Curly for the crash, convincing the rest of the crew that he did it because Pony Express was going under and this was to be their last cruise, not wanting to be stripped of his rank and authority. As may be expected of a rapist, Jimmy is not a good leader. The crew's morale plummets, with him scrambling to assert his authority. This largely manifests in bullying and manipulation, with Jimmy harbouring resentment towards every member of the crew. Jimmy attempts to 'take responsibility' and fix everything, but his actions only result in almost every member of the crew's death.

Anya overdoses on painkillers after locking herself in the medbay with Curly, due to her declining mental health after Jimmy's assault. Daisuke suffers lethal wounds after being manipulated by Jimmy to crawl through an unsafe vent to access the medbay, and is then mercy killed by Swansea. Swansea tries to kill Jimmy after Anya and Daisuke die, but is shot by Jimmy after he retrieves the ship's only gun. Jimmy kills himself with the ship's only gun. The only 'survivor' is Curly, who Jimmy puts into the one remaining cryostasis pod before committing suicide. All of these deaths were in/directly caused by Jimmy, as a result of him trying to take responsibility for his actions. Jimmy is undoubtedly the game's main antagonist, but he isn't the only one to blame.

While Jimmy is the abuser in this situation, he is enabled by Curly. Curly trusts in his co-pilot and friend, and is hesitant to take responsibility and discipline him. Anya confesses to Curly what Jimmy has done, and rather than offering support and taking serious action against Jimmy, Curly instead chooses to give his friend the benefit of the doubt and reassures Anya that 'he knows him'. Instead, after a brief conversation with Jimmy where Curly urges him to take responsibility, he paves the way for Jimmy's decision to crash the Tulpar into the asteroid. Not only does this doom the crew, but Jimmy essentially gets away with his previous crime, even after informing the captain - the person who is supposed to take responsbility and look after the crew. By enabling Jimmy to crash into the asteroid and incapacitate himself, Curly puts the crew under Jimmy's leadership and the misery that entails.

This obviously mirrors the real-life injustice of abusers being let off the hook because outsiders perceive them as harmless, not taking the victim's experiences and trauma seriously. Curly even alludes to Jimmy's rough past and how being 'found out' for his crimes would ruin him further, relating to the sickening real-world attitude of 'oh but his future would be ruined' of sweeping abuse under the rug. The other crew member that Anya tells about her experience is Swansea, the older mechanic. Although this occurs offscreen, Swansea's attitude towards Jimmy is noticeably bitter and disgusted - suggesting that he at least resents Jimmy for his actions. He does later attempt to kill Jimmy (with the winner's murder tool - the axe) and states that Anya's 'told him things' but otherwise doesn't directly confront Jimmy about his actions. This is largely due to his strong belief in the ship's hierarchy, Curly is the captain and he trusts him to take the proper course of action. He does keep the single cryostasis pod secret from Jimmy, intending to save it for Anya or Daisuke to escape. After Anya and Daisuke's near simultaneous deaths, he goes on a semi-drunken rampage and attempts to kill Jimmy. Even though he fails he thoroughly gets in Jimmy's head, acknowledging his own flaws but berating Jimmy by telling him he never had what it takes to be a leader. Shortly before Jimmy shoots him.

Mouthwashing is an incredible game, an exceptionally bleak but well written story with convincing characters and a powerful message. i've omitted a fair bit from this summary, i would encourage you to play it for yourself. The story i've loosely described is told in scattered sequences that add to the surreal psychological horror atmosphere, and gradually piecing together the scenes to form a coherent narrative is exceptionally well executed. The subject matter requires nuance to pull off successfully, despite its grim tone Mouthwashing feels exceptionally sympathetic and understanding. The game's opening statement of 'i hope this hurts' signals the intent to not pull any punches, while telling an abuse story without feeling remotely fetishistic. The exceptional storytelling by far isn't the only appeal, Mouthwashing makes full use of its state as a videogame to tell a story in a way that just wouldn't be possible in any other medium.