‘Mouthwashing’ and the Importance of Environmental Storytelling

As I mentioned in this week’s Waypoint Weekend, I planned to finally enter the world of Mouthwashing. I had seen a lot of posts on social media about this particular indie darling, with some being memes and others proclaiming their hate of a specific character. After rolling the credits and sitting in the cold dark of my office, the reality and brevity of the story finally hit me.

‘Mouthwashing’ Deserves Its Roses

Content Warning: This article details plot points for Mouthwashing, including depictions of sexual assault and suicide. Please proceed carefully at your own discretion. There will also be spoilers for Mouthwashing.

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started Mouthwashing for the first time. Posts I had seen on my social media feeds ranged from characters doing popular TikTok trends to extreme hate being posted toward one of two playable characters: Jimmy.

Upon the Pony Express, a band of five long haulers must survive the barren emptiness of the unending void of space alongside one another. Curly, the fearless captain of this iron horse. Swansea, the older, wiser, and generally cranky technician. Daisuke, the novice who looks to Swansea to learn the ropes. Anya, the beautiful, yet timid nurse. And Jimmy. Jimmy is generally a giant piece of garbage, but more on that in a moment.

At the start of Mouthwashing, you’re deadset on sending the Pony Express to its impending doom. Rather than avoiding an obstacle the ship is heading toward, I turn the ship directly into the field of danger. Sure, this may put the vessel and the livelihood of everyone on it in danger, but that’s a risk I’m ready to take.

As the events of Mouthwashing begin to unfold over its roughly two- to three-hour story, it begins to paint an increasingly grim and twisted picture. Switching between the time before and after the crash, watching the sad story of the Pony Express unfold is a depressing, bleak, and incredible journey worth partaking in.

But don’t worry, I’ll fix it.

I Wish for Nothing but Bad Vibes on Jimmy

The basic story of Mouthwashing is easy enough to follow, but the contextual clues regarding a specific member of the ship are haunting, disturbing, and horrifying. I’m talking about Anya and the suffering she endured during her time on the Pony Express.

The first time I met Anya in Mouthwashing, she seemed like she was just an aloof, timid, and scared individual. As the Nurse of the crew, she seemed almost too inexperienced to take care of people. Sure, Curly may not be in any presentable shape or form, but that shouldn’t matter to an experienced nurse. Just open up his mouth and force him to swallow those pills.

In the shoes of Curly, I offered to help Anya out. I would give Jimmy his psych evaluation. I’ll fix it. I would make everything better. At first, I didn’t realize why Curly would be offering to do things like this. But maybe he saw that Anya was stressed out from taking care of everyone. It seemed like Curly was just trying to be a good person.

It’s never that easy, unfortunately. Throughout the story of Mouthwashing, there are plenty of little pieces that we can pick up. Learning that Anya had asked Curly for locks on the doors in the sleeping quarters, and this request was ignored. Having Anya request that you hide the lone firearm on the ship. She understands exactly what she should say to avoid a certain member of the crew from blowing up on her. The bombshell announcement of her pregnancy.

And understanding why she was terrified of giving Curly his medication.

I’ll Fix It. I Always Do.

The way that Critical Reflex handled something as horrific as sexual assault is noteworthy. The relationship between Curly and Jimmy is painfully realistic. Rather than holding Jimmy accountable for what he had done, Curly fed into the evil. Offering to give Jimmy his psych eval and not pressuring him on the questions he should have. Knowing what Anya had gone through and sticking by Jimmy’s side. Rather than holding him accountable, he went along with what Jimmy had to say while essentially humoring Anya. We’ll fix it. We always do.

Giving Curly his medicine was just a reminder of her helplessness during the most vulnerable moment of her life. The choking, gagging, agony that he suffered taking his painkillers opened a terrible portal back into her mind. The obvious suffering she endured at the hands of Jimmy, was brushed under the rug by a plethora of empty promises by the captain of her crew. The ethanol-filled Mouthwash that the ship was carrying wasn’t enough to terminate the issue, so she took the only way out she could. In a way that far too many people feel is the only true way “out” of the horror that they’re experiencing.

For a game that was introduced to me by characters participating in TikTok trends, Mouthwashing was a heavy experience. Seeing these characters suffer at the hands of an unstable and unreliable narrator was painful. Watching Anya suffer quietly in the background before taking her own life while trying to protect everyone else was heartbreaking.