For my conference paper I was interested in talking about a video game called Mouthwashing. The game is set in a dystopian future where cargo is being transported through a long haul space freighter called the Tulpar. With the event of a mysterious crash we see the crew’s slow descent into paranoia as the player has to decipher for themself what really caused the crash. 

The crash leaves Curly, the Captain severely imobile and unable to communicate, Jimmy, the co-pilot is in charge carrying the responsibility of the rest of the crew and blames Curly for unintentionally crashing the ship after learning about the company’s bankruptcy.

As weeks pass the mental state of the crew deteriorates. The Nurse Anya struggles to deliver medication to Curly which leaves Jimmy having to take up that responsibility. Other characters include the mechanic Swansea, and intern Daisuke. With a fractured timeline, and unreliable narration we have to decide what really happened, learning that not everything is as it seems. Later on in the game timeline we find out that Jimmy is really the one responsible for the crash because he raped Anya. He was worried about his reputation being ruined and therefore out of panic decided that would be the best course of action. 

The decision to make the player play primarily through the point of view of Jimmy in my opinion is really smart because throughout the game you feel bad for him and feel as though he has a heavy burden on him to look after the rest of the crew. This is however a false narrative and shows that we as the player are getting manipulated by Jimmy. He treats his crew poorly as though they are incompetent and unfit to do their jobs but it’s really Jimmy’s poor leadership which ends up being the downfall of the crew. Throughout the entirety of the game Anya’s rape is hinted at but never talked about, Curly knew about the rape before the crash but decided to be a mediator between the two because Jimmy was his friend rather than actually taking action. Later on in the game Anya’s mental health deteriorates tremendously leading to her suicide. Jimmy doesn’t really show much care or grief after this event, and is diluted in his own mind because he feels that despite the deterioration of the ship and the people in it he would still save everyone. Towards the end of the game we see him “take responsibility” for his actions, this being by putting Curly in the only working Cryopod on the ship. (A cryopod is a machine that keeps a body alive for up to 20 years, giving the person more of a possibility of being saved.) Jimmy looked up to Curly but was jealous of him so he felt guilt only towards Curly because he ruined his career and future. At the same time Jimmy is also blind to what he put his other crew members through, A major one being what he did to Anya.