What started as a project we were working on right after graduating Futuregames has transformed into a game enjoyed by thousands of people. We are beyond delighted that Mouthwashing has sparked many necessary conversations about crucial yet taboo topics.
We are also very glad that the message of our game has resonated with so many of you. We’re incredibly grateful to our publisher, CRITICAL REFLEX, for helping us bring Mouthwashing to life, and to you, our creative and supportive community! Thank you for your endlessly unique interpretations of our game. We hope Mouthwashing continues to inspire you!
In our previous Steam post, we announced the Q&A. Since then, we have been meticulously gathering your questions! Today, we’re excited to finally share the answers! To go along with them, we’ve gathered amazing fan art from Twitter, Instagram, our Discord Server, and CR Channel!
Questions and Answers
by @asianfissureman on Twitter
➤ How goes it for the Wrong Organ team? Are y’all experimenting with anything? Flexing those creative muscles?
I'd say we definitely are! We really want to create games that are built around our distinct atmosphere, tone, and take on the PSX artstyle, that represents Wrong Organ no matter what kinds of games we decide to create. The hope is that people will never know what to expect from us, yet always recognize that "Wrong Organ" vibe. With How Fish is Made and Mouthwashing, we’ve shown our ability to create compelling, mostly narrative games. With our next title, we wanna demonstrate our strength in creating an engaging, mostly gameplay-driven experience as well.
- Kai Moore, Executive Producer at Wrong Organ
➤ How did each of the characters dress off Tulpar? Did they have any specific styles?
Curly does enjoy that classic “sherpa lined leather pilot jacket with blue jeans and boots” look that I’m sure he’d spent a good amount of time trying to find just the right items for. Then he’d tell you he just happened on the clothes in some ragtag town he’d passed through once or something. Right. Couldn’t let anyone know you like putting in effort into your appearance. Also says he washes his hair and face with just some ol’ stick of soap too. Sure.
Swansea wears about 600 different variants of worn out graphic tees from sports teams, his kids' old universities, garages while around the (immaculately maintained) house or in the (immaculately maintained) yard. But you won’t catch Big Swan looking anything but sharper than a pile of tacks when he steps out of the house. Especially if he’s with his lady. And check the kicks too while you’re at it. The man doesn’t miss.
Daisuke wasn’t allowed to express himself much through clothing growing up which is why he’s now enamored with color and patterns. While a big follower of streetwear trends, he’s also a big fan of thrifting, equally as game to dig through any old second-hand shack stand at the beach as he is to go vintage shopping with his mom at boutiques. They both have fun shopping together even if she’d prefer he’d maybe get something a little less… loud, usually.
True to the iconic style of her design inspiration, Anya isn’t afraid to be a little experimental with her clothing, while also keeping up with current trends in general. Fitted and well-made, sure, but a little color and an off-beat element to shape her own off-beat look, in her mind. So it’s not going to be for everyone? Oh, well. Not that she has a whole lot of Credits to express herself like she’d want to, but she makes do. Cuts her own bangs. You, uh, you can tell.
Jimmy doesn’t put a lot of thought into his look beyond wearing what’s functional, non-descript and classically masculine. The stores have the “fashion” aspect of it figured out as far as he’s concerned, so he’ll just get whatever they have. He does appreciate a uniform though, if it comes with status.
#MOUTHWASHING
by @Shinzo69 on Twitter
➤ What is each character's favorite song?
Curly: Life In Vain by Daniel Johnston
Swansea: Like a Tattoo by Sade
Daisuke: Omote by Yuki Chiba
Jimmy: Hurt by Johnny Cash
Anya: Some Small Hope by Virginia Astley & David Sylvian
➤ What was each character’s favorite meal or comfort food back home?
Curly’s like a Christmas type of guy, big eater in general. Was pretty chunky as a kid. He’s got a big family back home, three brothers. His favorite meals though were probably doing some kind of camping experience where his father taught them how to cook sausages over a fire or read the stars. And then one of his brothers would push him face-first into a snowbank.
Swansea loves cooking. He’ll cook for his kids, his wife, his friends. He experiments with non-alcoholic options for the recipes, brings homemade baked goods to the meetings he helps at. He’ll cook even when people are damn near sick of it because he damn well wants to. He’s lost sleep over whether he should go ahead and indulge finally this year, buy that entire leg of jamón ibérico for the next off-season when he gets back.
Anya hates cooking. She does love fast food though, and usually prefers to just get something to go and focus on other things while eating. She’s rather timid about trying new cuisines or dishes, defaulting to the consistency of familiar restaurants. Sometimes, a late night kebab is heaven. While having a glass of wine. And ignoring the letter on the table.
Jimmy likes to eat as much as the next guy but he’s happy to share what he has. Nobody should go hungry. There are certain places that have great people you can always rely on to be welcoming. He himself can cook alright, enough to make a few solid signature dishes when he’s in the position to. His favorite is steak with chopped onion and sauteed broccolini.
Daisuke would probably tell anyone who asked what his comfort food was that it was his mom’s omurice, but she wasn’t actually a very great chef even when she tried. If he was like, totally legit, it was the recette de foie gras poêlé aux figues he had on one of his birthdays at a sick ass restaurant he went to with dad. No, it musta been the capesante con uova di quaglia the year after that with mom! Ohhh, wait no! It’s gotta be when we grabbed those shaved ice treats with the guys after hitting the waves last summer. The sweetness of the ice flavoring with the saltiness of the ocean?! Can’t do any better than that! Ya gotta try it!
Happy Late Birthday to Kailey! Wish we got an invite…
Organized by Kailey’s awesome friends: @zinkusdinkus and @reilly_wagner on Instagram!
➤ Why does Anya put her hand under her chin so much?
She’s got a lot on her mind.
HUGE thanks to @Ivymug_ on Twitter for organizing Anyatoder and creating these beautiful works of art. We are really touched by your love for our beloved Anya <3
➤ Looking back, are there any subtle design choices or quiet moments in the game that you're proud of? Anything you hope sits with the players to this day?
I want to briefly mention the moment you walk out of Curly's mouth in the last few moments of the game as one I'm quite proud of. What Jimmy (or any crew member) says or does isn't something Curly should turn a blind eye to, but did. Walking out of his throat is a very literal depiction of that, as we (Jimmy) have been speaking on behalf of Curly for most of the game up until that point. I'm happy we could keep it in the game because if anything, it looks pretty cool.
Similarly, the moment you walk backwards in the vents was ultimately a buildup to the final "walking away from responsibility" moment is another one I'm very proud of. Originally that scene was a little longer with assets of the different crew members used for each new turn to show Jimmy backing away from all of them, but they had to be cut because we felt they felt redundant to the point we wanted to make with that segment. But all in all it came across the way we had hoped it would and that feels good.
-Martin Halldin, Sound Designer and Composer at Wrong Organ
➤ Was there any mechanics/scenes you wished had been put into the game but didn't have time/budget/personnel for?
I think part of why Mouthwashing narratively works is due to the fact that it was really boiled down to only the necessary scenes without too much extra fluff. I was consistently worried during development that people would get tired of scenes that went on for too long with too many self-indulgent conversations. There are a couple of conversations/scenes I’d probably add though if I could revise the game. When Daisuke is on the ground drunk is one of the instances where I think I chopped the conversation down a little too much.
Curly also had a “Captain” patch on his uniform that I think I had accidentally hidden the layer of that it took me literally months to notice. I saw some fanart and went “Ah, looks like they forgot his patch.” Then thought about it for a minute and had to literally go check footage of the game. I considered going in and adding it in a patch (hah) for the game but ended up deciding against it.
We’ve brought it up before of course, but the dog that got cut could only be justified if we could have had a gameplay segment for him. It would have involved chasing him around with an axe or something. Required another model, too many animations, all that. Ahh, what could have been.
-Johanna Kasurinen, Narrative Designer and Art Lead at Wrong Organ
➤ Since Wrong Organ is a Swedish game studio, is there any Swedish detail/easter egg (except the name Polle)?
Since very few of us in the development team during Mouthwashing were actually Swedish despite being based in Stockholm there aren’t that many. Plus since narratively we don’t actually know what the world looks like on a “nations” scale in-universe I liked to keep overt references to a minimum within the story. But one guy pops to mind of course. Polle is actually referencing a Finnish magazine I read as a kid when I was going through my culturally mandated horse girl phase called Hevoshullu (“Horse Crazy”), which had a white cartoon horse character called Polle that was sort of the overall mascot of the magazine, created by the legend Lena Furberg. The word itself is kind of a slang term for ponies that is used in both Finnish and Swedish. Our Polle’s very round design is of course very reminiscent of the original Polle too, I always thought he looked so goofy and almost not like a horse at all. I wanted to use that as inspiration and make a really lame version, intentionally I swear, for Pony Express. If I had known there would be merch for the guy one day I might’ve tried to actually make him charming!
Also, we intentionally mispronounced Polle in the voice acted portions. No way Pony Express was going to bother to look into how it’s actually pronounced.
-Johanna Kasurinen, Narrative Designer and Art Lead at Wrong Organ
✨💅ULTRA SLAY MOUTHWASHING NAILS 💅✨
by @clawed_by_catelyn on Instagram
➤ Who was/were the most interesting character to write and why?
Hm, that’s a tough one. I’d say it’s easier to pick out specific conversations I am really proud of, like Swansea’s monologue or the night time scene with Anya. For character I’d probably have to go with Jimmy. He was interesting because his emotional range is so varied throughout the game. Plotting out why he behaves like he does and trying to keep it delusional but realistic was a highlight, as well as making sure his turns of phrases reflected things one would actually say in moments of outburst. Then the challenge of being able to sell his turn back into more of a truly, outwardly expressing pathetic creature by the end. Making him believably go from his super aggressive self to how he conducts himself when he’s looking for what he believes is forgiveness was a challenge. Adding in the second time you feed Curly to establish routine, which was one of the latest full scenes to be added, was pretty instrumental to that.
-Johanna Kasurinen, Narrative Designer and Art Lead at Wrong Organ
➤ What's the best piece of advice you would give when it comes to developing a good short story for a game?
I suppose I can only extrapolate on what’s worked for me so far but the emotional core of a story usually always comes from some sort of experience from my life and the emotions gleaned from them. I’m not, at least currently, interested in writing out anything super real and grounded in terms of setting, but that doesn’t mean I’m not using very grounded concepts and events as the initial spark for the idea or emotional veinwork. After that the biggest challenge is usually to just get started. Things don’t really get truly hairy until you’re in the middle of a story, so getting to where you have the building blocks to work with is half the battle, but you should also aim to work through the rest of it. Do think about what your reader is feeling and experiencing during the beats of the narrative, always aim to surprise in some way, whether it be through plot or wording or character or structure. Be honest and don’t be boring. These are really the most difficult things about writing. Again, this is just what I’ve learned so far. Overall, just keep writing.
-Johanna Kasurinen, Narrative Designer and Art Lead at Wrong Organ
by @Wuiche_ on Twitter
➤ What were some of the weirdest bugs you guys encountered while making the game?
Probably my favourite bug was in an early version Swansea's bossfight. He used to be MUCH faster and more aggressive just in general. What made it extra bad is that certain conditions broke his navigation, making him teleport around seemingly at random. We noticed the bug in a playtest where Swansea approached the player and right before the gun fired would teleported right behind and axe-ing him in the back. Fortunately Swansea's telefragging abilities were patched out for full release.
-Jeffrey Tomec, Gameplay Designer and Gaming Extraordinnare at Wrong Organ
by @ginreikun on Twitter
We hope you enjoyed reading our answers as much as we enjoyed reading and answering your questions. Have a good week and until next time!
✨Community Spotlight Time✨
Mouthwashing within by @mr_kotets
by Chilean cosplayers @_ariaass and @_ichigohime
Photo creds: Ariaass' amazing and supportive Mom 💕
With love,
Wrong Organ & CRITICAL REFLEX
*Special thanks to @stephamoeba from our Discord Server for drawing SoyDaisuke!