Mouthwashing
Games review
As of Jul 20, 2026, Mouthwashing is rated 95% positive on Steam (37,818 reviews), and 88/100 on Metacritic (21 critic reviews). Each source is shown in its own units, never blended into one score.
Opens Mouthwashing's own site, not a review site.
Is Mouthwashing worth it in 2026?
A 95% positive Steam rating from nearly 38,000 reviews and an 88 on Metacritic aren't flukes, Mouthwashing earns its reputation through sharp writing, oppressive atmosphere, and genuine emotional weight, particularly for players who connect with its mental health themes. The PS1-era lo-fi visual style is purposefully unsettling, pushed to its limits by a developer who clearly knows what the aesthetic can do. The dissenting voices are real and worth weighing: a consistent thread of complaints holds that the puzzles pad a thin runtime, the story implies more psychological depth than it delivers, and some players finish feeling the ambition outran the execution rather than the reverse. Whether that's a dealbreaker depends on what you need from horror, catharsis from implication, or clarity from follow-through.
Players who want a compact, story-driven psychological horror experience with strong atmosphere and are satisfied when a game lands an emotional gut-punch even if it leaves some narrative threads deliberately unresolved.
It's short enough that price-to-playtime is a legitimate concern, not a minor quibble. The story is also sparse on context clues in ways that may leave you confused rather than unsettled, and a notable minority of players feel the game's psychological ambitions never fully materialize, it suggests
ReviewPond's conclusion, drawn only from the verified scores and review themes below. Not a paid or editorial opinion.
Different sources measure different things, so each is shown in its own units and never merged into one number.
Pros
- excellent writing and story16
see reviews +-
- [h1] 𝚃𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚁𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚋𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢 [/h1] This game is one of the most complex and very well written psychological horror game I have ever played. My friends had bought me...
- This is by far my favorite game!!! I tend to enjoy story-rich psychological horror games, this one by far has stood out the most. This game is very short, but PACKED with so much s...
- This game is something else, not your typical jumpscare horrer game, wich for me is good because if i have a hearth attack every 2 minutes i play i will likely not finish the game....
- strong atmosphere and dread10
see reviews +-
- Lo-fi atmospheric space horror with a twist. Has a similar (but not the same) vibe as SOMA which is a game I absolutely love. The developer's inspiration (Alien, Event Horizon, Pan...
- The Sci-fi genre often has an issue drawing the line between realism and the fantastic. While it doesn't always matter if John or Jane Future is a detached super-being fighting or...
- This game is something else, not your typical jumpscare horrer game, wich for me is good because if i have a hearth attack every 2 minutes i play i will likely not finish the game....
- well-developed characters6
see reviews +-
- This is by far my favorite game!!! I tend to enjoy story-rich psychological horror games, this one by far has stood out the most. This game is very short, but PACKED with so much s...
- This game is something else, not your typical jumpscare horrer game, wich for me is good because if i have a hearth attack every 2 minutes i play i will likely not finish the game....
- Love love love this game so very much, and it forever holds a special place. It sort of was my gateway BACK into the horror genre after being out of it for a long time. It does suc...
- emotional impact6
see reviews +-
- While keeping it relatively short and simple - BEWARE of potential SPOILERS! For those of us who intimately understand the daily struggle with mental health, Jimmy’s journey stri...
- This is by far my favorite game!!! I tend to enjoy story-rich psychological horror games, this one by far has stood out the most. This game is very short, but PACKED with so much s...
- game makes me sad and cry basically but it is so wonderful and i love it anya and daisuke my beloved
- rewarding attention to detail5
see reviews +-
- [h1] 𝚃𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚁𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚋𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢 [/h1] This game is one of the most complex and very well written psychological horror game I have ever played. My friends had bought me...
- This is by far my favorite game!!! I tend to enjoy story-rich psychological horror games, this one by far has stood out the most. This game is very short, but PACKED with so much s...
- everything about it was art. the story was both beautiful and sad. i really love how the story was structured because each time i play it, i notice more and more details that i eas...
- unique visual style3
see reviews +-
- Not many games leave me speechless. Mouthwashing made me feel a range of emotions. Maybe its the insane story line. Maybe its the nostalgic PS1 graphics that they pushed to the lim...
- The gameplay is simple, it's point-and-click, talking, and walking. The story is average, it's classic break down of flawed humans under stress. But the visuals and vibe are what mak...
- surreal and disturbing game that's beautiful in its own strange way.
Cons
- overhyped relative to delivery4
see reviews +-
- Pretty decent space horror game though I wouldn't call it amazing. I do gotta say that the game is a little weak on context clues that are important to the story, especially in rel...
- Mouthwashing isn't a bad game, but it implies much more than it delivers. For all its intent to drive home a point and inflict something on the player, whether through an abundanc...
- This game had potential but is way overrated for what it is, in my opinion. The characters are all interesting, and the game tries to view them from a psychological lens, but never...
- unnecessary puzzles and padding4
see reviews +-
- Mouthwashing isn't a bad game, but it implies much more than it delivers. For all its intent to drive home a point and inflict something on the player, whether through an abundanc...
- pretty interesting game ngl. excellent ost, fav part about it. annoying but interesting graphics. frankly what little gameplay it has wasnt that good. could have been an excellent...
- This game is a mouth-washed breath of fresh air. Excellent characters. Excellent dialogues, but way too subtle in some places, making it easy to miss important little clues. Parts...
Themes and quotes are drawn from 40 sampled reviews with text; the scores above reflect all 37.8K ratings. Counts are how many of the sampled reviews mention each point.