156: Mouthwashing (with Ash Parrish)

Mouthwashing (Wrong Organ, 2024) is a rare horror game that gets scarier after you finish the game. Its nonlinear structure, reality-blurring presentation and subtle (at times) storytelling leave you to put the pieces together yourself. Once you do that, you'll find a strikingly real story where the most unbelievable thing is the fact that it takes place in outer space. We had a great discussion on the show about what this game says about certain types of leaders, what "taking responsibility" means, analogues to the games industry and much more! Guest info: Ash Parrish, journalist and critic for The Verge. * Find her work here https://www.theverge.com/authors/ash-parrish * Follow her on Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/adashtra.bsky.social * Check out the Insert Credit Show https://www.youtube.com/@insertcreditshow Content warnings for Mouthwashing: https://www.doesthedogdie.com/media/1312968 TIMESTAMPS * Title Card 0:00 * Intros/Personal Histories/Opening Thoughts 0:16 * Story Setup/Themes Overview/Presentation 9:30 * Closing Thoughts/Recommendations/Housekeeping 30:54 * SPOILER WALL 37:50 Music used in the episode is credited to Martin Halldin. You can purchase the soundtrack on Steam (https://store.steampowered.com/app/3276830/Mouthwashing_Soundtrack/). Tracks used: * Main Theme * Medium Rare * The Windows are Plastic * Dragonbreath Theme * Heroes Support Tales from the Backlog on Patreon! (https://patreon.com/realdavejackson) or buy me a coffee on Ko-fi (https://ko-fi.com/realdavejackson)! Join the Tales from the Backlog Discord server! (https://discord.gg/V3ZHz3vYQR) Social Media: BlueSky (https://bsky.app/profile/tftblpod.bsky.social) Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/talesfromthebacklog/) Cover art by Jack Allen- find him at https://www.instagram.com/jackallencaricatures/ and his other pages (https://linktr.ee/JackAllenCaricatures) Listen to A Top 3 Podcast on Apple (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-top-3-podcast/id1555269504), Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/2euGp3pWi7Hy1c6fmY526O?si=0ebcb770618c460c) and other podcast platforms (atop3podcast.fireside.fm)!