Warning: The following article contains Mouthwashing spoilers
This first-person psychological horror game has delighted us since releasing on PC in Sep. 2024. Following the crew of the freighter spaceship, Tuplar after its journey is sabotaged, captain Curly is left with horrific injuries.
As the game unfolds, blame is placed on him, and his position is assumed by another crew member. Not everything is as it seems, of course, and there’s much more to Curly’s predicament to learn as the plot unravels and the real villain is revealed.
What happened to Curly in the crash
Tulpar crashes into an asteroid during a routine shipment at the start of the game. Curly, his co-pilot Jimmy, the ship medic Anya, intern Daisuke, and the mechanic Swansea are the survivors. The damage to the ship is extensive, and due to the threat of decompression, most of the ship’s resources are inaccessible.
Curly’s injuries are the worst by a long shot. He’s left unable to speak or move, with burns covering most of his body, and his feet and hands are mutilated to the point of needing amputation. Anya tends to Curly’s wounds, leaving him in the medical bay.
Jimmy, who declares himself the new captain in Curly’s stead, tells the crew Curly went mad and purposefully orchestrated the crash. Despite believing he was to blame, the crew decides to use some of their dwindling resources to keep Curly alive — he’s put on a diet of painkillers.
While giving Curly his painkillers one day, Jimmy goes into a rage and violently force-feeds Curly, which is one of the game’s red flags about his temperament and what he’s capable of.
The Jimmy flashback reveal and Curly’s ending
When things start going to hell on the ship, flashbacks to the time leading up to the crash reveal Jimmy was the one who caused the crash, not Curly.
Curly had told the crew they were facing layoffs during a birthday party, believing it would be unfair to keep the truth from them. Jimmy in an outburst claims Curly doesn’t care about the layoff, because he’s the only one with the financial resources to come out of it unscathed.
Later, medic Anya reveals Jimmy raped her in a conversation with Curly, resulting in a pregnancy. Curly eventually confronts Jimmy when Anya’s attempts to talk to him go wrong, and Jimmy reacts badly, to say the least.
He implies Curly would be partially blamed for his crimes, given he has responsibility over the crew and what happens aboard, and then says he’ll “take care of it.” His version of taking care of it is steering the ship into an asteroid. The stress of losing his job, wanting to be captain, and being held accountable for what he did to Anya is what drives Jimmy to crash the Tulpar.
Curly tries to intervene by rushing to the cockpit to divert the ship but fails to avoid the impact, leading to his injury and remaining days spent in a vegetative state.
In the present, while the crew descends into madness, with fights over cryo pods and food leading to suicides and murders, Curly is eventually put into a cryo pod by Jimmy, who has lost his mind and thinks he can somewhat redeem himself by saving the captain. The game ends with Curly in a 20-year-long cryo sleep, and the outcome is uncertain.
Published: Jan 12, 2025 10:00 am