Devs behind 2024's breakout indie horror hit "want to establish very clearly that Wrong Organ isn't a walking sim company only," and with their next game, "step into a different side of horror, explore the gameplay stuff"

Mouthwashing quietly snuck into my worst and weirdest nightmares when it released last year, quickly becoming 2024's defining breakout indie horror, and developer Wrong Organ isn't about to rest on its laurels, teasing a whole new direction for its next project.

The genius of Mouthwashing lies entirely in its existentially bleak and oppressive atmosphere; at its core, it's a walking simulator with some light puzzle-solving. That's not a knock; I wouldn't change a thing about it, from its evocative PS1-style visuals to its nihilistic reflections on corporate greed, isolation, addiction, and moral ambiguity.

That said, I love when an indie developer takes the success of its debut project and says, cool, what's next? And that's exactly what it sounds like Wrong Organ is doing with its next title.

"We want to establish very clearly that Wrong Organ isn't a walking sim company only," executive producer Kai Moore told Skybox Critics. "We want to communicate that we have these core principles. We really like these weird, twisted narratives. We really like the PSX aesthetic, but how those things express themselves in the genres we decide to pursue is whatever we creatively feel inclined to go after."

Wrong Organ hasn't revealed its next game and isn't ready to talk about it in detail, but gameplay lead Jeffrey Tomec said the developers "really want to stretch" their legs with it.

"We can't just make an 8-hour game that plays like Mouthwashing," Tomec said. "We don't want to stagnate as a company. That's very important to us… We need to step into a different side of horror, explore the gameplay stuff, and make sure that we can do that and step towards a future where we can hopefully do both and make really cohesive narrative gameplay games."

For Mouthwashing fans, it really does sound like we're getting the best of both worlds here. Wrong Organ made it clear it isn't abandoning walking simulators, horror, or weirdness; it's just trying something new, which is exactly what it did with Mouthwashing. I'm psyched for whatever it's cooking up, and I also feel assured that we'll see even more of Mouthwashing's DNA live on in future Wrong Organ games beyond its next one.

Looking at our list of upcoming horror games, it's clear there's a lot to be scary excited for.