If you’ve spent any time in the indie horror scene lately, you’ve probably felt the lingering, greasy discomfort of the Tulpar. Mouthwashing, developed by Wrong Organ, isn’t just a game about a spaceship crash. It’s a psychological meat grinder. Among the many questions that haunt players after the credits roll, one stands out with a particularly grim persistence: how did Anya get pregnant in Mouthwashing? It's a heavy topic. It's dark. Honestly, it’s one of the most disturbing plot threads in a game already overflowing with body horror and existential dread. To understand what happened to Anya, you have to look past the surface-level gore and pay attention to the non-linear storytelling that defines the experience.
The short, brutal answer is that Anya’s pregnancy was the result of sexual assault by Captain Curly.
This isn't just a fan theory. While the game uses surrealism and fragmented memories to tell its story, the evidence is baked into the dialogue, the environment, and the deteriorating mental state of the crew. It’s a narrative about power, silence, and the horrific reality of being trapped in deep space with someone who views you as an object rather than a colleague.
The Evidence in the Static: Piecing Together Anya’s Trauma
The game doesn't give you a neat little cutscene explaining the timeline. That’s not how Mouthwashing works. Instead, you get "The Incident."
Early in the game, Anya is depicted as withdrawn, anxious, and increasingly desperate to access the medical supplies—specifically the "polycillin" or what many players interpret as a stand-in for abortifacients or contraceptives. The tension between her and Curly before the crash is palpable. If you look at the logs and the way the crew interacts, there is a clear shift in her demeanor. She isn’t just stressed about the mission failing; she is terrified of her own body and the person who harmed it.
Wait. Let's talk about the "Polycillin" for a second.
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In the game's universe, resources are scarce. The Tulpar is a corporate vessel owned by Pony Express, a company that clearly values profit over human life. When Anya begs for the keys to the medical cabinet, she isn't just looking for painkillers. She’s looking for a way out of a biological reality she never asked for. Jimmy’s refusal to help her—and his eventual descent into madness—serves as a secondary layer of trauma. He knows. Everyone on that ship likely knows or suspects, but the corporate hierarchy and the isolation of space create a vacuum where accountability goes to die.
Why the "How Did Anya Get Pregnant" Question Matters for the Ending
Understanding the source of Anya’s pregnancy is crucial because it recontextualizes everything Jimmy does. Jimmy isn't just a "bad guy" in a vacuum. He is a man obsessed with a twisted version of heroism and legacy.
When you realize that Anya was carrying Curly’s child, the horror of Jimmy "taking care" of the mangled, unresponsive Curly becomes even more sickening. Jimmy is effectively playing house with a corpse and a victim. He sees himself as the protagonist of a story where he is the only one left to maintain order, but his "order" is built on the remains of Anya’s autonomy.
The game uses the pregnancy as a symbol of the "unwanted." On a ship where everything is being recycled—including the crew’s sanity—Anya is forced to carry a physical manifestation of the Captain’s abuse. It’s why her character arc is so devastating. She is a medical professional who cannot even practice medicine on herself because the men around her have locked the cabinet doors.
The Role of Captain Curly
Curly is often seen as a victim by players in the early hours because, well, he’s a piece of charred meat in a bed for most of the game. But the flashbacks paint a different picture. He wasn't the "cool captain." He was a man who used his position to exploit Anya.
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The game subtly hints that this wasn't a one-time lapse in judgment but a systemic issue of power. When you ask how did Anya get pregnant in Mouthwashing, you're really asking about the failure of the Pony Express corporate structure. There were no HR departments in deep space. There was only the Captain’s word against a nurse's.
Misconceptions and Fan Theories
Some players initially wondered if the pregnancy was a hallucination or a metaphor for the "rot" taking over the ship. Given the game’s penchant for surreal imagery—like the giant mouth or the shifting hallways—it’s a fair guess. However, the internal logic of the characters' reactions points to a literal reality.
- The Medical Scans: Anya’s obsession with her own health isn't consistent with the other crew members' symptoms of starvation or radiation.
- Jimmy’s Hostility: Jimmy’s treatment of Anya is specifically gendered and targeted. He resents her because her pregnancy is a complication he can't "manage" with a wrench or a pep talk.
- The Finality of Anya’s Choice: Anya’s eventual fate in the game is a direct response to the lack of agency she has over her body and her future.
It’s a grim realization. Mouthwashing doesn't want you to feel good. It wants you to feel the claustrophobia of Anya's situation. You’re stuck in a tin can with your rapist (Curly) and a sycophant (Jimmy) who is more interested in the Captain’s approval than your survival.
The Psychological Toll of the Tulpar
We have to look at the environment. The Tulpar is a character itself. It’s a decaying, low-budget freighter. In many sci-fi stories, pregnancy is seen as a "hope for the future." In Mouthwashing, it’s a death sentence. There is no food. There is no air. There is only the mouthwash—the high-ethanol liquid they drink to numb the pain.
Anya’s pregnancy is the ultimate "resource drain" in a world that has run out of everything. It's a brilliant, if horrifying, narrative device used by Wrong Organ to show how corporate neglect turns humans into monsters. If the company had provided proper oversight, if the mission hadn't been a suicide run for insurance money, Anya might have had a path to safety. Instead, she’s left to rot with the rest of them.
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Why Does the Game Keep it Subtle?
You might wonder why the developers didn't just state it plainly in a text log.
"Day 45: The Captain attacked me."
That would be too easy. Horror is more effective when it lingers in the subtext. By forcing the player to piece together the timeline of how did Anya get pregnant in Mouthwashing, the developers make you an accomplice to the crew's realization. You feel the same slow-creeping dread that Anya felt as she realized no one was coming to save her—not from the crash, and not from Curly.
What This Means for Players Today
Mouthwashing has hit a nerve in 2025 and 2026 because it tackles themes of corporate abuse and personal violation with a raw, lo-fi aesthetic that feels more honest than many AAA titles. It’s a reminder that horror isn't just about jump scares; it's about the terrifying things people do to each other when they think no one is watching.
Anya’s story is a tragedy of isolation. If you’re playing through for the first time, pay attention to her dialogue in the scenes set before the crash. Look at the way she avoids Curly’s gaze. Notice how Jimmy interrupts her whenever she tries to speak about her needs. The answers are all there, hidden in the static of the Tulpar’s dying intercoms.
Actionable Insights for Navigating the Lore
To fully grasp the narrative weight of Anya's situation and the "how" behind the game's darkest mystery, keep these points in mind during your next playthrough:
- Monitor the Timeline: The game jumps between "Before" and "After" the crash. Anya's behavior in the "Before" segments is the key to understanding her pregnancy. Pay attention to the dates on the screen.
- Analyze Jimmy’s Delusions: Jimmy often hallucinates or reinterprets events to make himself the hero. When he talks about Anya, filter his words through his need for control. He is an unreliable narrator who obscures the truth to protect his ego.
- Observe the Medical Bay: The state of the medical bay and the specific items Anya interacts with tell a story of someone trying to perform a procedure in secret.
- Listen to the Background Audio: Sometimes the most revealing bits of lore aren't in the dialogue boxes but in the muffled arguments heard through walls during the ship's quietest moments.
The tragedy of Anya isn't just what happened to her; it's the fact that in the eyes of the Pony Express and the remaining crew, she was just another piece of cargo that went bad. Understanding this is the only way to truly "finish" the story of Mouthwashing.