Developer Wrong Organ is charting a new course with its upcoming title, Carcass Clad, a co-op tank simulation that marks a significant departure from its acclaimed narrative horror game, Mouthwashing. This shift represents a conscious effort by the studio to explore different design avenues and build broader development expertise.
Jeffrey Tomec, one of the developers at Wrong Organ, explained that while Mouthwashing was well-received, the team felt it was not yet ready to create a more expansive 'story game.' Instead, they are focusing on a 'gameplay game' with Carcass Clad. This approach allows them to experiment with mechanics and systems without the immediate pressure of delivering a lengthy narrative experience. "We made a story game and you loved it, but now we're doing something [that's] nothing like that, and to an extent, there's a little bit that we definitely don't want to pigeonhole ourselves," Tomec stated.
Despite the genre difference, Wrong Organ aims to maintain its signature style. Common threads between Mouthwashing and Carcass Clad include themes of dehumanization, innovative uses of gore and body horror, and the unsettling feeling of the mundane being thrust into extreme circumstances. However, the emphasis on written narrative will be reduced in the new project.
Tomec also cited a desire for creative variety as a motivator for the change. "Mouthwashing was like, 'God, I wish I was making a shooter right now,'" he joked. He acknowledged that while the studio enjoyed working on Mouthwashing, the development cycle of any game can lead to a desire for something different. "Now that we've been in this tank—we just got off like, four months of just designing these little components and being like, 'Actually, this gear doesn't rotate this other gear correctly,'" he described.
Looking ahead, Wrong Organ has not ruled out returning to narrative-driven experiences. Tomec suggested that the studio’s future projects could involve building upon the lessons learned from their earlier, shorter games like How Fish is Made, which was only 20 minutes long. "How do you make [Wrong Organ's first game] How Fish is Made better? Well, you make it not 20 minutes long," Tomec explained. "So, we made a two-hour game… But now it's like, what's the natural progression of Mouthwashing?"
Developing a longer, more narrative-intensive game like a potential successor to Mouthwashing is seen as a significant undertaking. "Mouthwashing isn't better if it's eight hours. Probably," Tomec mused, highlighting the complexity of scaling narrative design. "We don't feel ready to fully deliver that right now," he added. The studio's current strategy is to first create the 'gameplay game' in Carcass Clad, and then, in the future, assess their readiness to develop a 'gameplay story game.'
Carcass Clad is described as looking "gnarly as hell" and is slated for release without a specific date. Players can wishlist the claustrophobic tank simulator on Steam.