It’s spring; a season synonymous with allergies as plants, pollen, and other allergens fill the air (and our nostrils) with their sneeze-inducing blooming beauty. While most of us who suffer from allergies try to avoid the outdoors around this time of year anyways, many others are now having to get used to the appeal of great indoors.

Thankfully, developer Pixadome is here to ward off cabin fever with Hayfever, a charming platformer that brings the outside in with its challenging, yet delightfully fun gameplay all centered around… sneezing.

Special Delivery

via Nintendo

Players assume the role of Thomas, an incredibly dedicated mailman who probably should have chosen a different line of work. You see, Thomas suffers from allergies. So much so, that his sneezes are able to propel him upwards and forwards with enough force to fly through the air. While most would see their allergies as a weakness, Thomas uses his ability to traverse dangerous terrain as he dutifully performs his job of delivering mail.

Hayfever is a platformer that toes the line of being a masocore title. The world in which Thomas delivers mail is none too kind, being filled with enemies and treacherous environments that need to be navigated with precise movements and timing. Thomas is able to jump once on his own, but can also sneeze to extend his hurdle into a double jump. On top of that, objects in the world, including some thrown objects from enemies, act as additional boosts that automatically keep Thomas soaring through the air - oftentimes while avoiding the spiky, deadly terrains that line the walls of the levels.

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Thomas can also collect pollen along the way, which packs an additional punch to his already surprisingly powerful sneeze. The more pollen he collects, the more powerful his final sneeze becomes. This can be tricky, however, since collecting one too many pollen clouds results in an automatic sneeze likely to hurtle the prideful mailman too far in the wrong direction, resulting in his demise (which put simply, is his head swelling up and popping like a balloon).

via Nintendo

Wait A Minute Mr. Postman

The difficulty curve in Hayfever is great for gamers who enjoy more challenging platformers, along the lines of Never Give Up and Super Mario Maker 2. In fact, Hayfever is challenging enough to be mentioned in the same breath as those games, but also accessible enough for newcomers to the genre of extra challenging platformers. Controls do take a bit of getting used to - Thomas jumps with one button and sneezes with another - but eventually, muscle memory takes over after repeating the difficult parts of the level over and over again.

It’s likely that you’ll be doing this alot, as Hayfever’s platforming mechanics could use a bit of fine-tuning. For instance, I would sometimes die when merely coming close to a piece of deadly terrain, rather than actually touching it. This happened on a few more occasions than I would have liked, but it never really took away from the overall fun. Thankfully, the checkpoints in Hayfever are plentiful, allowing players to focus on the specific challenging parts of each level.

via Nintendo

Sneeze Your Way To Success

While Hayfever might drive players a bit batty with its masocore mechanics, its visuals and music will help alleviate much of the frustration. Thomas travels through four different worlds, each one featuring a ton of levels themed after a different season (I can personally confirm that allergies do still exist in seasons other than spring), along with a not-so-secret fifth world. Although the gameplay is fast-paced and kind of chaotic, the visuals are pleasing to look at, especially when accompanied by the relaxing musical score.

Hayfever might not be a revolutionary platforming experience, but it strikes a solid balance of fun and difficulty that makes it worth picking up, especially with it’s replayability and appeal to completionists. Cabin fever may be running rampant right now, but Hayfever can certainly help combat some of that boredom.

A Switch copy of Hayfever was provided to TheGamer for this review. Hayfever is available now for Playstation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

Hayfever

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