Hayfever is a Retro Platformer That Turns Allergies into Superpowers

What if allergies could be superpowers? That’s the basic premise of Hayfever, a retro platformer from Swedish developer Pixadome. 

The game casts you as Thomas, a young postman with an indomitable work ethic and a host of allergies. One day, a pollen-induced sneezing fit causes Thomas to lose all of the letters from his postbag, setting up an epic quest: retrieve them.

Allergies may be the cause of Thomas’s woes, but they’re also his salvation. In the first instance, his superpower is sneezing. There are jumps that he simply can’t make without letting rip with his nostrils. 

He can even charge his nostrils up with clouds of pollen, allowing him to propel himself across progressively greater distances. 

You have to be careful, though. If Thomas takes more than three doses of pollen, he sneezes whether or not you’re ready for him to. More often than not this sends him into a deadly obstacle, so you need to plan your moves. 

Hayfever isn’t quite a puzzle-platformer, but it’s a platformer with puzzle overtones. It’s like a gentler Super Meat Boy with a dash of Thomas Was Alone.

As you make your way through the game’s four worlds, or seasons, you have to learn how to use different allergies to your advantage. These include smog, which makes poor Thomas swell up and fly around like a wheezy rocket, and peanuts, which turn Thomas into a sticky mess that can walk on walls and ceilings. 

There are 140 levels in the game, and 240 letters to collect. While getting to the end of the campaign is just about doable, collecting every one of the letters – some of which are tucked away in fiendishly inaccessible spots – will be a major challenge for all but the steeliest platform aficionados. 

Hayfever is available now for Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. Expect our review to go live on Monday.

Glenn Wilson