The Great Sneeze review - "A wholesome adventure that tells you never to underestimate the power of a sneeze"

• Save the exhibit from a nasty sneeze
• Find a wayward wanderer through varied paintings
• You might even need to fend off a pixelated alien invasion

Genre-bending gameplay, proper monetisation schemes, and visuals powered by Unreal Engine - these are all well and good, but sometimes, a great title (or a great sneeze) is all you really need.

In The Great Sneeze, an art exhibit turns topsy-turvy thanks to an exaggerated expulsion of air - and it's up to you to pick up the pieces both literally and figuratively. 

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Table of contents:

• The Great Sneeze visuals
• The Great Sneeze gameplay
• The Great Sneeze verdict

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The Great Sneeze Visuals

The lovely point-and-click adventure was developed by Studio Monstrum as funded by Germany's Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. Thanks to the Datenraum Kultur program, you can now do your part to help fix the turbulent aftermath of the titular sneeze - and it's all completely free.

Short, sweet, and with gorgeous visuals worthy of the art museum itself, The Great Sneeze opens with the Caspar David Friedrich exhibition, where three best buds aptly named Kaspar, David and Friederike are spending their school break doing something productive with their time.

As they're helping Mr Dietzke set everything up just hours before the grand opening, a dusty basement, a busted lamp, and a lovably clumsy curator throw the whole museum into chaos. Not only do all the paintings end up in complete disarray, but the highlight of the artist's main display also takes centre stage in all the wrong ways.

In particular, the centrepiece called the Wanderer indeed wanders off into other paintings within the gallery, and only Kaspar, David and Friederike can put things back to how they were before the great sneeze.

The Great Sneeze Gameplay

And so begins your epic journey throughout the Caspar David Friedrich exhibition, solving puzzles and taking on mini-games to get to where you need to go. While the puzzles themselves are nothing too complicated, it's the way they're presented that makes it an enjoyable ride the whole time. 

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For one thing, there are no frustrating logic-defying brainteasers here, nor is there any kind of pixel-hunting needed to progress. For another, all three protagonists have such colourful personalities that leap right off the screen, so their banter ultimately adds to the appeal here.

Perhaps it's all because this point-and-click adventure is made for younger audiences, but to be honest, I didn't feel like it was pandering to a younger crowd. Often, games made for kids feel condescending in some ways in my opinion, but The Great Sneeze manages to make the whole adventure palatable for beginner players while keeping it real for older ones as well.

There's a good variety of puzzles to solve across every painting, and because poor old Mr Dietzke is just so darn adorable, I felt extremely motivated to help him out all throughout the adventure. 

What's the appeal?

There's honestly nothing bad to say about this wholesome experience, other than it's far too short and I wish I knew more about the three kids after their summer vacation was over.

And as for dear Mr Dietzke, what did he do after that cliffhanger of an ending? Did he somehow manage to get his sinuses checked, and has he finally fixed the broken light in the basement?

I suppose I'm just dwelling too much on the narrative here, but the characters are just so interesting that it's hard not to care about them long after the credits roll. 

Speaking of the credits, The Great Sneeze was actually created to celebrate the 250-year anniversary of Friedrich’s birthday. If you'd like to marvel at all the paintings showcased in the game IRL - or you're curious to see if the Wanderer above the Sea of Fog might truly wander off when people aren't looking - the anniversary exhibition is currently at the MET for your viewing pleasure.

Just make sure you get your nasal nasties in check before heading in!