Not every spooky season adventure has to frighten gamers. From beloved classics like mystery-solving cartoons to delightful stories including Over the Garden Wall, numerous Halloween-themed titles provide fun without raising your heart rate. There’s also, a growing library of eerie-charming games including spooky themes, though lacking the sleep-with-the-lights-on degree of horror. Gloomy Eyes was released in the fall, and acts as an excellent relaxing option to the deeply scary games of 2025.
A Unique Self-Coop Quest
Labeled as a “self-coop” brain-teaser, Gloomy Eyes teams up a zombie boy called Gloomy and a living girl known as Nena as they begin an mission to return daylight to their dark, dark environment. Their appearance evokes stylized dolls blended with the puppets from a Laika film. Their fair-toned and baggy-eyed style is influenced by the look of Tim Burton’s films, and the plot is a classic suitable for everyone journey. These two forms an strong bond over the course of the game’s multiple stages as Nena strives to show to her religious guardian that, you know, maybe living-impaired beings are actually good.
Innovative Puzzle Mechanics
The innovative term originates from the game’s world-based challenges. When Gloomy and Nena meet, you’ll swap between the newfound friends to overcome obstacles and move forward through the stages. Since he's not alive, Gloomy can’t walk through the brightness of a light source, while Nena will get snatched up by idle zombies unless a lamp is focused on them.
They must work in tandem — actually, you’ll use them simultaneously — to complete stages. Nena may move or briefly disable lights to clear paths for Gloomy, while the intellectually curious boy will employ his undead power to shift around items in the surroundings, opening up ways for Nena.
Captivating Level Design
The brain-teasers remind me a little of The Gardens Between, in the fashion the stages are suspended, model-like designs that the perspective rotates in conjunction with your protagonists. Gloomy Eyes’ environments are quite fun, guiding the duo around a carnival and through a spooky mansion, amid other locales. There’s a “diorama view” button that enables you to view from afar and turn the stages, simultaneously to enjoy the artwork and look for ways that may not have been clear.
Minor Hiccups and Overall Experience
And that’s one of the sole problems with Gloomy Eyes. Like other titles with a locked camera, it’s not always clear where the characters can and cannot go. Gamers could require to simply collide with a several various items to figure out which ones are interactive, as it’s not always intuitive.
Nevertheless, those slight speedbumps don’t get in the way of a spooky-cute enjoyable experience. Gloomy Eyes has a compact length, with approximately a few sessions worth of puzzles. Later levels combine subtle sneaking and exciting moments with the problem-solving, as Gloomy Eyes progresses to a rewarding — and slightly surprising — ending.
Accessibility and Conclusion
Gamers avoiding the terror of terrifying games should definitely try Gloomy Eyes. It’s available on Switch console, PlayStation 5, PC, and Xbox Series X, and is available at a reduced price for 25% off on online stores.
The spooky-cute adventure is available on various systems and offers a enjoyable choice for players in search of autumn enjoyment without intense scares.
