Not every spooky season adventure has to frighten players. Starting with beloved classics such as mystery-solving cartoons to delightful stories like Over the Garden Wall, numerous spooky-season favorites provide fun without requiring raising your heart rate. There’s also, a increasing selection of ghostly-adorable games featuring Halloween vibes, though lacking the truly terrifying degree of terror. Gloomy Eyes debuted in September, and serves as an excellent cozy choice to the truly terrifying releases of 2025.
A Unique Single-Player Cooperative Adventure
Described as a “self-coop” problem-solving title, Gloomy Eyes teams up a zombie boy named Gloomy and a living girl called Nena as they start an mission to restore sunlight to their dark, dark realm. Their appearance resembles Funko Pops mixed with the characters from a animated feature. The light-complected and tired-looking aesthetic draws inspiration from the visual style of Gothic fantasy movies, and the plot is a archetypal all-ages tale. These two builds an unbreakable bond over the course of the game’s 14 chapters as Nena attempts to demonstrate to her religious guardian that, look, possibly living-impaired beings are actually good.
Innovative Problem-Solving Features
This unique description stems from the game’s environmental puzzles. When Gloomy and Nena meet, players alternate among the recent allies to complete challenges and advance through the stages. As an undead, Gloomy can’t walk through the illumination of a light source, while Nena can be captured by loitering creatures except if a lamp is focused on them.
They have to work in tandem — actually, you’ll use them simultaneously — to finish levels. Nena could adjust or momentarily deactivate illumination to create passages for Gloomy, while the thoughtful boy will use his zombie strength to rearrange obstacles in the world, opening up routes for Nena.
Engaging World Building
These challenges bring to mind a little of The Gardens Between, in the manner the levels are hovering, miniature designs that the perspective moves across in sync with your heroes. Gloomy Eyes’ worlds are quite fun, guiding the friends around a fair and through a haunted house, amid other locations. The game includes a “diorama view” feature that allows you to view from afar and spin the areas, both for enjoy the artwork and look for routes that may not have been apparent.
Minor Challenges and Complete Adventure
And that’s one of the sole problems with Gloomy Eyes. Like other releases with a static view, sometimes it's unclear where the characters can and cannot go. Players might have to simply collide with a few random items to figure out which ones are interactive, as it’s not always intuitive.
Nevertheless, those slight challenges don't hinder of a spooky-cute enjoyable experience. Gloomy Eyes runs on the short side, with about several hours worth of brain-teasers. Advanced areas combine minor hidden movement and action elements with the challenge completion, as Gloomy Eyes advances to a satisfying — and slightly unforeseen — ending.
Availability and Summary
Gamers shying away from the scares of fear-inducing games ought to experience Gloomy Eyes. It’s available on Nintendo Switch, PS5, computer, and Xbox, and is currently on sale for 25% off on game marketplaces.
This charming title is out now on multiple platforms and offers a enjoyable choice for gamers seeking spooky entertainment without intense scares.
