Not each spooky season journey has to frighten you. From well-known tales such as mystery-solving cartoons to delightful stories including Over the Garden Wall, many spooky-season favorites are enjoyable without requiring raising your heart rate. Moreover, a increasing selection of spooky-cute titles including spooky themes, yet without the keep-you-awake intensity of terror. Gloomy Eyes arrived in September, and acts as an outstanding comfortable option to the deeply scary games of 2025.
A Distinctive Self-Coop Quest
Described as a solo collaboration brain-teaser, Gloomy Eyes pairs up a undead youth named Gloomy and a human girl named Nena as they start an quest to return daylight to their shadowy realm. Their appearance resembles collectible figures combined with the figures from a animated feature. Their pale-skinned and baggy-eyed aesthetic borrows heavily from the look of Tim Burton’s films, and the narrative is a archetypal family-friendly journey. The pair forms an enduring bond over the span of the game’s numerous levels as Nena tries to demonstrate to her religious guardian that, look, perhaps living-impaired beings can be friendly.
Creative Problem-Solving Features
The “self-coop” label stems from the game’s environmental puzzles. After Gloomy and Nena meet, you’ll swap amidst the recent allies to complete challenges and advance through the areas. Being a zombie, Gloomy is unable to traverse through the illumination of a lamppost, while Nena can be captured by idle zombies except if a light is focused on them.
It's necessary for them to work in tandem — well, players control them in tandem — to finish levels. Nena could adjust or briefly disable lamps to clear paths for Gloomy, while the open-brained boy will employ his undead power to move objects in the world, opening up routes for Nena.
Engaging Level Design
The brain-teasers evoke memories a bit of The Gardens Between, in the manner the levels are floating, diorama-like structures that the view pans around in sync with your protagonists. Gloomy Eyes’ environments are very enjoyable, taking the companions around a carnival and through a haunted house, among other locales. There’s a “diorama view” option that permits you to view from afar and rotate the stages, both to appreciate the visuals and search for paths that may not have been clear.
Slight Challenges and General Experience
And that’s one of the few problems with Gloomy Eyes. Comparable to other releases with a static view, occasionally it's confusing where the protagonists are able to move. Players might have to just bump into a multiple different objects to figure out which ones are interactive, as the game doesn't always indicate.
Nevertheless, those minor challenges don't hinder of a eerie-adorable fun adventure. Gloomy Eyes has a compact length, with about a few sessions worth of challenges. Advanced areas integrate light sneaking and exciting moments with the problem-solving, as Gloomy Eyes progresses to a fulfilling — and slightly unexpected — conclusion.
Availability and Final Thoughts
Players shying away from the frights of fear-inducing games won’t want to miss Gloomy Eyes. It’s available on Switch console, PS5, Windows PC, and Microsoft console, and is presently discounted for 25% off on digital platforms.
The spooky-cute adventure has been released on several consoles and provides a enjoyable alternative for gamers in search of spooky entertainment without intense scares.
