Not all Halloween horror journey needs to scare you. Including well-known tales for example animated detectives to endearing shows like Over the Garden Wall, many autumn-inspired favorites provide fun without needing raising your heart rate. Additionally, a growing library of spooky-cute titles including spooky themes, but not the sleep-with-the-lights-on intensity of terror. Gloomy Eyes was released in the fall, and serves as an superb relaxing option to the deeply scary games of 2025.
An Original Self-Coop Journey
Described as a “self-coop” brain-teaser, Gloomy Eyes teams up a undead youth known as Gloomy and a living girl known as Nena as they embark on an adventure to return daylight to their shadowy world. Their design is similar to Funko Pops mixed with the puppets from a animated feature. Their light-complected and heavy-lidded style borrows heavily from the look of Tim Burton’s films, and the narrative is a quintessential family-friendly adventure. The duo builds an enduring bond over the span of the game’s 14 chapters as Nena strives to prove to her priest uncle that, hey, possibly living-impaired beings can be friendly.
Creative Puzzle Mechanics
This unique term comes about from the game’s world-based challenges. After Gloomy and Nena encounter each other, players alternate between the recent allies to complete challenges and progress through the levels. Since he's not alive, Gloomy can’t walk through the illumination of a streetlight, while Nena may be grabbed by idle zombies without a lamp is directed on them.
It's necessary for them to collaborate effectively — well, players control them in tandem — to advance through areas. Nena might relocate or temporarily shut off lights to create passages for Gloomy, while the thoughtful character will employ his undead power to move objects in the world, opening up paths for Nena.
Engaging World Building
The puzzles bring to mind a bit of The Gardens Between, in the manner the levels are hovering, model-like designs that the view rotates in coordination with your protagonists. Gloomy Eyes’ settings are quite fun, leading the companions around a carnival and through a haunted house, among other locales. Players can use a “diorama view” feature that allows you to zoom out and turn the areas, both for appreciate the visuals and search for paths that may not have been obvious.
Small Hiccups and General Experience
Here lies one of the sole difficulties with Gloomy Eyes. Similar to other releases with a fixed perspective, sometimes it's unclear where the heroes can and cannot go. Players might have to just bump into a several various elements to determine which ones are usable, as the game doesn't always indicate.
Nonetheless, those minor obstacles don’t get in the way of a ghostly-charming fun adventure. Gloomy Eyes runs on the short side, with roughly a few sessions worth of brain-teasers. Subsequent stages integrate minor sneaking and exciting moments with the problem-solving, as Gloomy Eyes marches toward a satisfying — and somewhat unexpected — conclusion.
Availability and Summary
Gamers avoiding the frights of terrifying titles won’t want to miss Gloomy Eyes. The game is out on Nintendo Switch, PS5, PC, and Xbox Series X, and is currently on sale for a quarter off on online stores.
Gloomy Eyes has been released on multiple platforms and delivers a enjoyable option for fans in search of autumn enjoyment minus the terrifying moments.
