Not each autumn fright journey needs to frighten players. Starting with iconic favorites such as Scooby-Doo to endearing shows such as Over the Garden Wall, numerous spooky-season titles are enjoyable without requiring raising your heart rate. There’s also, a growing library of ghostly-adorable releases including Halloween vibes, yet without the keep-you-awake degree of fear. Gloomy Eyes debuted in the fall, and stands as an superb cozy alternative to the truly terrifying releases of 2025.
An Original Self-Coop Adventure
Described as a “self-coop” puzzle game, Gloomy Eyes pairs up a zombie boy known as Gloomy and a human girl called Nena as they embark on an mission to restore sunlight to their gloomy world. Their design evokes collectible figures combined with the figures from a Laika film. The fair-toned and tired-looking aesthetic borrows heavily from the appearance of Burtonesque cinema, and the story is a quintessential suitable for everyone adventure. These two builds an unbreakable bond over the duration of the game’s 14 chapters as Nena tries to prove to her religious guardian that, you know, possibly the undead aren’t half bad.
Innovative Puzzle Mechanics
The “self-coop” term originates from the game’s environmental puzzles. After Gloomy and Nena cross paths, you’ll swap between the recent allies to complete challenges and move forward through the levels. Since he's not alive, Gloomy can’t walk through the brightness of a light source, while Nena will get snatched up by loitering creatures without a lamp is shone on them.
They have to cooperate closely — actually, players control them in tandem — to advance through areas. Nena may move or momentarily deactivate lamps to clear paths for Gloomy, while the intellectually curious youth will use his zombie strength to rearrange objects in the environment, creating routes for Nena.
Captivating Environment Creation
The puzzles bring to mind a touch of The Gardens Between, in the fashion the areas are floating, model-like designs that the perspective rotates in coordination with your protagonists. Gloomy Eyes’ worlds are quite fun, leading the companions around a carnival and through a haunted house, including other locales. The game includes a “diorama view” option that allows you to view from afar and rotate the levels, both for enjoy the visuals and look for ways that may not have been obvious.
Small Hiccups and Overall Experience
This represents one of the few difficulties with Gloomy Eyes. Like other titles with a fixed perspective, sometimes it's unclear where the heroes are able to move. You may need to simply collide with a several various objects to figure out which ones are interactable, as it’s not always intuitive.
Nonetheless, those slight speedbumps don't hinder of a eerie-adorable enjoyable experience. Gloomy Eyes is relatively brief, with about a few sessions worth of challenges. Advanced areas combine subtle sneaking and exciting moments with the challenge completion, as Gloomy Eyes marches toward a rewarding — and moderately unforeseen — ending.
Release and Final Thoughts
Those steering clear of the scares of intense horror releases won’t want to miss Gloomy Eyes. You can find it on Nintendo platform, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X, and is currently on sale for a discount on game marketplaces.
The spooky-cute adventure is out now on several consoles and provides a delightful option for fans looking for spooky entertainment without the fear factor.
