Not each autumn fright adventure must terrify gamers. Including iconic favorites for example animated detectives to delightful stories like Over the Garden Wall, numerous spooky-season staples offer entertainment without needing causing fear. There’s also, a increasing selection of ghostly-adorable releases with spooky themes, but not the sleep-with-the-lights-on intensity of horror. Gloomy Eyes was released in September, and stands as an outstanding relaxing choice to the intensely frightening releases of 2025.
An Original Self-Coop Quest
Labeled as a single-player cooperative problem-solving title, Gloomy Eyes pairs up a undead youth named Gloomy and a mortal child known as Nena as they begin an adventure to return daylight to their shadowy environment. Their design resembles collectible figures mixed with the puppets from a stop-motion animation. Their light-complected and tired-looking aesthetic borrows heavily from the appearance of Gothic fantasy movies, and the story is a archetypal suitable for everyone tale. The pair forms an enduring bond over the span of the game’s multiple stages as Nena tries to demonstrate to her clerical relative that, look, maybe the undead can be friendly.
Innovative Gameplay Systems
The “self-coop” description originates from the game’s interactive problem-solving. When Gloomy and Nena encounter each other, players alternate among the newfound friends to overcome obstacles and progress through the areas. Being a zombie, Gloomy can’t walk through the light of a lamppost, while Nena can be captured by wandering undead except if a light is focused on them.
They must work in tandem — actually, players control them together — to advance through areas. Nena may move or momentarily deactivate lamps to create passages for Gloomy, while the intellectually curious boy will utilize his supernatural ability to rearrange items in the environment, revealing paths for Nena.
Captivating Level Design
The puzzles bring to mind a little of The Gardens Between, in the manner the areas are suspended, miniature constructions that the camera rotates in coordination with your protagonists. Gloomy Eyes’ environments are highly entertaining, guiding the companions around a carnival and through a ghostly building, among other locations. Players can use a “diorama view” button that enables you to zoom out and spin the levels, both for admire the visuals and look for paths that may not have been apparent.
Minor Hiccups and General Gameplay
And that’s one of the only hiccups with Gloomy Eyes. Similar to other releases with a locked camera, sometimes it's unclear where the characters can and cannot go. You may need to randomly encounter a multiple different elements to determine which ones are usable, as clues aren't consistently provided.
Nonetheless, those minor obstacles don’t get in the way of a eerie-adorable enjoyable experience. Gloomy Eyes has a compact length, with approximately several hours worth of challenges. Subsequent stages integrate light hidden movement and action elements with the problem-solving, as Gloomy Eyes progresses to a satisfying — and somewhat surprising — ending.
Availability and Final Thoughts
Those avoiding the terror of fear-inducing releases won’t want to miss Gloomy Eyes. The game is out on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X, and is available at a reduced price for a quarter off on game marketplaces.
This charming title is available on various systems and offers a delightful alternative for gamers in search of spooky entertainment without terrifying moments.
