Not each spooky season journey needs to terrify gamers. Including beloved classics such as Scooby-Doo to charming series including Over the Garden Wall, plenty of autumn-inspired favorites provide fun without increasing anxiety. Moreover, a growing library of eerie-charming games featuring autumn atmosphere, but not the sleep-with-the-lights-on intensity of terror. Gloomy Eyes arrived in recent months, and serves as an excellent cozy option to the truly terrifying releases of 2025.
An Original Collaborative Solo Adventure
Labeled as a “self-coop” puzzle game, Gloomy Eyes unites a zombie boy known as Gloomy and a living girl named Nena as they begin an quest to restore sunlight to their gloomy realm. Their appearance resembles Funko Pops mixed with the puppets from a stop-motion animation. Their pale-skinned and baggy-eyed style draws inspiration from the visual style of Tim Burton’s films, and the narrative is a classic suitable for everyone adventure. These two forms an enduring friendship over the course of the game’s 14 chapters as Nena attempts to prove to her clerical relative that, hey, perhaps the undead are actually good.
Innovative Problem-Solving Features
The “self-coop” term stems from the game’s environmental puzzles. When Gloomy and Nena cross paths, players alternate between the newfound friends to solve puzzles and move forward through the levels. Since he's not alive, Gloomy can’t walk through the light of a lamppost, while Nena will get snatched up by idle zombies without a lamp is directed on them.
They must collaborate effectively — well, you’ll use them simultaneously — to finish levels. Nena may move or temporarily shut off lamps to open routes for Gloomy, while the open-brained youth will employ his undead power to rearrange items in the world, creating paths for Nena.
Engaging World Building
The brain-teasers bring to mind a bit of The Gardens Between, in the fashion the areas are hovering, miniature constructions that the perspective rotates in coordination with your characters. Gloomy Eyes’ environments are highly entertaining, guiding the companions around a fair and through a haunted house, among other locations. The game includes a “diorama view” button that enables you to view from afar and turn the levels, both to appreciate the visuals and hunt for ways that may not have been clear.
Slight Hiccups and General Adventure
This represents one of the sole difficulties with Gloomy Eyes. Comparable to other releases with a fixed perspective, sometimes it's unclear where the heroes may or may not travel. You may need to simply collide with a multiple different items to discover which ones are usable, as clues aren't consistently provided.
However, those small obstacles don't hinder of a ghostly-charming fun adventure. Gloomy Eyes is relatively brief, with about a few sessions worth of puzzles. Advanced areas blend together subtle sneaking and dynamic sequences with the puzzle solving, as Gloomy Eyes marches toward a satisfying — and somewhat unexpected — finale.
Release and Conclusion
Gamers avoiding the frights of fear-inducing releases should definitely try Gloomy Eyes. It’s available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Microsoft console, and is available at a reduced price for a discount on game marketplaces.
This charming title is out now on multiple platforms and offers a delightful choice for gamers seeking Halloween fun without the fear factor.
