Not every autumn fright experience has to terrify gamers. Including iconic favorites like mystery-solving cartoons to endearing shows such as Over the Garden Wall, many spooky-season titles provide fun without requiring causing fear. There’s also, a increasing selection of spooky-cute titles featuring spooky themes, but not the keep-you-awake intensity of terror. Gloomy Eyes arrived in September, and serves as an excellent cozy option to the truly terrifying releases of 2025.
A Distinctive Single-Player Cooperative Adventure
Known as a single-player cooperative problem-solving title, Gloomy Eyes teams up a zombie boy known as Gloomy and a human girl called Nena as they start an quest to return daylight to their shadowy world. They look resembles Funko Pops mixed with the characters from a stop-motion animation. The light-complected and tired-looking appearance is influenced by the visual style of Tim Burton’s films, and the story is a classic family-friendly journey. The duo develops an strong bond over the course of the game’s 14 chapters as Nena attempts to show to her priest uncle that, you know, perhaps zombies are actually good.
Innovative Gameplay Systems
The innovative label comes about from the game’s environmental puzzles. Once Gloomy and Nena meet, you’ll swap among the newfound friends to complete challenges and advance through the stages. As an undead, Gloomy can’t walk through the brightness of a lamppost, while Nena may be grabbed by wandering undead except if a lamp is directed on them.
They must cooperate closely — in practice, players control them in tandem — to advance through areas. Nena might relocate or briefly disable lights to clear paths for Gloomy, while the thoughtful youth will use his zombie strength to shift around objects in the surroundings, opening up routes for Nena.
Immersive Level Design
The puzzles remind me a bit of The Gardens Between, in the way the levels are suspended, model-like structures that the view moves across in sync with your protagonists. Gloomy Eyes’ worlds are quite fun, leading the friends around a fair and through a ghostly building, among other locales. Players can use a “diorama view” feature that allows you to view from afar and spin the areas, both for admire the designs and search for paths that may not have been obvious.
Minor Issues and General Experience
This represents one of the few difficulties with Gloomy Eyes. Comparable to other titles with a static view, occasionally it's confusing where the characters may or may not travel. Players might have to just bump into a several various objects to discover which ones are interactable, as the game doesn't always indicate.
Nevertheless, those small obstacles don't hinder of a spooky-cute good time. Gloomy Eyes runs on the short side, with approximately three to five hours worth of brain-teasers. Later levels blend together subtle stealth and dynamic sequences with the problem-solving, as Gloomy Eyes progresses to a satisfying — and somewhat unforeseen — ending.
Accessibility and Summary
Players steering clear of the scares of terrifying games should definitely try Gloomy Eyes. It’s available on Switch console, PlayStation 5, PC, and Xbox, and is available at a reduced price for a quarter off on online stores.
Gloomy Eyes has been released on multiple platforms and delivers a pleasurable option for fans seeking spooky entertainment minus the terrifying moments.
