Not every Halloween horror journey has to terrify gamers. From beloved classics such as animated detectives to endearing shows such as Over the Garden Wall, many Halloween-themed titles provide fun without requiring raising your heart rate. Additionally, a growing library of ghostly-adorable titles with spooky themes, though lacking the keep-you-awake intensity of horror. Gloomy Eyes was released in September, and serves as an excellent relaxing option to the deeply scary games of 2025.
An Original Self-Coop Quest
Described as a “self-coop” puzzle game, Gloomy Eyes pairs up a undead youth called Gloomy and a mortal child called Nena as they start an adventure to return daylight to their gloomy realm. Their design evokes stylized dolls blended with the puppets from a stop-motion animation. Their fair-toned and baggy-eyed aesthetic is influenced by the appearance of Gothic fantasy movies, and the narrative is a quintessential family-friendly adventure. The pair forms an enduring connection over the duration of the game’s numerous levels as Nena tries to prove to her priest uncle that, look, possibly zombies aren’t half bad.
Innovative Gameplay Systems
The innovative label originates from the game’s environmental puzzles. When Gloomy and Nena encounter each other, gamers switch between the newfound friends to solve puzzles and move forward through the levels. As an undead, Gloomy cannot pass through the brightness of a lamppost, while Nena will get snatched up by idle zombies unless a light is focused on them.
It's necessary for them to collaborate effectively — in practice, players control them in tandem — to finish levels. Nena may move or briefly disable lamps to open routes for Gloomy, while the intellectually curious youth will use his zombie strength to move obstacles in the world, opening up ways for Nena.
Captivating Environment Creation
These challenges evoke memories a little of The Gardens Between, in the fashion the stages are floating, miniature constructions that the camera moves across in sync with your characters. Gloomy Eyes’ settings are very enjoyable, guiding the friends around a carnival and through a haunted house, among other locales. The game includes a “diorama view” option that enables you to pull back and spin the areas, simultaneously to admire the artwork and look for ways that may not have been apparent.
Small Challenges and Complete Adventure
This represents one of the only problems with Gloomy Eyes. Comparable to other games with a fixed perspective, it’s not always clear where the heroes are able to move. You may need to simply collide with a multiple different items to determine which ones are interactable, as it’s not always intuitive.
Nonetheless, those small speedbumps don't obstruct of a eerie-adorable enjoyable experience. Gloomy Eyes has a compact length, with roughly three to five hours worth of challenges. Advanced areas blend together subtle sneaking and action elements with the challenge completion, as Gloomy Eyes progresses to a satisfying — and slightly unforeseen — finale.
Availability and Conclusion
Players shying away from the frights of terrifying releases won’t want to miss Gloomy Eyes. It’s available on Switch console, Sony system, computer, and Microsoft console, and is presently discounted for a quarter off on online stores.
The spooky-cute adventure has been released on multiple platforms and offers a pleasurable option for players seeking autumn enjoyment without intense scares.
