Not every spooky season experience must frighten you. From well-known tales such as Scooby-Doo to delightful stories like Over the Garden Wall, numerous Halloween-themed titles provide fun without needing causing fear. Additionally, a expanding collection of ghostly-adorable games with spooky themes, yet without the keep-you-awake level of terror. Gloomy Eyes was released in the fall, and acts as an excellent cozy choice to the deeply scary games of 2025.
An Original Collaborative Solo Quest
Labeled as a single-player cooperative puzzle game, Gloomy Eyes pairs up a zombie boy known as Gloomy and a human girl known as Nena as they begin an adventure to restore sunlight to their shadowy realm. Their appearance is similar to collectible figures blended with the characters from a stop-motion animation. The light-complected and heavy-lidded appearance draws inspiration from the look of Tim Burton’s films, and the narrative is a quintessential family-friendly tale. The duo develops an strong connection over the course of the game’s numerous levels as Nena attempts to prove to her priest uncle that, look, possibly living-impaired beings are actually good.
Innovative Gameplay Systems
The “self-coop” description originates from the game’s environmental puzzles. After Gloomy and Nena meet, you’ll swap amidst the newfound friends to overcome obstacles and move forward through the stages. As an undead, Gloomy cannot pass through the illumination of a streetlight, while Nena can be captured by loitering creatures without a beam is focused on them.
They must cooperate closely — well, gamers operate them together — to complete stages. Nena might relocate or briefly disable illumination to create passages for Gloomy, while the open-brained character will use his zombie strength to move objects in the world, creating routes for Nena.
Captivating World Building
The brain-teasers bring to mind a bit of The Gardens Between, in the way the areas are floating, diorama-like structures that the view rotates in sync with your heroes. Gloomy Eyes’ environments are highly entertaining, guiding the companions around a carnival and through a spooky mansion, amid other locations. There’s a “diorama view” option that permits you to pull back and turn the levels, both to enjoy the designs and look for routes that may not have been obvious.
Small Hiccups and Complete Experience
And that’s one of the few difficulties with Gloomy Eyes. Like other releases with a locked camera, sometimes it's unclear where the heroes can and cannot go. Players might have to simply collide with a multiple different elements to figure out which ones are interactable, as it’s not always intuitive.
Nevertheless, those small obstacles don't hinder of a eerie-adorable fun adventure. Gloomy Eyes is relatively brief, with approximately several hours worth of challenges. Later levels blend together minor stealth and action elements with the challenge completion, as Gloomy Eyes progresses to a fulfilling — and slightly unforeseen — conclusion.
Accessibility and Summary
Gamers shying away from the terror of intense horror titles won’t want to miss Gloomy Eyes. The game is out on Nintendo Switch, Sony system, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X, and is presently discounted for a discount on digital platforms.
The spooky-cute adventure is available on several consoles and offers a enjoyable alternative for players looking for Halloween fun minus the fear factor.
