Not every autumn fright journey has to scare you. Including well-known tales for example Scooby-Doo to endearing shows including Over the Garden Wall, plenty of Halloween-themed staples provide fun without requiring causing fear. Moreover, a increasing selection of ghostly-adorable releases featuring spooky themes, though lacking the truly terrifying degree of terror. Gloomy Eyes debuted in the fall, and acts as an superb cozy choice to the intensely frightening titles of 2025.
A Distinctive Collaborative Solo Quest
Described as a single-player cooperative puzzle game, Gloomy Eyes teams up a zombie boy known as Gloomy and a mortal child named Nena as they embark on an adventure to bring the sun back to their gloomy environment. They look resembles stylized dolls mixed with the figures from a animated feature. The light-complected and baggy-eyed style borrows heavily from the look of Burtonesque cinema, and the story is a classic suitable for everyone journey. The duo builds an unbreakable friendship over the course of the game’s multiple stages as Nena strives to prove to her clerical relative that, you know, maybe living-impaired beings aren’t half bad.
Original Puzzle Mechanics
The innovative term stems from the game’s environmental puzzles. Once Gloomy and Nena meet, players alternate among the newfound friends to solve puzzles and move forward through the levels. Since he's not alive, Gloomy is unable to traverse through the illumination of a streetlight, while Nena can be captured by wandering undead except if a lamp is focused on them.
They have to work in tandem — in practice, players control them simultaneously — to complete stages. Nena might relocate or momentarily deactivate lights to create passages for Gloomy, while the intellectually curious character will use his zombie strength to rearrange obstacles in the surroundings, opening up paths for Nena.
Engaging World Building
The puzzles bring to mind a bit of The Gardens Between, in the fashion the areas are floating, diorama-like structures that the perspective moves across in coordination with your protagonists. Gloomy Eyes’ worlds are quite fun, leading the friends around a amusement park and through a spooky mansion, amid other locations. There’s a “diorama view” button that allows you to zoom out and spin the levels, both to admire the designs and look for ways that may not have been clear.
Small Challenges and Complete Experience
This represents one of the few problems with Gloomy Eyes. Comparable to other titles with a locked camera, sometimes it's unclear where the protagonists are able to move. You may need to randomly encounter a several various objects to determine which ones are usable, as the game doesn't always indicate.
Nevertheless, those slight challenges don't obstruct of a spooky-cute enjoyable experience. Gloomy Eyes is relatively brief, with roughly several hours worth of challenges. Later levels blend together subtle hidden movement and exciting moments with the puzzle solving, as Gloomy Eyes marches toward a rewarding — and slightly unforeseen — finale.
Accessibility and Summary
Players shying away from the frights of terrifying games should definitely try Gloomy Eyes. The game is out on Switch console, Sony system, PC, and Xbox, and is presently discounted for a quarter off on digital platforms.
This charming title is out now on multiple platforms and provides a delightful alternative for gamers seeking spooky entertainment without terrifying moments.
