Not all spooky season experience needs to scare you. Starting with beloved classics for example animated detectives to endearing shows such as Over the Garden Wall, plenty of autumn-inspired titles are enjoyable without requiring raising your heart rate. There’s also, a expanding collection of ghostly-adorable titles with Halloween vibes, yet without the truly terrifying level of horror. Gloomy Eyes was released in recent months, and serves as an superb relaxing alternative to the truly terrifying releases of 2025.
A Unique Collaborative Solo Adventure
Labeled as a single-player cooperative puzzle game, Gloomy Eyes teams up a zombie boy called Gloomy and a human girl called Nena as they start an quest to restore sunlight to their gloomy environment. Their design resembles collectible figures blended with the figures from a stop-motion animation. The fair-toned and tired-looking appearance is influenced by the visual style of Gothic fantasy movies, and the story is a quintessential all-ages journey. The duo develops an strong friendship over the duration of the game’s multiple stages as Nena attempts to demonstrate to her clerical relative that, hey, perhaps zombies can be friendly.
Creative Gameplay Systems
This unique label stems from the game’s interactive problem-solving. When Gloomy and Nena cross paths, you’ll swap amidst the recent allies to complete challenges and advance through the levels. Being a zombie, Gloomy can’t walk through the illumination of a streetlight, while Nena can be captured by loitering creatures unless a lamp is shone on them.
They must cooperate closely — well, players control them in tandem — to complete stages. Nena may move or temporarily shut off illumination to open routes for Gloomy, while the thoughtful character will use his zombie strength to shift around items in the world, creating ways for Nena.
Captivating World Building
These challenges evoke memories a touch of The Gardens Between, in the fashion the areas are floating, diorama-like constructions that the camera rotates in sync with your protagonists. Gloomy Eyes’ worlds are quite fun, taking the companions around a amusement park and through a haunted house, including other locales. Players can use a “diorama view” option that allows you to zoom out and turn the levels, simultaneously to enjoy the artwork and hunt for routes that may not have been apparent.
Slight Hiccups and Complete Experience
Here lies one of the few difficulties with Gloomy Eyes. Comparable to other games with a fixed perspective, sometimes it's unclear where the characters can and cannot go. You may need to just bump into a several various elements to discover which ones are usable, as clues aren't consistently provided.
However, those slight challenges don't hinder of a spooky-cute enjoyable experience. Gloomy Eyes runs on the short side, with approximately a few sessions worth of challenges. Subsequent stages blend together light hidden movement and dynamic sequences with the problem-solving, as Gloomy Eyes advances to a satisfying — and slightly unforeseen — ending.
Release and Final Thoughts
Players avoiding the frights of fear-inducing releases won’t want to miss Gloomy Eyes. The game is out on Switch console, Sony system, PC, and Xbox Series X, and is available at a reduced price for a quarter off on game marketplaces.
This charming title is available on various systems and delivers a delightful choice for gamers seeking autumn enjoyment without the terrifying moments.
