Not every spooky season adventure must terrify you. Including iconic favorites like mystery-solving cartoons to delightful stories like Over the Garden Wall, numerous autumn-inspired favorites offer entertainment without requiring increasing anxiety. Moreover, a growing library of spooky-cute titles featuring autumn atmosphere, though lacking the keep-you-awake degree of horror. Gloomy Eyes debuted in September, and stands as an superb comfortable choice to the deeply scary titles of 2025.
A Unique Self-Coop Adventure
Described as a single-player cooperative problem-solving title, Gloomy Eyes teams up a undead youth named Gloomy and a living girl named Nena as they begin an mission to return daylight to their gloomy environment. Their appearance resembles stylized dolls combined with the puppets from a animated feature. Their fair-toned and tired-looking aesthetic draws inspiration from the look of Gothic fantasy movies, and the story is a quintessential family-friendly adventure. The pair forms an enduring friendship over the duration of the game’s 14 chapters as Nena strives to show to her priest uncle that, you know, perhaps zombies can be friendly.
Original Problem-Solving Features
The innovative label originates from the game’s interactive problem-solving. When Gloomy and Nena encounter each other, gamers switch among the budding companions to complete challenges and move forward through the stages. Being a zombie, Gloomy can’t walk through the brightness of a streetlight, while Nena will get snatched up by wandering undead without a light is shone on them.
They have to work in tandem — well, gamers operate them in tandem — to finish levels. Nena may move or momentarily deactivate illumination to create passages for Gloomy, while the thoughtful character will employ his undead power to shift around objects in the environment, creating routes for Nena.
Captivating World Building
The brain-teasers bring to mind a little of The Gardens Between, in the manner the levels are hovering, model-like structures that the perspective moves across in coordination with your characters. Gloomy Eyes’ environments are quite fun, leading the duo around a carnival and through a spooky mansion, among other places. Players can use a “diorama view” option that enables you to view from afar and rotate the areas, simultaneously to appreciate the designs and look for paths that may not have been clear.
Slight Issues and Complete Experience
Here lies one of the few difficulties with Gloomy Eyes. Like other releases with a fixed perspective, occasionally it's confusing where the characters are able to move. Players might have to randomly encounter a multiple different elements to determine which ones are usable, as it’s not always intuitive.
However, those small obstacles don't obstruct of a ghostly-charming good time. Gloomy Eyes runs on the short side, with about three to five hours worth of puzzles. Subsequent stages combine light stealth and dynamic sequences with the puzzle solving, as Gloomy Eyes marches toward a fulfilling — and somewhat unexpected — conclusion.
Accessibility and Final Thoughts
Players steering clear of the terror of terrifying titles won’t want to miss Gloomy Eyes. You can find it on Nintendo platform, PS5, computer, and Xbox Series X, and is presently discounted for a quarter off on game marketplaces.
This charming title is available on various systems and offers a enjoyable choice for fans looking for autumn enjoyment without the terrifying moments.