Not all autumn fright experience has to scare players. From iconic favorites such as mystery-solving cartoons to delightful stories including Over the Garden Wall, plenty of Halloween-themed staples are enjoyable without needing raising your heart rate. Moreover, a growing library of eerie-charming releases including autumn atmosphere, but not the keep-you-awake intensity of terror. Gloomy Eyes arrived in recent months, and serves as an superb cozy choice to the truly terrifying releases of 2025.
An Original Self-Coop Adventure
Described as a “self-coop” puzzle game, Gloomy Eyes pairs up a undead youth known as Gloomy and a mortal child named Nena as they embark on an adventure to return daylight to their gloomy realm. Their appearance is similar to collectible figures blended with the figures from a Laika film. The fair-toned and tired-looking appearance borrows heavily from the look of Tim Burton’s films, and the narrative is a quintessential suitable for everyone adventure. The duo builds an unbreakable connection over the span of the game’s numerous levels as Nena tries to prove to her priest uncle that, look, perhaps the undead can be friendly.
Creative Gameplay Systems
This unique term comes about from the game’s environmental puzzles. After Gloomy and Nena meet, players alternate between the newfound friends to overcome obstacles and move forward through the areas. Since he's not alive, Gloomy is unable to traverse through the light of a lamppost, while Nena can be captured by idle zombies unless a light is directed on them.
It's necessary for them to work in tandem — in practice, you’ll use them in tandem — to advance through areas. Nena may move or temporarily shut off illumination to create passages for Gloomy, while the open-brained youth will employ his undead power to shift around items in the surroundings, creating routes for Nena.
Engaging World Building
The brain-teasers remind me a little of The Gardens Between, in the way the levels are hovering, diorama-like structures that the perspective rotates in sync with your characters. Gloomy Eyes’ environments are very enjoyable, leading the duo around a amusement park and through a spooky mansion, among other places. Players can use a “diorama view” option that enables you to zoom out and rotate the stages, both to admire the visuals and search for paths that may not have been apparent.
Minor Challenges and Overall Experience
And that’s one of the only difficulties with Gloomy Eyes. Comparable to other titles with a fixed perspective, occasionally it's confusing where the characters can and cannot go. Players might have to randomly encounter a few random objects to discover which ones are usable, as it’s not always intuitive.
However, those slight challenges don't hinder of a ghostly-charming fun adventure. Gloomy Eyes is relatively brief, with roughly three to five hours worth of challenges. Subsequent stages integrate subtle sneaking and dynamic sequences with the puzzle solving, as Gloomy Eyes advances to a fulfilling — and slightly unexpected — finale.
Availability and Summary
Gamers steering clear of the frights of fear-inducing releases ought to experience Gloomy Eyes. The game is out on Nintendo Switch, Sony system, PC, and Microsoft console, and is available at a reduced price for a quarter off on online stores.
This charming title has been released on several consoles and provides a pleasurable choice for gamers in search of autumn enjoyment without intense scares.
