Not each spooky season adventure needs to scare you. Starting with beloved classics like animated detectives to charming series including Over the Garden Wall, plenty of Halloween-themed favorites provide fun without needing raising your heart rate. Moreover, a expanding collection of spooky-cute games including Halloween vibes, but not the keep-you-awake degree of fear. Gloomy Eyes was released in September, and stands as an superb relaxing choice to the truly terrifying releases of 2025.
A Distinctive Collaborative Solo Journey
Described as a single-player cooperative problem-solving title, Gloomy Eyes unites a zombie boy named Gloomy and a human girl named Nena as they start an adventure to return daylight to their dark, dark environment. Their design resembles Funko Pops mixed with the puppets from a stop-motion animation. Their fair-toned and heavy-lidded appearance borrows heavily from the visual style of Burtonesque cinema, and the narrative is a quintessential suitable for everyone tale. The duo forms an strong bond over the span of the game’s 14 chapters as Nena tries to prove to her religious guardian that, you know, maybe living-impaired beings are actually good.
Original Gameplay Systems
The “self-coop” label originates from the game’s interactive problem-solving. When Gloomy and Nena meet, gamers switch amidst the budding companions to overcome obstacles and move forward through the areas. Since he's not alive, Gloomy can’t walk through the brightness of a light source, while Nena can be captured by wandering undead without a beam is directed on them.
They have to cooperate closely — in practice, you’ll use them in tandem — to advance through areas. Nena could adjust or temporarily shut off lights to create passages for Gloomy, while the thoughtful character will employ his undead power to move obstacles in the environment, creating paths for Nena.
Engaging Level Design
The brain-teasers bring to mind a touch of The Gardens Between, in the fashion the levels are suspended, model-like designs that the perspective moves across in coordination with your protagonists. Gloomy Eyes’ environments are quite fun, taking the companions around a carnival and through a ghostly building, among other locations. There’s a “diorama view” feature that permits you to view from afar and turn the areas, both to admire the designs and search for routes that may not have been clear.
Small Issues and General Adventure
Here lies one of the few difficulties with Gloomy Eyes. Similar to other titles with a static view, occasionally it's confusing where the heroes may or may not travel. Players might have to simply collide with a few random objects to figure out which ones are interactive, as it’s not always intuitive.
Nevertheless, those slight challenges don't hinder of a ghostly-charming enjoyable experience. Gloomy Eyes runs on the short side, with about a few sessions worth of brain-teasers. Later levels combine light sneaking and dynamic sequences with the challenge completion, as Gloomy Eyes progresses to a rewarding — and somewhat surprising — ending.
Release and Final Thoughts
Those shying away from the frights of terrifying titles ought to experience Gloomy Eyes. It’s available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox, and is available at a reduced price for 25% off on digital platforms.
The spooky-cute adventure has been released on various systems and delivers a delightful choice for gamers looking for Halloween fun minus the terrifying moments.
