Not every spooky season journey needs to terrify players. Including well-known tales such as animated detectives to delightful stories including Over the Garden Wall, numerous spooky-season titles offer entertainment without causing fear. Moreover, a growing library of spooky-cute games featuring spooky themes, but not the sleep-with-the-lights-on intensity of fear. Gloomy Eyes was released in recent months, and serves as an superb cozy choice to the truly terrifying games of 2025.
A Unique Collaborative Solo Journey
Labeled as a single-player cooperative problem-solving title, Gloomy Eyes teams up a undead youth called Gloomy and a human girl called Nena as they begin an mission to restore sunlight to their gloomy environment. Their design is similar to Funko Pops mixed with the figures from a stop-motion animation. The fair-toned and tired-looking aesthetic draws inspiration from the look of Burtonesque cinema, and the plot is a archetypal family-friendly journey. The duo builds an enduring connection over the course of the game’s numerous levels as Nena attempts to prove to her clerical relative that, hey, perhaps living-impaired beings can be friendly.
Innovative Problem-Solving Features
The “self-coop” term stems from the game’s interactive problem-solving. After Gloomy and Nena cross paths, gamers switch among the newfound friends to complete challenges and move forward through the stages. As an undead, Gloomy is unable to traverse through the light of a streetlight, while Nena may be grabbed by idle zombies except if a lamp is directed on them.
They have to work in tandem — in practice, you’ll use them simultaneously — to finish levels. Nena might relocate or briefly disable lamps to clear paths for Gloomy, while the intellectually curious youth will utilize his supernatural ability to shift around obstacles in the surroundings, creating paths for Nena.
Captivating Level Design
The puzzles evoke memories a bit of The Gardens Between, in the way the stages are hovering, model-like constructions that the camera pans around in sync with your heroes. Gloomy Eyes’ worlds are very enjoyable, guiding the duo around a amusement park and through a haunted house, amid other places. There’s a “diorama view” option that enables you to zoom out and rotate the stages, simultaneously to admire the artwork and look for paths that may not have been clear.
Slight Challenges and General Experience
Here lies one of the few difficulties with Gloomy Eyes. Similar to other titles with a fixed perspective, it’s not always clear where the heroes may or may not travel. You may need to randomly encounter a several various items to determine which ones are usable, as clues aren't consistently provided.
However, those minor speedbumps don’t get in the way of a spooky-cute enjoyable experience. Gloomy Eyes has a compact length, with roughly three to five hours worth of brain-teasers. Subsequent stages integrate minor sneaking and action elements with the puzzle solving, as Gloomy Eyes marches toward a fulfilling — and somewhat unforeseen — ending.
Release and Final Thoughts
Players shying away from the scares of intense horror releases won’t want to miss Gloomy Eyes. The game is out on Switch console, PS5, Windows PC, and Xbox, and is currently on sale for a quarter off on game marketplaces.
This charming title has been released on various systems and delivers a enjoyable option for fans looking for spooky entertainment minus the intense scares.
