Not each autumn fright adventure must scare you. Starting with beloved classics like mystery-solving cartoons to charming series including Over the Garden Wall, numerous spooky-season staples are enjoyable without requiring raising your heart rate. Additionally, a expanding collection of spooky-cute titles featuring spooky themes, yet without the truly terrifying degree of horror. Gloomy Eyes was released in recent months, and acts as an outstanding cozy alternative to the deeply scary releases of 2025.
A Distinctive Self-Coop Adventure
Labeled as a “self-coop” brain-teaser, Gloomy Eyes pairs up a zombie boy known as Gloomy and a living girl named Nena as they start an quest to bring the sun back to their gloomy world. Their appearance is similar to collectible figures combined with the figures from a Laika film. Their fair-toned and baggy-eyed aesthetic draws inspiration from the appearance of Burtonesque cinema, and the narrative is a archetypal all-ages adventure. These two develops an strong connection over the span of the game’s multiple stages as Nena tries to demonstrate to her priest uncle that, hey, maybe zombies aren’t half bad.
Creative Gameplay Systems
The “self-coop” description comes about from the game’s interactive problem-solving. When Gloomy and Nena encounter each other, you’ll swap between the recent allies to overcome obstacles and progress through the stages. Since he's not alive, Gloomy is unable to traverse through the light of a streetlight, while Nena can be captured by idle zombies except if a beam is directed on them.
They have to collaborate effectively — well, you’ll use them simultaneously — to advance through areas. Nena could adjust or momentarily deactivate lamps to create passages for Gloomy, while the intellectually curious character will use his zombie strength to shift around items in the surroundings, revealing routes for Nena.
Engaging World Building
The brain-teasers remind me a bit of The Gardens Between, in the way the areas are hovering, diorama-like designs that the camera pans around in conjunction with your heroes. Gloomy Eyes’ environments are quite fun, guiding the duo around a carnival and through a haunted house, amid other places. Players can use a “diorama view” option that permits you to zoom out and rotate the stages, both to enjoy the visuals and search for routes that may not have been obvious.
Small Hiccups and General Experience
This represents one of the only difficulties with Gloomy Eyes. Similar to other titles with a fixed perspective, occasionally it's confusing where the protagonists can and cannot go. You may need to just bump into a multiple different items to figure out which ones are usable, as the game doesn't always indicate.
Nevertheless, those slight speedbumps don't obstruct of a spooky-cute enjoyable experience. Gloomy Eyes has a compact length, with roughly several hours worth of puzzles. Subsequent stages blend together minor stealth and exciting moments with the challenge completion, as Gloomy Eyes advances to a fulfilling — and moderately unforeseen — conclusion.
Accessibility and Final Thoughts
Those avoiding the terror of terrifying games should definitely try Gloomy Eyes. The game is out on Switch console, PlayStation 5, computer, and Xbox, and is available at a reduced price for 25% off on online stores.
Gloomy Eyes has been released on several consoles and delivers a enjoyable choice for fans looking for autumn enjoyment without the fear factor.
