Not every Halloween horror adventure must terrify you. From beloved classics such as Scooby-Doo to charming series such as Over the Garden Wall, many autumn-inspired favorites offer entertainment without needing raising your heart rate. Additionally, a increasing selection of eerie-charming games with autumn atmosphere, though lacking the keep-you-awake level of horror. Gloomy Eyes debuted in the fall, and stands as an outstanding relaxing alternative to the intensely frightening games of 2025.
A Distinctive Collaborative Solo Adventure
Known as a “self-coop” brain-teaser, Gloomy Eyes pairs up a zombie boy named Gloomy and a human girl called Nena as they start an quest to return daylight to their dark, dark world. Their design is similar to Funko Pops blended with the figures from a stop-motion animation. Their pale-skinned and heavy-lidded style borrows heavily from the look of Gothic fantasy movies, and the plot is a archetypal all-ages tale. These two develops an unbreakable friendship over the duration of the game’s numerous levels as Nena strives to show to her religious guardian that, look, perhaps the undead aren’t half bad.
Creative Gameplay Systems
The “self-coop” term stems from the game’s interactive problem-solving. When Gloomy and Nena encounter each other, you’ll swap between the budding companions to overcome obstacles and progress through the areas. As an undead, Gloomy cannot pass through the light of a lamppost, while Nena may be grabbed by loitering creatures unless a light is directed on them.
They must work in tandem — well, gamers operate them in tandem — to complete stages. Nena might relocate or momentarily deactivate lamps to clear paths for Gloomy, while the thoughtful boy will employ his undead power to move objects in the surroundings, revealing routes for Nena.
Immersive World Building
These challenges bring to mind a bit of The Gardens Between, in the fashion the levels are floating, diorama-like constructions that the camera pans around in conjunction with your characters. Gloomy Eyes’ settings are quite fun, guiding the friends around a carnival and through a ghostly building, among other locations. The game includes a “diorama view” button that enables you to pull back and turn the stages, both to admire the designs and look for paths that may not have been obvious.
Small Hiccups and Complete Gameplay
This represents one of the sole difficulties with Gloomy Eyes. Comparable to other games with a fixed perspective, it’s not always clear where the characters may or may not travel. Gamers could require to just bump into a multiple different objects to figure out which ones are interactable, as clues aren't consistently provided.
Nonetheless, those minor obstacles don't obstruct of a spooky-cute good time. Gloomy Eyes has a compact length, with roughly a few sessions worth of challenges. Advanced areas combine minor stealth and action elements with the challenge completion, as Gloomy Eyes progresses to a fulfilling — and moderately unforeseen — conclusion.
Release and Conclusion
Players steering clear of the terror of fear-inducing games won’t want to miss Gloomy Eyes. The game is out on Switch console, PS5, PC, and Xbox, and is presently discounted for 25% off on online stores.
Gloomy Eyes has been released on several consoles and offers a pleasurable alternative for gamers seeking Halloween fun minus the intense scares.
