Not all Halloween horror experience has to terrify players. From well-known tales like Scooby-Doo to delightful stories including Over the Garden Wall, plenty of Halloween-themed favorites provide fun without causing fear. There’s also, a expanding collection of spooky-cute releases featuring spooky themes, yet without the sleep-with-the-lights-on degree of terror. Gloomy Eyes debuted in the fall, and acts as an superb relaxing option to the truly terrifying games of 2025.
A Unique Collaborative Solo Quest
Labeled as a solo collaboration puzzle game, Gloomy Eyes pairs up a undead youth known as Gloomy and a mortal child known as Nena as they begin an adventure to bring the sun back to their gloomy realm. Their appearance is similar to stylized dolls combined with the characters from a Laika film. The pale-skinned and baggy-eyed appearance borrows heavily from the look of Gothic fantasy movies, and the story is a archetypal family-friendly adventure. The pair forms an enduring friendship over the duration of the game’s numerous levels as Nena tries to prove to her priest uncle that, you know, possibly living-impaired beings aren’t half bad.
Innovative Problem-Solving Features
The innovative term originates from the game’s interactive problem-solving. When Gloomy and Nena cross paths, you’ll swap among the budding companions to complete challenges and move forward through the levels. Being a zombie, Gloomy cannot pass through the light of a light source, while Nena can be captured by idle zombies except if a beam is shone on them.
It's necessary for them to work in tandem — well, gamers operate them together — to advance through areas. Nena may move or briefly disable lamps to clear paths for Gloomy, while the open-brained character will utilize his supernatural ability to move items in the environment, opening up ways for Nena.
Engaging Environment Creation
The brain-teasers bring to mind a bit of The Gardens Between, in the fashion the levels are hovering, diorama-like constructions that the camera pans around in conjunction with your protagonists. Gloomy Eyes’ settings are quite fun, guiding the duo around a amusement park and through a haunted house, among other places. There’s a “diorama view” feature that allows you to view from afar and turn the areas, simultaneously to enjoy the visuals and look for routes that may not have been clear.
Small Issues and General Gameplay
And that’s one of the sole hiccups with Gloomy Eyes. Like other titles with a fixed perspective, sometimes it's unclear where the protagonists are able to move. You may need to randomly encounter a several various objects to determine which ones are interactable, as the game doesn't always indicate.
However, those slight obstacles don’t get in the way of a spooky-cute good time. Gloomy Eyes has a compact length, with roughly several hours worth of puzzles. Advanced areas combine light stealth and action elements with the challenge completion, as Gloomy Eyes progresses to a rewarding — and moderately unforeseen — ending.
Release and Conclusion
Players shying away from the terror of fear-inducing titles should definitely try Gloomy Eyes. It’s available on Nintendo Switch, Sony system, PC, and Xbox Series X, and is currently on sale for 25% off on game marketplaces.
Gloomy Eyes is out now on multiple platforms and offers a pleasurable option for gamers in search of Halloween fun without terrifying moments.
