Not every Halloween horror journey has to terrify gamers. Including well-known tales like animated detectives to endearing shows including Over the Garden Wall, numerous spooky-season staples offer entertainment without requiring raising your heart rate. There’s also, a expanding collection of spooky-cute titles including spooky themes, but not the keep-you-awake level of horror. Gloomy Eyes was released in recent months, and stands as an superb cozy choice to the truly terrifying games of 2025.
A Unique Single-Player Cooperative Journey
Known as a “self-coop” problem-solving title, Gloomy Eyes pairs up a living-impaired child called Gloomy and a mortal child called Nena as they embark on an quest to return daylight to their shadowy world. Their design evokes collectible figures mixed with the characters from a Laika film. The fair-toned and heavy-lidded aesthetic borrows heavily from the look of Burtonesque cinema, and the narrative is a archetypal family-friendly adventure. These two builds an strong bond over the span of the game’s 14 chapters as Nena strives to prove to her religious guardian that, look, maybe the undead can be friendly.
Innovative Puzzle Mechanics
The “self-coop” label stems from the game’s environmental puzzles. When Gloomy and Nena cross paths, players alternate amidst the recent allies to overcome obstacles and move forward through the levels. Since he's not alive, Gloomy is unable to traverse through the brightness of a light source, while Nena may be grabbed by loitering creatures except if a beam is shone on them.
They have to cooperate closely — well, players control them simultaneously — to finish levels. Nena may move or momentarily deactivate lamps to create passages for Gloomy, while the intellectually curious boy will utilize his supernatural ability to rearrange obstacles in the environment, opening up ways for Nena.
Immersive World Building
The puzzles remind me a bit of The Gardens Between, in the way the stages are suspended, diorama-like designs that the camera moves across in coordination with your protagonists. Gloomy Eyes’ environments are quite fun, taking the friends around a amusement park and through a haunted house, among other locations. Players can use a “diorama view” option that enables you to zoom out and rotate the levels, both for admire the designs and hunt for paths that may not have been clear.
Small Issues and Complete Experience
This represents one of the few hiccups with Gloomy Eyes. Like other games with a static view, occasionally it's confusing where the protagonists may or may not travel. 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.
However, those slight obstacles don’t get in the way of a ghostly-charming good time. Gloomy Eyes has a compact length, with about several hours worth of puzzles. Later levels integrate light sneaking and exciting moments with the problem-solving, as Gloomy Eyes advances to a rewarding — and somewhat surprising — conclusion.
Availability and Conclusion
Those steering clear of the frights of fear-inducing games won’t want to miss Gloomy Eyes. The game is out on Nintendo Switch, PS5, PC, and Microsoft console, and is presently discounted for 25% off on game marketplaces.
This charming title has been released on several consoles and provides a enjoyable choice for fans in search of Halloween fun minus the terrifying moments.
