Not every spooky season journey has to frighten you. From well-known tales such as mystery-solving cartoons to endearing shows like Over the Garden Wall, many autumn-inspired favorites provide fun without raising your heart rate. There’s also, a growing library of spooky-cute releases including autumn atmosphere, but not the keep-you-awake intensity of fear. Gloomy Eyes was released in recent months, and acts as an excellent relaxing choice to the deeply scary titles of 2025.
A Distinctive Collaborative Solo Quest
Labeled as a solo collaboration brain-teaser, Gloomy Eyes pairs up a living-impaired child known as Gloomy and a living girl known as Nena as they start an adventure to bring the sun back to their shadowy world. Their appearance evokes Funko Pops combined with the figures from a animated feature. Their fair-toned and heavy-lidded appearance is influenced by the look of Burtonesque cinema, and the narrative is a classic all-ages journey. These two builds an enduring connection over the span of the game’s 14 chapters as Nena tries to demonstrate to her religious guardian that, you know, maybe zombies are actually good.
Innovative Puzzle Mechanics
The innovative term comes about from the game’s interactive problem-solving. When Gloomy and Nena meet, you’ll swap amidst the budding companions to complete challenges and progress through the levels. As an undead, Gloomy cannot pass through the light of a streetlight, while Nena may be grabbed by wandering undead unless a light is shone on them.
They must cooperate closely — in practice, you’ll use them in tandem — to finish levels. Nena could adjust or momentarily deactivate lights to create passages for Gloomy, while the intellectually curious youth will use his zombie strength to rearrange objects in the environment, revealing routes for Nena.
Engaging World Building
The brain-teasers remind me a touch of The Gardens Between, in the fashion the levels are suspended, model-like structures that the camera moves across in coordination with your protagonists. Gloomy Eyes’ environments are highly entertaining, guiding the duo around a amusement park and through a haunted house, including other locales. There’s a “diorama view” option that allows you to zoom out and turn the levels, both to enjoy the artwork and hunt for ways that may not have been clear.
Minor Challenges and Overall Experience
This represents one of the only difficulties with Gloomy Eyes. Comparable to other titles with a fixed perspective, occasionally it's confusing where the protagonists may or may not travel. Players might have to simply collide with a few random objects to figure out which ones are interactive, as the game doesn't always indicate.
Nonetheless, those small challenges don’t get in the way of a spooky-cute good time. Gloomy Eyes runs on the short side, with roughly a few sessions worth of brain-teasers. Later levels blend together minor sneaking and action elements with the challenge completion, as Gloomy Eyes marches toward a fulfilling — and moderately surprising — finale.
Availability and Final Thoughts
Gamers steering clear of the terror of terrifying releases won’t want to miss Gloomy Eyes. You can find it on Switch console, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox, and is presently discounted for a quarter off on online stores.
Gloomy Eyes has been released on multiple platforms and delivers a delightful choice for players looking for autumn enjoyment minus the fear factor.
