This Ghostly-Charming Puzzler Serves as the Perfect Substitute to Frightening Flicks

Not every spooky season adventure must frighten you. Including beloved classics such as mystery-solving cartoons to delightful stories including Over the Garden Wall, plenty of autumn-inspired titles provide fun without increasing anxiety. There’s also, a growing library of ghostly-adorable titles with spooky themes, yet without the sleep-with-the-lights-on level of terror. Gloomy Eyes arrived in recent months, and serves as an excellent cozy alternative to the deeply scary titles of 2025.

An Original Single-Player Cooperative Journey

Known as a “self-coop” puzzle game, Gloomy Eyes unites a zombie boy known as Gloomy and a living girl known as Nena as they begin an mission to bring the sun back to their shadowy environment. Their appearance is similar to stylized dolls mixed with the characters from a Laika film. Their light-complected and tired-looking style borrows heavily from the appearance of Gothic fantasy movies, and the narrative is a quintessential all-ages tale. These two builds an strong friendship over the span of the game’s 14 chapters as Nena tries to demonstrate to her priest uncle that, hey, possibly living-impaired beings are actually good.

Creative Gameplay Systems

The innovative label stems from the game’s environmental puzzles. Once Gloomy and Nena encounter each other, players alternate among the budding companions to complete challenges and move forward through the levels. Being a zombie, Gloomy cannot pass through the illumination of a light source, while Nena may be grabbed by loitering creatures unless a lamp is focused on them.

They have to work in tandem — actually, you’ll use them simultaneously — to advance through areas. Nena might relocate or briefly disable lamps to clear paths for Gloomy, while the open-brained character will utilize his supernatural ability to move objects in the environment, creating ways for Nena.

Immersive Environment Creation

These challenges remind me a little of The Gardens Between, in the fashion the areas are suspended, model-like designs that the view moves across in coordination with your heroes. Gloomy Eyes’ settings are quite fun, leading the duo around a fair and through a ghostly building, amid other places. Players can use a “diorama view” feature that allows you to zoom out and spin the levels, simultaneously to enjoy the artwork and look for paths that may not have been obvious.

Small Hiccups and Overall Adventure

And that’s one of the sole hiccups with Gloomy Eyes. Comparable to other releases with a fixed perspective, sometimes it's unclear where the heroes can and cannot go. Gamers could require to just bump into a multiple different elements to discover which ones are interactive, as it’s not always intuitive.

Nonetheless, those small speedbumps don't obstruct of a ghostly-charming good time. Gloomy Eyes is relatively brief, with about several hours worth of brain-teasers. Subsequent stages combine light sneaking and action elements with the puzzle solving, as Gloomy Eyes marches toward a fulfilling — and slightly surprising — ending.

Availability and Final Thoughts

Gamers shying away from the scares of fear-inducing titles should definitely try Gloomy Eyes. You can find it on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, computer, and Xbox Series X, and is currently on sale for a discount on game marketplaces.

The spooky-cute adventure is available on various systems and offers a pleasurable alternative for fans seeking autumn enjoyment without intense scares.