This Spooky-Cute Brain-Teaser Acts as the Perfect Alternative to Spooky Scares

Not every Halloween horror adventure must terrify you. Including beloved classics such as Scooby-Doo to charming series like Over the Garden Wall, numerous Halloween-themed titles are enjoyable without requiring raising your heart rate. Moreover, a increasing selection of ghostly-adorable titles featuring spooky themes, but not the truly terrifying intensity of terror. Gloomy Eyes was released in recent months, and acts as an excellent comfortable option to the intensely frightening titles of 2025.

A Distinctive Single-Player Cooperative Journey

Known as a solo collaboration brain-teaser, Gloomy Eyes pairs up a zombie boy known as Gloomy and a living girl called Nena as they begin an mission to return daylight to their dark, dark environment. Their design evokes collectible figures combined with the figures from a animated feature. Their fair-toned and heavy-lidded appearance borrows heavily from the appearance of Gothic fantasy movies, and the story is a quintessential all-ages adventure. The duo forms an strong connection over the span of the game’s numerous levels as Nena attempts to prove to her clerical relative that, look, maybe the undead are actually good.

Original Problem-Solving Features

The “self-coop” label originates from the game’s environmental puzzles. When Gloomy and Nena cross paths, gamers switch between the recent allies to complete challenges and progress 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 unless a light is focused on them.

It's necessary for them to cooperate closely — in practice, gamers operate them simultaneously — to advance through areas. Nena may move or briefly disable lamps to open routes for Gloomy, while the thoughtful character will use his zombie strength to shift around obstacles in the surroundings, revealing ways for Nena.

Engaging World Building

These challenges remind me a touch of The Gardens Between, in the way the levels are suspended, miniature structures that the perspective moves across in coordination with your heroes. Gloomy Eyes’ worlds are highly entertaining, guiding the duo around a carnival and through a haunted house, including other locations. Players can use a “diorama view” feature that permits you to zoom out and turn the stages, simultaneously to appreciate the visuals and search for routes that may not have been obvious.

Slight Issues and Complete Adventure

Here lies one of the few hiccups with Gloomy Eyes. Comparable to other titles with a static view, sometimes it's unclear where the characters are able to move. You may need to randomly encounter a multiple different items to discover which ones are interactive, as the game doesn't always indicate.

However, those small challenges don't hinder of a ghostly-charming enjoyable experience. Gloomy Eyes has a compact length, with approximately a few sessions worth of brain-teasers. Advanced areas blend together subtle stealth and action elements with the puzzle solving, as Gloomy Eyes advances to a rewarding — and slightly surprising — finale.

Release and Conclusion

Those avoiding the scares of intense horror games should definitely try Gloomy Eyes. The game is out on Nintendo Switch, PS5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X, and is available at a reduced price for 25% off on online stores.

Gloomy Eyes is out now on various systems and delivers a pleasurable option for players in search of Halloween fun minus the terrifying moments.