I am no stranger to co-op video games. I can go all the way back to playing Rampage World Tour on the Nintendo 64 with my younger brother. Nowadays, there are still co-op games still in my life...with my co-op life partner. We've played Resident Evil 5, Baldur's Gate III, and Overcooked to name a few. But what if you want the experience of a co-op video game but don't have the ability to be able to play with someone else? I have a little game for you – a self-described "self-coop" adventure called Gloomy Eyes.

If you have been following Gamer Social Club for the past few months, you may already be familiar with this title. I featured Gloomy Eyes as one of my Top 5 picks from PAX East 2025. The game was also featured in our July 2025 Demo Disc. Gloomy Eyes is coming to us from Belgium-based developer Fishing Cactus, with co-producer credits going to ARTE France, ATLAS V, 3DAR, Be Revolution, and Untold Tales. The game itself is set to release on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S, and Switch on September 12th, 2025.

Gamer Social Club was lucky enough to gain an early access view of Gloomy Eyes and let me tell you, I was not disappointed! Let's just jump right into our review!

The World and Story

Gloomy Eyes is set in what can only be described as a Tim Burton-esque world, where the spooky and the magical coalesce into an eerily beautiful setting. The story follows two young children. Nena, a girl with an overzealous and overbearing guardian, and Gloomy, a zombie boy with human emotions. Honest truth, if you've seen the film Warm Bodies, it's the same vibe.

The actual narrative component of the game is brought to us by an old gravekeeper, who regales us with a story of hope and forbidden companionship. Think Romeo and Juliet...but with more undead folks shambling around and less tragic endings. The gravekeeper will provide us a full story of the journey that Gloomy and Nena embark on...and ultimately how their story concludes.

I won't get too much further into the story itself, as it really is something that is best experienced fresh. In the world of Gloomy Eyes, humans and zombies are never meant to mix in any context. Rest assured though, it'll make you smile...and break your heart at the same time.

The Gameplay

Gloomy and Nena: Two Sides of the Solution

We did mention this is a co-op game, right? Here's where the co-op component comes out to play! In each level, you will be playing as both Gloomy and Nena, with the ability to switch between their two points of view. Each of our young protagonists have their own strengths, as well as weaknesses. Gloomy is the muscle of the two. He can throw things, move heavy objects, and tread near his dangerous zombie brethren without being attacked. But Gloomy has one weakness – light. Nena, on the other hand, has the power of the smarts! She can jump across gaps, manipulate objects like buttons, and traverse well-lit areas. But like Gloomy, Nena has a weakness – zombie bites!

Using both Gloomy's and Nena's unique abilities, you will have to traverse levels and switch between the two to reach the fireflies at the end. Yeah, this game has a big thing for fireflies (this cannot be stated enough).

The Rotational Map

Another unique component of Gloomy Eyes is the ability to fully zoom out from each level's map. By giving yourself a 360 degree view of the landscape, you may be able to discern your pathway, as well as locate secrets within the map itself. Using the game's controls, rotate, zoom in, zoom out, and see every little minute detail that has been crafted in each truly unique level.

Mementos & The Gravekeeper

As with any level-based video game, there are unique collectibles to each region you traverse in Gloomy Eyes. These collectibles, called Mementos, provide a unique additional piece of story dialogue and background to the world of the game. You also have the option to view all of your collected Mementos from the Main Menu of the game.

Along with the Mementos, you have the option of locating The Gravekeeper in each level. He may be your narrator, but he's also right there with you...if you know where to look. And rest assured – you will need to look, because his location is sometimes off the beaten path of where Gloomy and Nena need to go. Finding The Gravekeeper provides him another opportunity to impart the pieces of the story and world to you, the player.

The Good

The Art & Music

When I first saw this game at PAX East 2025, I was immediately taken in by the art style. Yes, I was that teenager with an unhealthy obsession with The Nightmare Before Christmas (what Hot Topic kid didn't?). It's the perfect blend of creepy, yet cozy, at the same time. Weird to say that you can find cuteness in such a bleak world like the one presented in Gloomy Eyes.

The music of the game was also truly a special experience as well. Each chapter within the game has its own score of music. They fit not only the location, but where the tone of the story currently is. My personal favorite – a haunting, yet kind of cute, carnival-themed track that you'll come across. I have to say that even the music of the game captures the gloomy, yet whimsical, nature of this world where Gloomy and Nena live. Well, where Nena lives and Gloomy...is.

The Puzzles & Other Mechanics

The puzzles themselves were very intuitive and definitely tested your problem-solving skills the further along that you went. Definitely a plus for me, as I have played puzzle games in the past where the difficulty has a nasty habit of ebbing and flowing between too easy and "where do I go" sentiments. I think in the grand scheme of the game, there were only a handful of moments that left me completely stumped. Only to then realize that the solution was so obvious it was slapping me in the face.

Oh, also – there's combat in this game! Yes – definitely was not expecting such a thing in a puzzle platformer! That being said, though, the mechanics worked! It wasn't too complicated and made sense with the trajectory of the game. It didn't feel like it was just getting shoved into the narrative for the sake of adding this component. I won't dig too much further, but just know that Gloomy can go full beast mode if need be!

A Story That Lasts

Lastly, and I cannot repeat this enough, was that I adored the story of this game. It was somber, it was cheerful. We were given deep messages about what companionship means, as well as finding bonds that last despite the barriers put up by others. And having these messages delivered via The Gravekeeper's gravely voice was just *chef's kiss*.

The Bad

Gameplay Matters

When trying to think of the negative aspects of Gloomy Eyes, I am hard-pressed to come up with a ton of issues that I ran into. Outside of one moment where I managed to get myself stuck on a random pathway in Chapter 6, which I couldn't even replicate when I tried it again, I didn't encounter any bugs within the gameplay.

There was a moment in the final sequence of Gloomy Eyes where I was left...a little lost as to what I was supposed to do to progress what was happening. Cut to me messaging one of our Editors on Discord in a panic, wondering if I was dumb or something happened with the game. Then, lo and behold, I managed to figure out what to do and everything went smoothly from there! Thematically, what I had to do made sense – it was also something that we had never yet had to do in the game, which is why my brain didn't automatically jump to the action needed.

The Length

If there was one item that I would have to pick as a slight drawback to Gloomy Eyes, it would be the length of the game. Even with getting stuck for a few moments on some puzzles and banging my head against a wall for a few minutes in the final sequence of the game, my total play time? Just over five hours. I'm not asking for a Starfield length game, but it did feel a little brief. The only price that I was able to locate online for Gloomy Eyes is the version that will be coming to the Switch. Right now, it's slated for a cost of $24.99. Is this a little steep for a five-hour game? I think so. Will it more than likely be cheaper on other platforms? I hope so, as I know that Nintendo's store can be a little more costly.

The Overall

Who would have thought that a little co-op puzzle platformer that I demo'ed at a gaming convention would truly deliver such a powerful punch in such a small package! Gloomy Eyes was a complete joy to experience and left me wanting to see more of this tiny little macabre world. If you like the concept of a spooky (yet cozy) solo-player co-op game, you owe it to yourself to add Gloomy Eyes to your game library.

Gloomy Eyes is currently available for purchase on PC (Steam), PlayStation, Xbox X/S, and Nintendo Switch.

Gamer Social Club was provided an early-access code for the purposes of this review. This review was played on PC (Steam).