“Clock Tower” (1995) — The Unsung Pioneer That Shaped Survival Horror Gaming

Horror video games have been around since the dawn of console gaming itself. Considered the first attempt at a game within the genre, “Haunted House¹” was a video game that came bundled with the Magnavox Odyssey, the first ever home gaming console.² Since the release of the Magnavox Odyssey in 1972, the horror genre of gaming has expanded beyond the static gameplay of “Haunted House,” which blended card and video game elements. 

As the gaming world became further digitized, horror titles like “Castlevania” (1986) sprouted and took players on adventures that contained horror elements, but still did not set out with the intent to scare and terrify players.³ However, the perspective of being placed in the shoes of a protagonist who is at the mercy of a relentless stalker offered a new point of view only the survival horror subgenre could simulate. “Clock Tower,⁴” released in 1995, exclusively in Japan for the SNES, kicked off the survival horror subgenre.  

“Clock Tower” was an early point-and-click horror game that introduced gameplay elements now considered staples of the survival horror genre. The genre is chock-full of routine mechanics like exploration, finding items, and solving puzzles all while keeping quick and quiet in order to dodge a looming threat. What has made “Clock Tower” stand out after all this time was that it was one of the earliest titles to feature no combat in a horror scenario unlike similar games that came out around the time like “Resident Evil” (1996) and “Silent Hill” (1999), which allowed players to manage things like weapons, ammo, and health items along their journeys. 

“Clock Tower’s” legacy is defined by developer Human Entertainment’s work to create a terrifying atmosphere with innovative stealth mechanics while still keeping to the popular point-and-click game mechanics of the 1990s. Despite its differences from modern survival horror games, “Clock Tower” helped define the genre, influencing franchises like “Resident Evil,” “Silent Hill,” and even “Alien: Isolation.”

“Clock Tower’s” Origins & Design

In order to craft a true survival horror experience, “Clock Tower” needed a story that made players feel constant suspense and mechanics that added to the intense atmosphere. This was accomplished through the game’s story, which was born out of a love for horror cinema, and the introduction of new gameplay mechanics that set it apart from other horror games of the 1990s.

“Clock Tower’s” story follows Jennifer Simpson, a young girl who, along with a few other orphaned girls her age, arrives at their new home, The Barrows Mansion.⁵ Following along, Jennifer and the girls get situated in the manor alongside their new caretaker Mary Barrows. It’s not long before Jennifer eventually comes face-to-face with the game’s primary antagonist and stalker, the shearing-wielding Scissorman.

As the other girls get picked off one by one in a slasher-esque manner, or just a few depending on the type of ending you wish to achieve, Jennifer is left to discover the truth about the Barrows family and the manor where she and the other girls have been brought, in a desperate attempt to save themselves from a grim fate. 

“Clock Tower” (1995) — The Influence From Giallo Horror Films

Much of “Clock Tower’s” story structure and visual style takes inspiration from the Italian giallo horror genre, particularly the works of Dario Argento. The giallo subgenre⁶ of horror usually entails a grim murder-mystery at the heart of a tense fight for survival, Argento’s style is typically denoted by distinct bright colors and unnatural cinematography meant to heighten the surrealism of the scenario, as seen in the horror classic Suspiria (1977).

Kono was deeply influenced by Argento’s works, namely the 1985 horror film Phenomena,⁷ which starred Jennifer Connelly as a character named Jennifer Corvino, both of whom inspired “Clock Tower’s” heroine, Jennifer Simpson, even down to her look. In an interview for GamesRadar,⁸ Kono spoke about his passion for Argento’s films and how they influenced “Clock Tower.”

“Originally, when I would come up with an idea for a project, I would often break down the structure of a film, anime, or novel that I liked. I would then extract what it was that I found interesting and why, and then structure it out,”

says Kono.

“So when I created “Clock Tower,” I drew from what fascinated me about horror films like Phenomena and Suspiria. The suspense of being chased and the thrill of hiding from a killer while holding your breath — neither of these aspects existed in video games at the time. That’s why I felt it was worth depicting them.”

“Clock Tower” (1995) — Innovative Mechanics Of The 90’s

While stylistically, the game resembled cult classic Italian horror films, what also made “Clock Tower” so innovative for the time was it being an early prototype for many popular survival horror mechanics. As mentioned, the game featured no combat, instead it opted for a run-and-hide style of play. As they explore the Barrows Mansion, as Jennifer, players are tasked with searching each room and solving puzzles to get to the heart of the mystery, all while dodging the stalker antagonist known as the Scissorman. 

Getting around the mansion meant players had to manage Jennifer’s fear. Instead of the usual health meter, “Clock Tower” had a unique way of telling players how close they were to certain demise. Jennifer’s portrait icon in the corner of the screen shifts between blue, green, orange, and red — blue indicating calmness and red signaling fear.

Running and encountering the Scissorman would frighten Jennifer, causing her to panic and her icon to change colors, meaning her chances of tripping and losing her breath during evasion would increase. If her meter ever turned red and the Scissorman reached her, that would result in a game over.

The unpredictability of where the Scissorman would appear made players more careful about where they roamed. It was not possible to gather health items and heal damage taken. Players had to be cautious and hide or run to avoid an instant death, so being alert of where they/you were and potential hiding spots was crucial. Despite the game being a point-and-click exploration simulator at its core, the relentless pursuit of the Scissorman made for an even more tense and frightening experience than horror games had ever offered before. 

“Clock Tower” (1995) — Defining Survival Horror

“Clock Tower” is riddled with many elements that survival horror games possess today. From puzzles to a relentless pursuer, the game was not particularly easy for newcomers to the genre. Thankfully, an autosave feature was present to ensure that a game over did not set players back too far. 

The Scissorman

The Scissorman may not seem terrifying by today’s standards, but he was one of the earliest examples of a stalker enemy in video games. Much like the Nemesis in “Resident Evil 3: Nemesis” or any of the three pursuers⁹ from “Haunting Ground,” these characters do as the name suggests: relentlessly stalk the protagonist to deter them from completing game objectives and add to the intensity of quickly solving puzzles and finding clues. 

The Scissorman, a small but relentless figure, slowly stalks Jennifer while wielding an oversized pair of shears, adding an element of psychological terror and slasher horror to every encounter. He would appear at random and scripted times as well as in different locations to keep players on their toes when traversing through the manor.

The Mechanics

“Clock Tower’s” atmosphere was uniquely eerie compared to other horror games of its time. For most of their playthrough, players will hear the same ambient background noise coupled with Jennifer’s footsteps and occasional panting if they run too much. The background exploration music was also the same unless the Scissorman’s intense theme kicked in during a chase or the player came across a certain scripted scene and its accompanying track.

Adding to the bizarre giallo aesthetic, players could encounter randomized events, such as a doll suddenly coming to life or an arm lunging from a mirror Jennifer is inspecting to grab her. These events are not explained either, further adding to the horror and mystery of the manor itself. 

Unlike later survival horror titles like “Resident Evil,” which often had fixed enemy and item spawn locations, “Clock Tower” had these randomized elements that made each playthrough of the game vary. Players might find items in different areas on a second run, or they may come across events they had never seen before, and miss one they had seen on their first playthrough.

The way Jennifer first encounters The Scissorman can vary from each run through the game. This randomization mechanics also changed the layout of the mansion; it could change the way players approached the game and how fast it took them to complete it when they didn’t know where to run despite having played it already. The randomization mechanics allowed players to constantly revisit the game to experience it again and again in a new way.

The game’s replayability kept the game’s community alive for years to come despite its limited release, which helped it stay as a reminder of its impact on the gaming subgenre.

“Clock Tower” (1995) & Its Influence On The Survival Horror Genre

The stealth horror of “Clock Tower” was a first of its kind. While “Resident Evil” blended horror with action, “Clock Tower” left a lasting legacy on stealth-focused horror games. When players think of survival horror now, titles like “Silent Hill” and “Resident Evil” probably come to mind — even “Fatal Frame” if they want to dive past the surface of the subgenre.

While these games are not point-and-click adventures with defenseless heroes and heroines, it’s hard to deny that “Clock Tower” helped shape them as their franchises continued to succeed well after “Clock Tower’s” ended. “Silent Hill” and “Resident Evil” feature heroes who willingly dive into their horrifying scenarios with weapons and wit at their ready; a stark contrast from the unwilling heroine in “Clock Tower.”

While these characters choose fight over flight in most cases, the survival horror elements from “Clock Tower” still shine through. The “Silent Hill” series contains different endings for the player to achieve depending on how they play the game, like “Clock Tower” which boasts nine total ending variations. Stalker enemies even make an appearance in “Resident Evil 2” and “Resident Evil 3: Nemesis” with Mr. X and the Nemesis.

In addition, the eerie ambience, challenging puzzles, and a story told mostly through journal scraps and notes riddled throughout the game world are present in both franchises. “Fatal Frame (2001)¹⁰,” which hit the gaming sphere in the new millennium for the PlayStation 2, is also a very different game from “Clock Tower,” but still follows along the same survival horror path.

Fresh off of the hype of Japanese horror films of the time, the “Fatal Frame” series frequently had female protagonists who were thrown into the heart of their respective stories. While not completely defenseless, “Fatal Frame” did not have characters who fought back against enemies with weaponry, but rather a camera used to repel and capture spirits.

“Clock Tower” — A Lasting Legacy

“Clock Tower” is a defining title in the survival horror genre. Even with its limited release at launch, it still managed to amass a cult following that endured the lows of the sequels that followed before the franchise’s end with “Clock Tower 3.” Despite its waning presence in the gaming sphere, Human Entertainment and Hifumi Kono’s work helped define a subgenre of video games that only grew to massive popularity. To this day, popular titles like “Outlast” and “Alien: Isolation” owe much of their tense run-and-hide gameplay styles to “Clock Tower,” which laid the groundwork for these horror games.

As far as what the future holds for “Clock Tower,” there only seems to be going back, as the most recent development in the franchise is “Clock Tower: Rewind,¹¹” a revival of the original game complete with English translations for the game’s dialogue. While “Clock Tower: Rewind” revives the original, the game’s influence remains undeniable, and fans continue to hope for a true successor in the survival horror genre.

Footnotes

1. Odyssey Now. (2020, May 2). Let’s Play: Haunted House (Magnavox Odyssey 1972). ↩︎
2. National Museum of American History. “Magnavox Odyssey Video Game Unit, 1972,” 2025. ↩︎
3. Contributors to Castlevania Wiki. “Castlevania (Video Game).” Fandom, Inc. Accessed March 12, 2025. ↩︎
4. Wikipedia contributors. (2025, February 2). Clock Tower (Series). ↩︎
5. Clock Tower Fandom Wiki contributors. (2024, March 28). Jennifer Simpson. ↩︎
6. Aled Owen. Collider. (2023, February 25). What Is “Giallo”? The Genre Explained! ↩︎
7. Wikipedia contributors. (2025, February 17). Phenomena (film). ↩︎
8. Sarah Elsam. GamesRadar. (2021, April 12). The making of Clock Tower: “The most important thing for me was the stillness.” ↩︎
9. Haunting Ground Fandom Wiki contributors. (2010, Novemeber 29). Haunting Ground: Characters. ↩︎
10. Wikipedia contributors. (2024, December 5). Fatal Frame. ↩︎
11. Wayforward. (2024, October 8). Clock Tower: Rewind. ↩︎