First survival-horror videogame

While the term "survival horror" was coined upon the release of the original Resident Evil (Capcom, 1996), the first game to draw on horror and suspense in the way that later became associated with the genre was Haunted House (Atari, 1981). In the game, the player – who controls a character whose eyeballs are the only visible part of its body – explores a maze-like mansion using a magical sceptre to keep enemies at bay.

In this scary sub-genre of action-adventure, inspired by horror stories and movies, the gamer must evade attack by solving puzzles and unlocking paths and rooms.

While the first game to draw on horror and suspense in the way that later became associated with the sub-genre was Haunted House, by definition Resident Evil was the first "survival-horror" game described as such.