In Alfred Hitchcock Presents The Final Cut the player takes the role of the psychic private investigator Joseph Shamley, who is hired by a silent woman to solve the mystery of her uncle's mansion: This rich man is obsessed by Alfred Hitchcock's movies and is in the process of shooting his own picture. But now the whole film crew disappeared...

Being a detective game, the main goal is to find clues to puzzle together the solution of this mystery, but there are also classic combination puzzles, e.g. to open a locked door. Additionally, there are timed puzzles and platforming sequences, but those elements are in the minority. Conversations are sparse, and the majority of the game is spent in the deserted movie sets.

The movement in the game and performing all the actions and/or dialogues are keyboard-oriented. The mouse is used for the rest of the game, e.g. searching for clues in close up views after activating a hot spot or using the organizer. Through this organizer the player reaches his inventory, a diary, a map for quick traveling to the outside portions of the mansion, and the main menu. During Shamley's visions the game uses footage from Hitchcock movies.

It can only run on WIN10