Riven (1997) on Steam - User reviews, Price & Information
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Released in 1997 as the original sequel to Myst, one of the best-selling puzzle adventure games of all time. Prepare to enter a world "torn asunder" by timeless, unresolved conflicts -- a world of incomparable beauty, intrigue, and betrayal.
Riven (1997) is a adventure, puzzle and point & click game
developed and published by Cyan Worlds Inc.
Released on August 04th 2010 is available on Windows and MacOS
in 8 languages: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish - Spain, Japanese, Polish and Russian.
It has received 1,323 reviews of which 1,180 were positive and 143 were negative resulting in a rating of 8.5 out of 10. 😎
The game is currently priced at 5.89€ on Steam.
The Steam community has classified Riven (1997) into these genres:
System requirements
These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.
Windows
- OS *: Windows 7 / 8 / 10 / 11, 64-bit
- Processor: 1.8 GHz
- Memory: 512 MB RAM
- Storage: 7.5 GB
- Video: DirectX® 9.0c compatible or better
- Sound: DirectX® 9.0 compatible
- DirectX®: DirectX 9.0c or greater
MacOS
- OS: macOS 10.9.5 or greater
- Processor: 1.8 GHz
- Memory: 512MB RAM
- Graphics: 32MB video card
- Storage: 7.5 GB
User reviews & Ratings
Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.
Riven is so amazing, it makes Myst look like child's play by comparison. Whereas the latter asked the player to observe carefully their surroundings, Riven demands observational skills be pushed to their utmost limits. You will quickly come to feel that not even a single screen is without meaning; not a single object without purpose. Just like in its predecessor, there are many levers and switches to be found, but don't expect them to lead to immediate gratification—this game is set up much differently, and attaining any sense of fulfilment is a significantly lengthier process, as it's built of larger, overarching puzzles. Inevitably, this will lead to much wandering without a mechanism in sight. Thankfully, the world of the Fifth Age is so stunningly realised and open-ended, it's quite likely you'll come away enjoying yourself just with the sights and sounds alone. This involuntary sightseeing will naturally cause you to look at the same things again and again, eventually re-contextualising them, which is exactly what is expected. A truly remarkable achievement in so many ways, and easily one of the greatest (and most beautiful) games ever made. Be sure to take notes, and avoid guides at all costs— this is a once in a lifetime experience. Rating: 9/10
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Several acclaimed indie games of the past decade like Outer Wilds, Void Stranger, Return of the Obra Dinn, and Case of the Golden Idol have intrigued players with their progression philosophy of gathering information. It does have an Achilles heel though: a tug-of-war between worldbuilding and progress-gating puzzles. The world should be intriguing, but when most of your puzzles are so elusive that their solutions have to be etched in stone somewhere, like in Outer Wilds or Void Stranger, I question why the creators didn’t just write a nonlinear novel. Freeform storytelling has existed for a long time. I’m not going to discredit this approach without offering an alternative though. Let’s rewind the clock to 1993, before I and most of you reading left the womb. Myst, the best-selling PC game for nearly a decade, was about to be released. The grandfather of adventure puzzles, it threw you into a foreign universe with zero context. Exploring the iconic starting isle and tinkering with its machinery raised questions of all types. Why is there a hollow rocket next to a Greco-Roman temple library? What kind of discoveries did Atrus make? Why are his sons trapped inside books? All I will say is that the misplaced familiarity isn’t so confounding. The puzzles are different because of Atrus’ zeal to forge new worlds via linking books. A perfect excuse for designers Rand and Robyn Miller to stir their creative juices. After spending several hours with the game, the uncompromising dedication to environmental storytelling hit me. Everything is conveyed through visuals that the player must interpret before any semblance of a solution can be formulated. This approach cemented the Miller brothers as strong game makers and storytellers, so it’s not surprising that Riven carries the same strengths. While it does abandon the environmental variety of its predecessor, it more than makes up for it in nuance. No puzzles for their own sake, only a rich world dripping with detail and history. Every machine, symbol, rock, tool, and door was labored over and pre-rendered without compromise. It’s staggering how much crisper it looks than its predecessor despite coming out only four years later. If it wasn’t for the SD image output, this could easily pass for a modern-looking title. I’m so thankful for all this detail because minus a few diary entries and cutscenes, Riven is all show and no tell. You need to study the environment carefully and visit each island multiple times before you even think about finishing the game. This is precisely what exploring an alien civilization would be like and I would love to see this in other games. Exploring and problem-solving through visuals alone will not be for everyone. Even I had to use a guide at times, but I can’t fault obscurity when it results in a hypnotizing work of art. Besides, I made more than enough solo progress to feel satisfied once the credits rolled. Steel thy mind, click everywhere, and take plenty of notes. Assimilate yourself into the Fifth Age, and its enigmas will eventually crumble before you.
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For those looking at the game, please note the following. This game available in the 1990's was state of the art. It was awesome. It is literally a world with sight, sound, design and rules. All of these were combined in an excellent manner. But please note, current games have much better graphics and continuity. So if you compare to games of today, it is a bit dated. I would actually recommend the 2024 version as it has been developed with current tech. With all that said, this is a beautiful game. It has great continuity between areas and it is a work of Art. Some of the puzzles are very difficult. Make sure you inspect everything. Look up, down, and side to side. When you open doors, close them. I would say most people could not finish this in a day. It has a great amount of depth. Hope this helps all. Enjoy.
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The first time I heard of the Myst series was on promotional VHS tape that came with a Sega Saturn magazine I bought as a teenager. Young me at that age wasn't interested in this sort of game then. I'm older now and after noticing it on sale nostalgia kicked in and I purchased this and its prequel Myst to see what the fuss was all about. Riven turned out to be a very fun brain tester than I expected. The story focuses on trying to trap one of the characters in a book and report back to the man who sent you to the strange archipelago called Riven. You explore the world by clicking through a series of static images from the first-person perspective and solve puzzles along the way in order to achieve this goal. The visuals, while somewhat dated are clear and far better than its predecessor, Myst. Riven runs fine on Windows 10 with no crashes. The puzzles are clever and involve clicking on specific identifiable objects to find out what they affect. There are some codes to remember as well so I would recommend keeping a pen and paper handy to jot them down, or if it helps you map out the islands.Not to give away too much but part of the puzzle is figuring out what symbols you come across mean. I will say no more... It took me about 9 or 10 hours to finish, stepping away from time to time to do household chores, so not a long game, but may take you longer if you reach a point where you're stuck on what to do. There can be quite a lot of back tracking in this game depending on how you play but the way the game is laid out doesn't make it too confusing to figure out where in the world you are. All in all if you were a fan of the original or fancy some nostalgia from a game you didn't try in the 90's Riven is a good distraction. Anyone else under 30 may be better off looking at the more modern remakes. It stands up better as a game than the original Myst, purely because Myst looks very dated and only took me about 2 hours to finish. Also, once you've figured out the puzzles and explored the world there isn't much reason to replay, bar allowing someone else to have a go.
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Masterpiece of environmental puzzles & storytelling. I thought maybe the ancient 'click to move' would feel outdated but its surprisingly quick and easy to zip around the environment, and escape skips the sometimes lengthy (Though excellent and weighty) animations. This version runs in ScummVM and looks quite nice for its age.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Riven (1997) is currently priced at 5.89€ on Steam.
Riven (1997) is currently not on sale. You can purchase it for 5.89€ on Steam.
Riven (1997) received 1,180 positive votes out of a total of 1,323 achieving a rating of 8.47.
😎
Riven (1997) was developed and published by Cyan Worlds Inc.
Riven (1997) is playable and fully supported on Windows.
Riven (1997) is playable and fully supported on MacOS.
Riven (1997) is not playable on Linux.
Riven (1997) is a single-player game.
Riven (1997) does not currently offer any DLC.
Riven (1997) does not support mods via Steam Workshop.
Riven (1997) does not support Steam Remote Play.
Riven (1997) is enabled for Steam Family Sharing. This means you can share the game with authorized users from your Steam Library, allowing them to play it on their own accounts. For more details on how the feature works, you can read the original Steam Family Sharing announcement or visit the Steam Family Sharing user guide and FAQ page.
You can find solutions or submit a support ticket by visiting the Steam Support page for Riven (1997).
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Additionally, we incorporate data from the SteamSpy API, which offers insights into game sales and player statistics. This helps us present a comprehensive view of each game's popularity and performance within the gaming community.
Last Updates| Steam data | 22 July 2025 23:22 |
|---|---|
| SteamSpy data | 22 July 2025 03:05 |
| Steam price | 30 July 2025 20:45 |
| Steam reviews | 29 July 2025 02:02 |
If you'd like to dive deeper into the details about Riven (1997), we invite you to check out a few dedicated websites that offer extensive information and insights. These platforms provide valuable data, analysis, and user-generated reports to enhance your understanding of the game and its performance.
- SteamDB - A comprehensive database of everything on Steam about Riven (1997)
- SteamCharts - Analysis of Riven (1997) concurrent players on Steam
- ProtonDB - Crowdsourced reports on Linux and Steam Deck Riven (1997) compatibility
Game modes
Features
Online players
5
Developer
Cyan Worlds Inc
Publisher
Cyan Worlds Inc
Release
04 Aug 2010
Platforms