Home / Games / Riven (1997)
Riven (1997)
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.
In short, Steam reviewers most often praise “integrated environmental puzzles” (34 of 78 reviews) and “atmospheric pre-rendered environments” (27); the most common complaint is “frustrating unintuitive puzzles” (14). What reviewers agree on ↓
What players say
Steam review score and the most-helpful voices, which may include critical ones. Score via Steam as of 2026-10-22 · quoted reviews as of 2026-05-12.
What reviewers agree on
34 of the 78 reviews raise this.
“For me, almost all puzzle games will suffer the unfortunate fate of being evaluated against this game. It is the gold standard of puzzle construction, contextual world building, and even 30 years later its pre-rendered…”
27 of the 78 reviews raise this.
“For me, almost all puzzle games will suffer the unfortunate fate of being evaluated against this game. It is the gold standard of puzzle construction, contextual world building, and even 30 years later its pre-rendered…”
14 of the 78 reviews raise this.
“I waited almost 30 years to finally play this. It was fun, but without nostalgia goggles, I'd say MYST is a much better experience. Some of the puzzles aren't intuitive, but the acting an cinematic experience pushes it…”
12 of the 78 reviews raise this.
“Not sure that there's much replay value here but the experience is one of the best. They clearly put a lot of time and effort into this game, the environments, the lore, the puzzles. This is a tough one for sure... but…”
6 of the 78 reviews raise this.
“If you haven't played it yet, better to consider the purchase of the 2025 remasterized/extended version, I would think. But...Don't get me wrong: I used to replay joyfully this original version since 1997 until 2025,…”
14 of the 78 reviews raise this · 8 of them still recommend the game.
“For me, almost all puzzle games will suffer the unfortunate fate of being evaluated against this game. It is the gold standard of puzzle construction, contextual world building, and even 30 years later its pre-rendered…”
8 of the 78 reviews raise this · 1 of them still recommend the game.
4 of the 78 reviews raise this · 4 of them still recommend the game.
“I quickly got used to the lower graphis. Story is very well done. I can't really pan this one because of it's age. That said, it was top game of it's time.”
“Loved Myst. Love Riven, and all the sequels! So glad my childhood faves are now available again to play. Be aware that not all the Myst games have been re-vamped for modern graphics like they did with RealMyst, so…”
Counted across 78 English reviews, sampled to match this game's 89.4% positive rating · as of 2026-05-12
“Finally beat this game as an adult. Eight-year-old me who played this game to death but couldn't quite solve it (bc she was eight, lol) is so proud. I'm shocked how well it holds up, even graphically it still looks really good, especially for the time. I picked this version over…”
— a player, Steam review · 18 hrs played“I first tried playing this years ago, but ended up completely stuck, spending a ridiculous amount of time backtracking and getting more and more frustrated. This time was different, though. I came prepared with a guide, and having solutions to the puzzles that had previously…”
— a player, Steam review · 4 hrs played“There's a haunting quality to Riven that I have yet to encounter in another game; a loneliness and eeriness that creeps as you explore, balanced with a continual sense of wonder and intrigue. The world is so well realised and crafted; it's an absolute pleasure to get lost in its…”
— a player, Steam review · 9 hrs playedPlayer activity
Monthly average concurrent players. Live data self-collected from the Steam API · history through 2026-06 via SteamCharts.
Price tracking
US-region pricing (USD), sampled twice daily by our own tracker since 2026-07-11. Steam prices vary by region — always confirm your local price on Steam.
Regional prices at last sample, in local currency — Steam sets each region's price independently.
Cheapest → most expensive, converted to USD at ECB reference rates (2026-10-23). Relative comparison only.
Latest official news
Developer announcements via the Steam news API — links go to the original posts. More across all games on the news hub.
Deluxe Editions of the Myst Novels - Kickstarter now live!
new Kickstarter we've just launched . Back when Myst and Riven came out, we released books set in the universe of Myst , telling the story of Atrus before the events of the game. It became a series of
Patch 2.1.0
Global Updated ScummVM version used to 2026.3.0. Fixed window size when switching out of fullscreen mode on 3D engines. Allow the user to disable manual resizing of the ScummVM window (using Ctrl+R).
Patch 2.0.5 release notes
Global Updated the source code archive. Steam Steam SDK initialization is now optional. This resolves issues for folks on Windows 7 who are having trouble playing with the latest updates to the game.
Patch 2.0.3 release notes
Global Save games are now placed in subfolders with the game names on both macOS and Windows, instead of in a global ScummVM save folder. Save games that already exist will be copied over from the ori
Legacy Titles 2.0 Update
Hi all, We’re thrilled to announce that our “2.0” patches for Myst: Masterpiece Edition, Riven: The Sequel to Myst (1997), and Myst III: Exile are now out on Steam! The 2.0 patches for all three games
Games like Riven (1997)
From our knowledge graph — ranked by shared traits, not a black box. Each card says why it's here.
realMyst: Masterpiece Edition
89.6% · 1,344 reviews
shares Nostalgia, Fmv, Beautiful, Classic
Myst: Masterpiece Edition
87.9% · 858 reviews
shares Steampunk, Fmv, Classic, Surreal
Syberia
83.5% · 2,165 reviews
shares Nostalgia, Steampunk, Beautiful, Classic
The Witness
81.7% · 11,448 reviews
shares Beautiful, Surreal, Great Soundtrack, Mystery
Obduction
80.0% · 3,159 reviews
shares Fmv, Surreal, Point Click, Mystery
Still There
84.1% · 862 reviews
shares Beautiful, Surreal, Great Soundtrack, Point Click
Gorogoa
95.8% · 5,719 reviews
shares Beautiful, Surreal, Great Soundtrack, Point Click
The Unfinished Swan
81.1% · 1,125 reviews
shares Beautiful, Surreal, Great Soundtrack, Mystery
Screenshots
Official Steam store screenshots — click any shot to enlarge.
Facts & details
From the Steam store record, snapshot 2026-05-12.
| Genres | Adventure, Casual |
| Player tags | Adventure · Puzzle · Point & Click · Exploration · Classic · Story Rich · Difficult · First-Person · Casual · Atmospheric · Beautiful · 1990's (SteamSpy community voting) |
| Features | Single-player · Full controller support · Family Sharing |
| Languages | English * , French * , Italian * , German * , Spanish - Spain * , Japanese * , Polish * , Russian * * |
| Controller | Full support |
| Official site | https://cyan.com/games/riven/#riven-1997 |
Minimum system requirements (PC)
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