Used to identify the game, unaltered. Riven wordmark, trademark of its owner, from the publisher's Steam store listing

Riven

Catalogue entry · not reviewed · store data read 30 August 2026

Uncover a story of intrigue, betrayal, and a civilization teetering on the brink of collapse as you solve intricate puzzles to unlock the secrets of Riven. Built from the ground-up and expanded from the award-winning original game released in 1997.

Action Adventure

Player score

9.2/10

2,865 reviews

Released: 1997
Developer: Cyan Worlds
Platforms: 2 systems
Critics: 86
Steam Deck: verified
Download: 30 GB

We have not written a full review of this game.This is a catalogue entry: everything below comes from a source we can link, checked on a stated date. There is no score and no verdict here, because we only publish those after a reviewer has played the game and written it up properly. Our team may well have played this one. Until someone writes the review, we are not going to imply a verdict we have not put our name to.

What is Riven?

Description as published by the developer on its own store page, read 30 August 2026. It is marketing copy, not our assessment.

The record

Catalogue facts
First released	29 October 1997
Developer	Cyan Worlds
Publisher	Red Orb Entertainment
Platforms	PlayStation, Steam Deck
Genres	Action Adventure
Languages	11 supported

Source. Catalogue facts from Wikidata Q2265002, seeded 30 August 2026. Store data from Steam, read 30 August 2026.

How was Riven received?

Players92%positive of 2,865 · Very Positive

Metacritic86critic aggregate, PC

Achievements34on Steam

Method. Player figures are Steam's own totals for the PC version, read 30 August 2026. The Metacritic score is the one Steam publishes on its store page and can lag the site itself. Metacritic page. Neither is our opinion. We have not published a review of this game.

Accessibility

8 declared features

Method. Features the publisher declared on its own store page. A declaration is a floor, not a review.

What does it support?

Technical support
Capability	Support
Controller	full support
Cloud saves	Yes
Cross-platform play	No
Mod support	No official workshop
Online play	Single-player only
In-game purchases	No
Steam Deck	verified
Download size	30 GB
Add-on content	2 DLC listed
Age gate	None

Method. Read from the publisher's Steam listing on 30 August 2026. Describes the PC version. Console versions differ.

What does it cost?

$20.99$34.99 list

Steam price in US dollars, read 30 August 2026. Prices move hourly and vary by region. Check the current price.

Problems players report

We read the 160 most recent negative Steam reviews of Riven on 30 August 2026 and counted what they mention. These are complaints, not confirmed defects: we have not reproduced any of them, and a review describes one person's machine. What the counts tell you is which problems more than one person ran into.

Performance and stutter22 of 160 (14%)
It takes minutes just to move between points of interest and you may experience stutters while walking around.
Steam review, 28 December 2024 · 8 hours played · 27 readers marked it helpful
On top of all of this the performance is terrible with constant stuttering and frame drops.
Steam review, 27 June 2024 · 2 hours played · 12 readers marked it helpful
Crashes and freezes17 of 160 (11%)
Currently, even on the lowest settings in the game for VR, it crashes every 10 minutes.
Steam review, 25 June 2024 · 14 hours played · 10 readers marked it helpful
When I could finally get it to work, it was choppy, crashed after a few minutes, and had some shockingly crummy graphics in certain places (water splashes, shadows, etc.).
Steam review, 30 June 2024 · 86 hours played · 5 readers marked it helpful
Visual glitches6 of 160 (4%)
The performance is absolutely atrocious, and there are flickering shadow artifacts that made me physically ill.
Steam review, 3 August 2024 · 2 hours played · 13 readers marked it helpful
Stuttering, head tracking latency, texture flickering, view drift from the get go.
Steam review, 26 June 2024 · 0 hours played · 9 readers marked it helpful

A further 8 reviews call the game buggy or broken without saying how, which is why they are counted separately rather than assigned to a theme. Counted by keyword across review text, so a review discussing two problems is counted under both. Read the reviews yourself.

Games like Riven

24 games overlap with Riven on the tags Steam players applied to it, on genre, and on theme. The closest are The Witness, The Stanley Parable and We Were Here Expeditions: The FriendShip.

All 24 games like Riven

Common questions about Riven

What platforms is Riven on?

Riven is available on PlayStation, Steam Deck. It first released in 1997.

How much does Riven cost?

$20.99 on Steam in the United States, read on 30 August 2026. Prices move often and vary by region, so check the store before buying.

Do players recommend Riven?

92% of 2,865 Steam reviews are positive, which Steam rates Very Positive. That is players rating it, not our review. We have not published a review of this game.

What is the Metacritic score for Riven?

86 out of 100 for the PC version, as published on the game's own Steam store page. Steam can lag Metacritic by a few points.

Does Riven work on Steam Deck?

Valve rates Riven as verified on the Steam Deck, from its own testing. That means it works out of the box with no configuration.

How big is the Riven download?

30 GB on PC, from the storage requirement on its Steam listing. Console versions differ.