Having been rescued from the efforts of his sons, Atrus enlists the help of the player character to free his wife from his power-hungry father, Gehn.

After the game's release, Robyn Miller left Cyan to form his own development studio, ending the professional partnership of the two brothers.

The player explores immersive environments depicted through a large series of computer generated stills using mouse clicks for movement or to manipulate objects within reach.

[8] By operating mechanical contraptions and deciphering codes and symbols discovered in the surroundings, the vaguely explained goal can eventually be reached.

[8] For instance, if the player positions the cursor hand near the side of the screen, it may show a pointing finger, indicating that clicking will turn the view in that direction.

Like Myst, Riven has an optional method of navigation known as Zip Mode, which allows players to skip to areas already explored, but may cause them to miss important clues.

[11] The volcanic landscape depicted, with its steep cliffs and crater lakes, is bestrewn with mechanical, Victorian-style artifacts such as elevators, pipes, levers and roller coaster-like transports.

[13] Atrus needs the player's help to free his wife, Catherine, who is held hostage in her home Age of Riven, which is slowly collapsing.

Thirty years earlier, Atrus and Catherine trapped Gehn on Riven by removing all of the linking books that led out of the Age.

[13] At the beginning of Riven, Atrus equips the player with a trap book—a snare that functions as a one-man prison, yet looks identical to a linking book—and his personal diary summarizing the events leading to the present situation.

In the best (and canonical) ending, the player tricks Gehn into the prison book and releases Catherine, who helps the Rivenese people evacuate to another Age.

The Millers met their co-designer, Richard Vander Wende, at a demonstration of Myst for the Digital World Expo in Los Angeles.

[12] As the third member of Riven's conceptual team, Vander Wende ended up contributing what Robyn Miller described as an "edgier" and complementary vision, that made the game dramatically different from its predecessor.

The artists took hundreds of photos of wood, adobe, sand, stucco and other materials, which were treated in Photoshop before being mapped onto the 3D geometry.

[6][18] Whereas many computer-generated environments of the time ended up looking smooth, like plastic,[6] the Millers and Vander Wende developed a more gritty and weathered design, with corroded and aged elements, to imply reality.

[18] Rendering was executed in Mental Ray, using numerous custom-made shaders to produce lifelike lighting, water and landscapes.

[19] In total Riven has over three hours of video[12] and almost five thousand images;[6] rendering was a major bottleneck in production despite the use of 18 dedicated workstations.

[12] Real world stairs, doorways and studio lights had to be meticulously positioned on the live stage to match their CG equivalents.

[20] Whereas the music to Myst was, at first, only available by mail-order from Cyan, Virgin Records had bought the rights to release it initially, prompting Miller to make sure that it could stand alone in CD form.

"[21] Allmusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine argued that the soundtrack is "appealingly atmospheric", but "lacks definition", and that the music loses impact when separated from the game.

[41] Jeff Segstack of GameSpot gave the game high marks, explaining that it is "a leisurely paced, all-encompassing, mentally challenging experience.

[51] GamePro said that it "retains the ambiance of Myst, but new features, such as increased use of animation and live action footage, create even more believable environments."

The reviewer gave it a 4.5 out of 5 in graphics and a perfect 5.0 in every other category (sound, control, and funfactor), and predicted that it would both surpass the expectations of Myst fans and draw in many new enthusiasts to the series.

[52] Laura Miller of Salon declared that "Art [...] is what Riven approaches," and praised the gameplay as having "a graceful elegance that reminds [her] of a masterfully constructed novel.

[54] Next Generation commended Riven for being highly accessible to the general public rather than just experienced gamers, but also said the puzzles, while an improvement over those of Myst, were still not well-integrated into the story, making them feel like arbitrary obstacles to progress.

[45][55] Kelly Rickards and Shawn Smith of EGM argued that while the game is superficially very similar to Myst, subtle elements such as the greater amount of interaction and better puzzle design make it more appealing, and that anyone with an open mind should give it a try.

[55] John Broady of GameSpot, however, said that while the developers had done the best they could with converting the game, the limitations of the PlayStation made it fall far short of the PC original, with dithered scenery, muddy video sequences, and long load times.

Presto Studios took over development; Ubisoft acquired Broderbund's entertainment library from The Learning Company (formerly SoftKey) and published the Myst sequels.

[57][58] The reviewer from Pyramid #29 (Jan./Feb., 1998) stated that "Myst, and now Riven, are worlds to be explored, with complex puzzles to be solved, and without time limitations or enemies to worry about.

[67] The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated the Riven remake for "Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction" at the 28th Annual D.I.C.E.