# Riven

11 Hacker News commenters recommended Riven and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Myst sequel that people still call breathtaking and unmatched by newer puzzle adventure games.

## Why people recommend it

- Beautiful visuals that still hold up (2 comments): "The remakes of Myst and Riven are beautiful." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47862755)) "Riven is still breathtaking today." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46484807))
- Still unmatched by newer games (2 comments): "show me a modern video game that is better than Myst or Riven" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49247295)) "I haven't found anything on the level of Myst/Riven/Exile." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49251825))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Sid Meier's Pirates!](https://hackerapproved.com/p/sid-meier-s-pirates.md): 61 recommend
- [Grim Fandango](https://hackerapproved.com/p/grim-fandango.md): 41 recommend
- [Myst](https://hackerapproved.com/p/myst.md): 31 recommend
- [Monkey Island](https://hackerapproved.com/p/monkey-island.md): 29 recommend
- [Doki Doki Literature Club](https://hackerapproved.com/p/doki-doki-literature-club.md): 25 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Riven", https://hackerapproved.com/p/riven/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).