What a joy playing Riven again. So long ago that all notes and puzzle solutions have been made litter years back. Had to start nearly on scratch. But since I remembered what to do, and how to do it, I only had to go around once or twice to turn the game on and collect all the answers. Finished it in two small evenings. If you want to play Riven; prepare yourself for a long walk and a lot of wondering. Both to look at the beautiful scenery of the game, and to learn what you have to do. The second part can be so demanding that you end up "playing" the game by a walkthrough. There are three main puzzles in Riven (and some small ones). You have to recover a book that you loose in the beginning of the game (though no falt of yours), and you have to capture the villain (and free the damsel in distress). Lastly you have to learn the peculiar number system they use in Riven. And that takes some studying. The puzzles are hard. But the game will unlock its secrets if you are patient and ask yourself the right questions. There are a lot of hints around. And even a whole island that will teach you a lot of useful things about what to do and how to do it. There are also a lot of things around that you can look at, and sometimes do things with. Some of those things will give you central hints to solve the puzzles. Riven is not a game for the impatient. You will spend a lot of time trying to figure out how the game designers thought. There will be long hours with seemingly no progress at all. But when you finally have preced the answers together, it all goes pretty rapid. Riven also has a high play again value. Three of the central solutions changes from game to game, so you have to perform nearly the same tasks as the first time you solved the puzzles. Even if you know how to beat Riven it will take you nearly one and a half hour to finish the necessary tasks. So if you are patient, and content to spend some time understanding what is demanded of you, Riven is a game for you. You can do things at your own speed. You don't die in Riven (unless you choose one of the bad endings). You don't have to be quick with your mouse. You only have to be patient and open minded.
