Myst Sequel Riven Is Being Rebuilt "From The Ground Up"

Cyan Worlds Inc. has announced that it is working on a "from-the-ground-up modern remake" of its popular Myst sequel, Riven.

Originally released in 1997, Riven (or 'Riven: The Sequel to Myst' as it was originally titled) is a puzzle adventure which continues the story of Myst, the groundbreaking CD-ROM title from 1993.

While it improved on the visuals and audio, the basic gameplay in Riven was roughly the same, with the player having little freedom to explore the fantastical surroundings. Despite this, Riven sold 1.5 million copies in its first year on sale and has become something of a cult classic.

This new remake will abandon the restrictive point-and-click interface of the original and will be "fully traversable in 3D space," according to Cyan. "Riven is one of the most highly regarded games in Cyan’s history," the company adds. "We didn’t want to approach it lightly or frivolously. Cyan is a small indie studio. We wanted to make sure we could take on such a difficult, costly and complicated endeavour – and do it well."