Riven took everything Myst established and expanded it dramatically. Spanning five interconnected islands (shipped on five CDs), Cyan created a world that felt coherent and lived-in rather than a collection of puzzle rooms. The environmental detail was staggering for 1997, with every texture, symbol, and architectural choice serving the world-building. The puzzles were deeply integrated into the fiction, requiring players to learn the D'ni numbering system and understand the culture of Gehn's world to progress. It was Cyan's masterpiece, a game where exploration and observation were the primary mechanics and the world itself was the puzzle.