Riven Achievements Guide

There are 34 achievements in Riven that you can earn during the same playthrough if done correctly, making it super easy to collect them while completing the game for the first time. Here’s a Riven achievements guide showing you how to earn all achievements in a single playthrough.

How to Earn all Achievements in Riven

The guides below will tell you how to earn every achievement in Riven with “missable” next to them so you know when you must complete a specific task to earn them. While it is possible to complete some of the missable achievements in other chapters, some are impossible. For this reason, I recommend that you complete them in the same chapter. Otherwise, you’ll earn the other achievements automatically by progressing the game.

All Chapter 1 Achievements

Here are all Riven Chapter 1 achievements:

• The First Step is Not Always Simple: You’ll earn this achievement automatically the first time you start a new game in Riven.
• Cho? (Missable): Peer over the side of the cliff before climbing the stairs to the Rotating Room to see Cho’s body.
• Visual History (Missable): Look inside all the golden beetles in the rotating room to learn the story of Gehn told through art.
• Monument to Hubris: You’ll earn this achievement automatically when you get into the Great Golden Dome.
• Collateral Damage (Missable): After entering the Golden Dome, head down the stairs and go outside using the far exit. There will be a lever you can interact with, which will cause the bridge to Boiler Island to collapse.

All Chapter 2 Achievements

Here are all the achievements in Chapter 2 of Riven:

• Brittle Brown Leaves: You’ll automatically earn this achievement when arriving at Jungle Island for the first time.
• Total Collapse is Imminent (Missable): When you arrive at the clear-cut area in Jungle Island, you’ll need to approach the floating black mass. If the achievement doesn’t pop, circle it while looking into it. You should see a building being constructed.
• A New Perspective: You’ll earn this achievement automatically after obtaining the Moiety device.

All Chapter 3 Achievements

Here are all Riven Chapter 3 achievements:

• A Tree Falls; A Page Arises: When arriving at Boiler Island, you’ll automatically earn this achievement.
• Pens of Fate: You’ll automatically earn this achievement when entering Gehn’s Laboratory.
• The Watcher (Missable): You’ll need to watch the fire marble polisher for 15 minutes in the same playthrough to earn this achievement. Inside Gehn’s Laboratory, you’ll find the marble polisher in the center of the room. You’ll need to use the left switch to start the cogwheels and the right switch to spin the big wheel. Repeatedly pull the right lever to make the wheel spin faster, which will cause the machine to run longer. When watching the machine, ensure it is running; otherwise, your time watching it won’t count towards the achievement.

All Chapter 4 Achievements

Here is the single achievement of Chapter 4 in Riven:

• Dipped in Black: You’ll automatically earn this achievement when entering the Starry Expanse for the first time.

All Chapter 5 Achievements

Here is the only achievement in Riven Chapter 5:

• Life is Taken; an Age is Given: You’ll automatically earn this achievement after arriving at Prison Island.

All Chapter 6 Achievements

Here are all the achievements in Chapter 6 of Riven:

• Of Scheming and Schemata: You’ll automatically earn this achievement after arriving at Survey Island.
• He Who Numbers But Does Not Name: You’ll automatically earn this achievement right after earning Of Scheming and Schemata. This achievement is earned by visiting all the islands in Riven.
• Below the Surface: You’ll automatically earn this achievement when accessing Gehn’s hidden floor on Survey Island. This achievement will happen after you enter the code into the elevator.
• Animal Instincts (Missable): You must anger the Wahrk when investigating Gehn’s spy room. To do so, you’ll need to repeatedly turn on the red light, which will anger the Wahrk. Eventually, he’ll slam into the glass, and you’ll earn the achievement.
• Giving Chase (Missable): You must witness Gehn’s scribe escape on the Mag-Lev. This chase will happen after you flip the Mag-Lev around so you can enter the door on the other side of the dock. As soon as the short cutscene ends after seeing the Scribe, make sure to immediately run after him. You don’t have stamina, so make sure to start running right away. It may seem like the achievement won’t pop, but wait up to a minute after the Scribe departs for it to appear.

All Chapter 7 Achievements

Here are all Riven Chapter 7 achievements:

• God’s-Eye View: You’ll earn this achievement automatically by entering the building and raising the platform to overlook the Rivenese village after returning to Jungle Island.
• The Sign of Five (Missable): You must knock on this Rivenese resident’s door five times to earn this achievement. The resident will open a portion of the door and look at you quickly before shutting it again.
• Not the Way You Remember It (Missable): You must enter the animal combination from the original Riven by raising five stones in a specific order. The code from the original game is Fish, Beetle, Frog, Sunner, and Whark.

All Chapter 8 Achievements

Here are all Chapter 8 achievements in Riven:

• A Warm Welcome: You’ll earn this achievement automatically when arriving at Tay.
• Hidden in Plain Sight (Missable): To earn this achievement, you must illuminate the correct bolus to open the hidden passage. Here’s how to do so. After leaving Tay, you’ll be returned to the Moiety Gateroom. Return through the passage, but this time, when you reach the large stone with a handle, push it, and you’ll find the secret entrance to the Moiety caves. After exiting the Blue Sconce room, you’ll find a bolu you can interact with to light up. To determine which bolu you need to illuminate, consult Catherine’s diary. A page will show which three you need to light up.

All Chapter 9 Achievements

Here is the only achievement in Riven Chapter 9:

• Strands of a Web: You’ll automatically earn this achievement after extending the catwalk for Temple Island in the Starry Expanse.
• The Cage Has Finally Failed: You’ll earn this achievement automatically by progressing the game.

All Chapter 10 Achievements

Here are all Chapter 10 Achievements in Riven:

• This is Where Our Paths Must Part: You’ll automatically earn this achievement after completing the game and earning one of Riven’s four endings. Chapter 10 is the earliest you can earn it, but you could also earn it during Chapter 11, depending on how you proceed.
• Finality (Missable): You can earn this achievement by repeatedly refusing to link into Gehn’s Prison Book. You’ll need to refuse him a total of three times. However, doing so will end the game with a bad ending, so make sure to save before you proceed.
• This Must Be the End for You (Missable): After trapping him, you can earn this achievement by interacting with Gehn’s Prison Book. However, this will end the game, so save before doing so.
• Perhaps It Would Be Best (Missable): You’ll need to link into Gehn’s Prison Book the first time you talk to him in Age 233. However, you won’t be able to earn the Finality, and This Must Be the End for You achievements if you pick this path first.
• The Journey of Another (Missable): You’ll earn this achievement after finishing reading every journal in the game. The last journal in the game is Gehn’s. To find it, head down to Gehn’s sleeping quarters after being freed from the cage in Age 233. You’ll find his journal sitting on his bedside table. If this achievement doesn’t pop, you’ll need to go back and finish reading the remainder of the journals.
• A Great Deal of History (Missable): You’ll earn this achievement by watching Gehn’s imager recordings. To do so, find the imager device in Gehn’s sleeping quarters. Spin the crank to watch the first image recording. Then, read Gehn’s journal to find the page with the Imager Codes on it. You’ll need to determine each imager’s code by deciphering the D’Ni numbers. The code for each imager recording is (5), (2 and 3), (2, 3 and 5). To input these codes, look for the rectangle cutout on the base of the imager device. Click it, and it’ll pop out a tray with buttons. The buttons are numbered from 1 to 5, left to right.

All Chapter 11 Achievements

Here are all Riven Chapter 11 achievements:

• Mixed Signals (Missable): You’ll earn this achievement if you summon Atrus without saving Catherine from Prison Island.
• Who Will Link the Broken Chain? (Missable): You’ll earn this achievement if you save Catherine from Prison Island.
• The Path Home is Now Clear: You’ll earn this achievement if you save Catherine from Prison Island and summon Atrus.

Now that you have used our Riven Achievement Guide, you’ll earn all achievements in the game during your first playthrough. Check out our Riven hub for more guides like Can You Play Riven on Steam Deck, the perfect mobile handheld device to explore Riven wherever you find yourself.