Game: Rivage
Genre: Adventure, Indie
System: Steam (Windows)
Developers | Publishers: Exnilo Studio | Raw Fury
Steam Deck: Unknown
Controller Support: Yes
Price: US $TBC | UK £TBC | EU € TBC
Release Date: September 22nd, 2026
A review code was provided; many thanks to Johnny Atom PR.
Rivage is a 2026 adventure game developed by Exnilo Studio and released by Raw Fury.
The Premise of Rivage
Rivage is an immersive sci-fi puzzle game where we play as Miranda, a member of a scientific team aboard the A.R.E.S. space station orbiting the planet VESTA. Vesta is a newly discovered planet, with the potential to become another home for humanity. One day, our heroine wakes up alone, with her crew members missing and the station caught up in a strange phenomenon that causes time loops. While exploring the station, Miranda must rely on her mind, solving puzzles and paying attention to her changing surroundings – an object out of place, a newly unlocked door, an unread message. And while she and we explore, we piece together the truth behind what happened to the station and its crew.
The Gameplay
Rivage can be played with a mouse and keyboard or a controller. The game is mostly point-and-click with some instances of entering information into workstations and systems. This is not a game where we solve puzzles just for the sake of it- each puzzle is well-fitted within the story and doesn’t feel forced. We have to repair malfunctioning mechanisms and broken systems and solve environmental puzzles about gravity, magnetism, and even time.
Miranda can use the K9 System, a cybernetic implant that lets her log discoveries and retain certain puzzle solutions. That way, when we have to complete a new loop, we don’t have to repeat everything, just whatever new has popped up. The implant also records clues, research notes, passwords, and even manuals. More importantly, it has a snapshot tool that lets us take in-game screenshots of crucial clues, like codes on whiteboards, and then reference them during puzzles. It also has a built-in flashlight, which comes in handy from time to time.
Despite the A.R.E.S. Station being practically uninhabited, it doesn’t feel empty or, well, creepy. Rivage is more of an adventure game, like old-school point-and-click quests, and less of a horror story, and thank God for that. The station is filled with artifacts, research data, and notes to uncover, examine, and analyze. And since it was once home to a full crew, we find abandoned workstations and pieces of their lives as well. We will reconstruct their stories from their journals and personal logs.
The World of Rivage
One thing that immediately stands out is how beautiful Rivage is. It’s very obvious how much attention to detail went into the game. I think it was the right choice to make it first-person, since it is much more immersive that way. The game can be played with the usual mouse/keyboard combo or a controller, but I think it would be perfect for VR as well, if the developers decide to add support for it in the future.
While the setting and story are obviously sci-fi, besides the high-tech gadgets lying around, we also have plenty of old-world objects to explore. We see books, personal effects, and familiar items that bring humanity, in its known form, into the cold, futuristic space station. And almost everything can be picked up and examined! I’ve always thought that integration of old-world charm into sci-fi is, in a way, a security blanket for the audience, reassuring us that no matter where and when, no matter how removed and different humanity will be from us in a hundred years, we will still enjoy the same books and stories. Some things truly live forever.
The Use of AI
The developers have been honest about using AI tools during early prototyping to speed up game design and research, but they have since fully replaced all AI-generated prototype assets with original, artist-made content. The game contains no AI-generated content; everything is human-made.
Some Other Things
Rivage has extensive graphics and audio settings and remappable keyboard controls. The game has Steam achievements, but no Trading cards yet. During the summer, there was a demo for the game, but it has since been removed. If you played the demo, your progress doesn’t carry over to the full game, and there are some content changes as well.
Conclusion
This year was strong for sci-fi fans- we had a lot of good books being published, new seasons for a lot of sci-fi series (including Star Trek: Strange New Worlds), and of course, some new movies, including the adaptation of Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary. Rivage fits well with these stories and will offer a few hours of time-bending, space-station fun for true sci-fi fans.
Final Verdict: Two Thumbs Up
Do you like our content?
Subscribe to our daily news and never miss a review!