The Outlast Trials
The Outlast Trials
Game
Game2026
Rivage
Developer Exnilo Studio
Rivage is a first person escape room-style puzzle game. Trapped in a cosmic anomaly aboard the A.R.E.S. space station, wake up as Miranda, a brilliant scientist and solve intricate puzzles to unravel the fate of your missing crew. From the Steam store page
307 reactions from 3 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon) · newest Nov 5, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
69
Fresh
189 positive · 86 negative
95% range 63–74%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 189 | 86 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 8 | 3 | 20 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 1 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Mostly Positive
265 of 369 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
68% recommend · 160 yes, 75 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 235 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Mostly Positive (401 of 527 positive).
Players praise the puzzles and art direction, but many find the story and characters lacking. [1][2][3] Some reviewers report technical issues like graininess and colorblind accessibility problems. [4][5][6] A few players criticize the use of QR codes and past AI controversy. [7][8][9]
Liked
Representative posts
- [7]
You can not fully complete this game without scanning QR codes on your phone, which is a security issue. The dev was previously blown out for AI before rebranding the project to Rivage from Strand. The behavior is not trustworthy, and publishing for them shows a lack of care for the player base and their very loudly voiced opinions on these issues, which Raw Fury has said publicly they don't approve of as well. …
- [19]
I bought this game on release because it looked like it had the potential to be another great time-loop mystery up there with the likes of Outer Wilds and The Forgotten City, and I could not have been let down harder. There are lots of people complaining about the graphics being buggy, and the film grain is incredibly annoying and doesn't seem possible to disable, but technically it worked well enough for me. I …
- [1]
If you want a game that has great puzzles for 8+ hours then this game is for you. If you want a story-rich game with great characters, maybe skip this one. Overall, I would still recommend this game despite its few flaws. Like many others, I played the demo and was waiting months for the game to come out. I even took a sick day. I do feel like my expectations were too high though. To be clear, the game is great, …
- [3]
This is one of those games where if Steam had something inbetween Yes and No I'd click that. I enjoyed the storytelling, environments, and *some* of the puzzles, but many of the puzzles felt like they were overly difficult compared to the difficulty of everything around them, which sometimes caused me to overthink the puzzles that were more reasonably designed. Those poorly-designed puzzles weren't enough to make me …
- [12]
PRO TIP!!! -- If you want to play this, use the in-game screenshot tool frequently! It will save you forgetting clues later! Also, you might want a notepad to jot down some puzzle solutions. Believe me, you will get much less frustrated if you use the tools at your disposal. Rivage is a very well designed "escape room" type puzzle game. I was impressed by how well utilized each and every area of the space station …
Summarised from 34 of the 264 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 13, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Players who liked Rivage talk about great puzzles and art direction; those who didn't talk about story and characters are weak or confusing. Which matters more to you?
Reactions
60 of 307 · most liked firstGame is good, but I don't think you should buy it yet. I don't think Rivage has been playtested enough. There are many friction points in the gameplay which should have been raised and fixed prior to release. For example (potential spoilers): - Many objects become difficult to see/read when picked up, even when the flashlight is used. You cannot move the items, either, you have to inspect them in-place so this is really grating. A really poor example of this is a book right away on a desk…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →You can not fully complete this game without scanning QR codes on your phone, which is a security issue. The dev was previously blown out for AI before rebranding the project to Rivage from Strand. The behavior is not trustworthy, and publishing for them shows a lack of care for the player base and their very loudly voiced opinions on these issues, which Raw Fury has said publicly they don't approve of as well. Being a puzzle game I didn't look anything up to avoid spoilers, so I went in not…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I was originally going into this with a background love of outer wilds, solaris, blue prince etc., but this really didn't do it for me. The game looks great and yes the UI is a little buggy (which is forgivable), however, the puzzles are either too simple or too complex. I never approched a puzzle with curiosity or enjoyment: it felt like a chore as they were mostly linear in nature. I love time-loop games don't get it me wrong, it's my fav sub-genre, but I feel as though this one was just…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a hard one to recommend. Don’t be fooled by the description, as you might expect the game to be as intricate as Blue Prince. In reality, it plays much more like an escape-room game. Throughout my entire playthrough, I felt like I was playing Escape Room Simulator. You can interact with almost everything around you: books, potatoes, sodas, and countless other objects. Most of these items simply clutter the environment without serving any meaningful purpose. If you’ve played Escape Room…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I was looking forward to the release after playing the demo, but am not convinced this is for me. The premise is interesting, but the often very contrived puzzles break the immersion too often for me. While the puzzles are okay in themselves, they often do not fit in the world logically at all and you're conveniently spoonfed puzzles one-by-one. In addition, the writing of the story is not doing enough to get me hooked and wanting to know more. All the characters I've heard about so far seem…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Rivage Exnilo Studio No Steam disclosure. This game originally went by "Strand" but removed the initial Steam page and then rebranded. They admitted to using Gen AI multiple times in the OG store discussions and on Reddit threads. store.steampowered.com/app/4094660/... Links in post below: -E
neutral · AI labelView post →The puzzles were well done, but the way the researches interacted with each other was so childish and poorly written. I hated every single one of these characters that served as the worst charicatures for their position in the story. There is a vague idea that the events outside the ship have driven them mad, but no. Some of them are just like that. Deeply unlikeable, petty, and unexplained. Maybe it plays better in something other than english. Its sad because the puzzles are kind of fun,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I bought this game on release because it looked like it had the potential to be another great time-loop mystery up there with the likes of Outer Wilds and The Forgotten City, and I could not have been let down harder. There are lots of people complaining about the graphics being buggy, and the film grain is incredibly annoying and doesn't seem possible to disable, but technically it worked well enough for me. I almost wish it hadn't, so I could pretend this was a good puzzle game held back by…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I wanted to like this game. I really did. The concept intrigued me at first, Especially the time loop part. The art is amazing, and the music is good. But the story feels all over the place and I didn't quite understand what was going on at all. I didn't really care for any of the characters. None of them were relatable or likable. The dialogue just comes off as bland and cheesy most of the time too. Some puzzles are cool on paper but none felt really satisfying by the end. Then the game…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Spent over an hour in menus trying to get the game to not look grainy. I never ended up fixing that. Puzzles do not feel organic within the world at all (Why would someone circle batteries that they want put away instead of just putting away the batteries???) Other puzzles are the type of disjointed type of puzzle you'd find in an old point and click game, a lot of; find number, put number somewhere else, that's the puzzle. The voice acting and characters are super cheesy. Suffers a bit from…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →For the three hours I played, the game was fun. Until I got to a part that I could not solve because I'm color blind and there are no color blind options. I'm not going to guess and check my way through multiple color based puzzles so guess I'm out $20 until hopefully this gets patched in the future.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →🌀💫RIVAGE IS NOW OFFICIALLY RELEASED💫🌀 Our long-awaited puzzle adventure game, filled with mysterious atmosphere and secrets, is out now with a 10% off on Steam✨ See more & get it here! bit.ly/4y1Lc80 #IndieGame #PuzzleGame #SciFi #RivageGame @rivagethegame.bsky.social @exnilostudio.bsky.social
neutral · AI labelView post →I bought this game without knowing much about it, thinking that it would be right up my alley. I like puzzle games, absolutely adored stuff like The Witness, Outer Wilds and Blue Prince. I also liked the more narrative Tacoma, which seems like it should be very similar to this. I will say the game looks very pretty, but that's about it. There is no feeling of mystery to the story, the characters are flat and uninteresting, the world-building poor and inconsistent, the UI clunky, and the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →maybe, but it was oddly very grainy. I remember graphics was a lot better in the very first demo (before it was called rivage).
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you want a game that has great puzzles for 8+ hours then this game is for you. If you want a story-rich game with great characters, maybe skip this one. Overall, I would still recommend this game despite its few flaws. Like many others, I played the demo and was waiting months for the game to come out. I even took a sick day. I do feel like my expectations were too high though. To be clear, the game is great, especially for the price point, but I wouldn't say it's going on my top ten list.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Rivage is a puzzle-adventure that borrows a few mechanics and narrative elements from Outer Wilds and, to some extent, Blue Prince. However, they matter far more on a narrative level than on a gameplay one: they're never pushed as far as in the titles they come from, and even without them the experience wouldn't change much. The result is a much more classic, Myst-like exploration-driven structure. What works best is the sci-fi setting, portrayed through an aesthetic that is both realistic and…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This isn't really a puzzle game. It feels much more like an escape room than a puzzle game, where you go around collecting different items/keys to gain access to new rooms but nothing is ever really that difficult to figure out. I am a little disappointed tbh.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →In case you haven’t heard folks, our puzzle game Rivage now has a 💫FREE DEMO on Steam💫 Go check it out. Why are you still here, if you could be on an adventure in space now? bit.ly/4sBG86E #IndieGame #PuzzleGame #SciFi @rivagethegame.bsky.social
neutral · AI labelView post →UPDATE: They now finally have a Steam disclosure for Rivage. Apparently all Gen AI has been removed from the final game. -E
neutral · AI labelView post →🌀💫RIVAGE IS NOW OFFICIALLY RELEASED💫🌀 Our long-awaited puzzle adventure game, filled with mysterious atmosphere and secrets, is out now with a 10% off on Steam✨ See more & get it here! bit.ly/4y1Lc80 #IndieGame #PuzzleGame #SciFi #RivageGame @rawfury.bsky.social @exnilostudio.bsky.social
neutral · AI labelView post →the graphics are great, the layout pretty solid, puzzles are pretty ok. the story, inextricable from the game, is amongst the worst. nonsense lines coming from nowhere, unresolved plot points dovetailing into out-of-nowhere dialogue, a crew with less chemistry and cohesion than bio-dome... bad. just bad. the story brings down the rest of the game too much.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I love loops, I love walking sims, I love puzzle games and old school adventure games. I do not love this game. The station is not a real place that you navigate and try to understand. It's a convoluted excuse to lead you around to specific puzzles in order. The world doesn't have a logic to try and sort out, it's more like a virtual escape room. Go through a sequence of puzzles so that you get a key to unlock the next section with a new, unrelated sequence of puzzles. There were some clever…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Have you ever heard of Riemann Hypothesis? Well, now you have for sure😉 Encounter this famous equation in Rivage on the game release, September 22nd - wishlist on Steam now💫 bit.ly/4zlup0x #IndieGame #PuzzleGame #SciFi #RivageGame @rawfury.bsky.social @exnilostudio.bsky.social
neutral · AI labelView post →Our immersive puzzle adventure game Rivage is coming to the 🌀✨Tribeca Festival✨🌀! Stay tuned for more info in June. #IndieGame #PuzzleGame #SciFi #Tribeca25th @rawfury.bsky.social @exnilostudio.bsky.social
neutral · AI labelView post →Fun experience, great artstyle, good puzzles, the narrative was interesting though I think it got more confusing as I neared the end of the game and I was left puzzled over both conclusions as neither really feels like a payoff to anything you uncover throughout the game, kind of the opposite infact. That being said, I do have one major problem: It's a cardinal sin to me if you have puzzles that take you out of the game for any reason. The normal playthrough was safe from this (I'm assuming…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you played the demo and liked it then quit while you're ahead. The first two hours of this game are as good as it gets. Puzzles vary wildly in difficulty from absolutely trivial to ones that are so difficult they make you feel like you missed a clue. Top that off with the looping and power requirements adding absolutely nothing to the gameplay past the first 10 loops or so. The voice acting and writing feels like a student project, and you need a NASA supercomputer to get reasonable FPS…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It was okay, while extremely pretty it was extremely linear in a way that it doesn't really present itself as, and some of the puzzles were extremely annoying rather than engaging, and while I can forgive the quality of the voice acting (Amaan was cool though) the overall story lost a lot of focus near the end, leaving me with a feeling of "are you going to expand on that at all?" rather than "wow that was intriguing, lets think through the possible meaning and ramifications of that",…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Loving the game so far, only complaint is there a puzzle that i was unable to tell the green/white circles aparts cause I'm colorblind and the game doesn't seem to have a colorblind mode. Had to have a friend point out which was green. Highly suggest the developers add in a colorblind mode or tools for color deficiencies.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Checking out a new puzzle game from the folks at @RawFury ! RIVAGE ALL AFTERNOON! Twitch -> day9tv
neutral · AI labelView post →This is one of those games where if Steam had something inbetween Yes and No I'd click that. I enjoyed the storytelling, environments, and *some* of the puzzles, but many of the puzzles felt like they were overly difficult compared to the difficulty of everything around them, which sometimes caused me to overthink the puzzles that were more reasonably designed. Those poorly-designed puzzles weren't enough to make me dislike my time with the game, but it did make me content with me getting the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →TL;DR: If you like Myst, you'll like this. Set pieces that will stick in your heart and puzzles that will either delight or frustrate. So... it's alright. If you treat it like an escape room puzzle, then it's not bad at all. The art direction is fantastic. And if you like ye olde skool point-and-click adventure games, you'll probably like this. Personally, I think it's Myst-like, and that's with all the positives and negatives implied. The diagetic K9 interface makes logging and screenshots…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Screw what other people are saying about this game, it's a blast! I don't mind the slow interactions, the point of this game is to be methodical and take your time. It's not overly difficult and I'm making steady progress. Visuals can be a little low detail even when close up, but holding right click/trigger zooms your perspective which helps a lot. My single complaint is that messaging records on devices are REALLY hard to read, with white text on green speech bubbles. Changing that to…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Meet Rivage developers - Antek and Alexandre, and hear what they have to say about the game💚 Rivage is releasing next Tuesday! Wishlist on Steam now🌿 bit.ly/4zlup0x #IndieGame #PuzzleGame #SciFi #RivageGame @rawfury.bsky.social @exnilostudio.bsky.social
neutral · AI labelView post →I do not think I have ever seen a game ignore its central idea as much as this one does. Rivage is ostensibly a time loop game, but Rivage does not seem to care. By my count, it has three vaguely relevant mechanics you'll actually notice. One (and I'll be careful for spoilers' sake) allows you to set up an item for the following cycle. A single puzzle asks you to complete a small sequence of tasks quickly within the opening minutes of the loop. And, more broadly, unlocking doors consumes a…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Mid. Decent ish escape room sim. Rubiks cube puzzle is just dumb, since they don't give you all the necessary controls to solve it the good ole fashioned way, and I'm not googling how to solve a cube using the limited control scheme they give us (This is a huge negative to me, I honestly cant fathom the why behind this design choice). Actually. 0/10 on the cube. No excuse. Bad design. QR codes in game requiring you to use your actual phone for any reason at all? 0/10. Not doing it. Outside…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game should have been a positive review for me since I usually love similar games. The problem was how tedious and annoying some puzzles were. Why am I forced to solve a Rubik's cube to 100% this game? I was never inclined to solve one and I don't want to feel forced to solve one in another game. There is also a timed challenge that I had to redo too many times because I missed it by just one or two seconds. It just became a chore to do it. What didn't help is the length of the time loop.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game has a few good things going for it. The visuals are nice (once they fixed the graininess bug) and I enjoyed the initial discovery of the premise and the puzzles. I generally suck at puzzles, so I was pleased that I only had to cheat in a few places in order to progress to the end. I didn't like the voice-acting or the writing. I genuinely tried, but failed to connect with the main character and I found the other characters to be entirely unlikable and lacking in any redeeming…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Only 14 hours, including finding all the collectables to get the second, better ending. This game is way too short for the cost and most of my time was spent brute forcing puzzles that we were super fiddly with a clumsy interface. The laziest puzzle was them just adding a Rubik's Cube to the game, except it takes way too long to solve because the controls absolutely suck. I played the demo and was hoping for a mix between Blue Prince and The Room series, but this one doesn't come close to…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really like the concept and puzzle mechanics. The Art direction is also great. I hope the graphics issues get sorted out (I did have to mess around with the settings a bit to fix the blurriness), but other than that It's very enjoyable. I usually want to play a bit more before leaving a review, but this game deserves a better score.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I like this game but its not without its flaws I had played the demo during next fest so I went in with fairly tempered expectations, don't expect a masterpiece A handful of the puzzles feel a bit tedious, but generally are quite straight forward. I think I only got stuck 2 or 3 times. I am a fan of the built in screenshot system in the K9, helping you keep your data straight is a strong suit of the game The story is honestly a little forgettable for me, its enough to keep me interested in…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Was surprised after thoroughly enjoying this game so far to come in and see "mostly negative" which is ridiculous, there's some minor visual blurring but the actual game is a solid puzzler, highly recommend. Raw Fury and Blue Prince were the reason i jumped on this and i'm not dissapointed.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really enjoy playing this game. The sound design, the overall look of it is very pleasant and immersive, you don't want to stop searching for the next clues. The game design and the puzzles are very good too tho, I really enjoy progressing in the station, and discover new areas.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Raw Fury’s Sci-Fi Puzzle Game Rivage Now Available comicbuzz.com/raw-furys-sc... @rivagethegame.bsky.social @exnilostudio.bsky.social @rawfury.bsky.social #RivageGame #indiedev #indiegame #gaming #videogames
neutral · AI labelView post →So far I’m really enjoying the game. It’s basically a mystery and puzzle game on a space station. I got exactly what was advertised. I have no technical issues the framerate seems fine etc.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →What inspired the Rivage developers to make the game? Find out in the video💚 Rivage is available now! Check it out here💫 bit.ly/4zlup0x #IndieGame #PuzzleGame #SciFi #RivageGame @rawfury.bsky.social @exnilostudio.bsky.social
neutral · AI labelView post →Third Rivage stream tonight, and I have it on record that I am perhaps about 2/3 of the way through the game so...ending tonight??? Maybe??? www.twitch.tv/merk_plays_g... #rivage #puzzlegames #twitch
neutral · AI labelView post →FULL GAME SPOILERS As a big enjoyer of time-loop based puzzle games (Blue Prince, Outer Wilds, The Forgotten City) I was incredibly excited about this game and bought it on release, only to be met with huge disappointment. I find it absurd how this game fundamentally misses on every single aspect that made the games listed above masterpieces. Let me start with the completely redundant time loop mechanism. There is literally no reason for it to be in the game. There are effectively no…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →For everything great it sets out to do, there is an annoying or finicky element waiting for you around the corner. I really wanted to like this game, but this just is not it. The puzzles do not exist as part of an organic or narrative justification; they are there for the sake of it, acting as hurdles than smart connections to help drive the narrative forward. I don't mind back-to-back puzzles, but throw me a bone to keep me going. Whatever story element being presented in between is not worth…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Overall I finished the game in roughly 55 loops, playing casually. Solid work overall, with a total playtime of about 18 hours. From around the halfway point, the game started feeling more like a walking simulator — solve one (part of) puzzle, repeat the loop, run through the same areas multiple times. You’ll need some patience here. Puzzles The puzzles are very well designed, especially the Tarot ones. Those Tarot challenges are meant for end‑game and offer a unique level of…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The puzzles are complex enough until you hit the later stages then it hopes you can take giant leaps of logic. Later stages needs more hints or directions on the how the puzzle is to be solved. The time mechanic was great at first but in the later stages it becomes annoying and repetitive especially when it is not obvious at where the clues to the puzzle are or how to solve it.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Mechanically, an interesting game, thought I will admit that I was not prepared for a time-looping mechanic (which partially explained what seemed like a clunky one-slot inventory system). In terms of graphics, it looks very good, and after turning down some settings I was able to get a reasonably stable 60FPS. What didn't get resolved was a strange graininess across the entire game. It might just be an intentional filter, but it did sometime leave me wondering if I was seeing things properly…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →PRO TIP!!! -- If you want to play this, use the in-game screenshot tool frequently! It will save you forgetting clues later! Also, you might want a notepad to jot down some puzzle solutions. Believe me, you will get much less frustrated if you use the tools at your disposal. Rivage is a very well designed "escape room" type puzzle game. I was impressed by how well utilized each and every area of the space station was used throughout the game. Similar to Blue Prince, almost every item or…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Today: Rivage begins! (It's a new sci-fi puzzle game that I played the demo of.) Stream in 30.
neutral · AI labelView post →I want to be transparent that I'm early on in Rivage still, and I haven't given up yet. But I'm enough of a genre veteran (going all the way back to Myst, and to text-based adventures before it!) to know what I'm getting myself into, and like many of you, I'm hot off the heels of Blue Prince... which is unfortunately to Rivage's detriment. Talk about big shoes to fill! A lot has been said about the puzzles, so I want to focus my concerns on the early story. I'm really confused by the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →From meeting at an apartment viewing to releasing a game together - creating Rivage has been a journey! See video for details💫 Rivage is available now! Get it here🚀 bit.ly/4zlup0x #IndieGame #PuzzleGame #SciFi #RivageGame @rawfury.bsky.social @exnilostudio.bsky.social
neutral · AI labelView post →It feels more like a walking simulator than a puzzle game. Puzzles are too trivial and boring, not a signle one took me more than a couple of minutes, and loops are just annoying. If you, like me, were expecting something similar to blue prince, don't buy it.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →TLDR: A mystery not delivered. A soft magic system with with an unexplained storyline does not mix well with concrete puzzles. It drained my soul without a payoff The good: the game is pretty and the idea fairly novel and it's evident it strives to be the next Myst or Blue Prince. It made me solve a Rubik's Cube out of frustration The bad: The story doesn't explain itself outside of positing there's a mcguffin (tachyons) that you neither see nor interact with. This creates a problem…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I cannot in good conscience recommend this. graphical issues with blurriness and hard to read text aside, some of the puzzles are obtuse to an absurd degree. one requires you to solve an entire rubik's cube with the most jank control scheme possible, and god help you if you misclick and close the inventory. it's incredibly confusing where to go most of the time so you can waste an entire loop doing nothing or using up your available power supply trying to figure it out. the writing also is just…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Rivage is a sci-fi puzzle game built around a time loop, with an AI companion and a K9 tool at your side as you work through an mystery in space. On paper it's got a lot going for it, but in practice a fair few things hold it back. For starters the voice acting is severely off putting the majority of the game. The K9 AI is annoying and I was dreading every time it would pipe up and ruin any form of atmosphere the game has. Worse than that, Jahi's voice actor is almost game ruining on top of…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Pretty good. Game Art is pretty and the puzzles are demanding but not too difficult. I Haven't encountered any bugs or crashes. The game runs smoothly. So far I'm having fun.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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