Myst

Lore & Background

Myst's gameplay consists of a first-person journey through an interactive world. Players can interact with objects by clicking or dragging them, and move by clicking on locations shown on the screen, with scenes crossfading into new frames. An optional 'Zip' feature allows rapid travel across already-explored areas, though it may cause players to miss important items and clues. Some items can be carried and read, including journal pages providing backstory; players can carry only a single page at a time, and pages return to their original locations when dropped. To complete the game, the player must fully explore the island of Myst, discovering linking books that transport them to several Ages—Selenitic, Stoneship, Mechanical, and Channelwood—each requiring logical puzzles to solve. The game has no obvious enemies, no physical violence, no time limit, and no threat of dying, unfolding at its own pace through patience, observation, and logical thinking.

The plot begins with an unnamed person who stumbles across a book titled 'Myst' and is transported to the island described within. In the island's library, two books—red and blue—trap Sirrus and Achenar, the sons of Atrus, who writes linking books to Ages. The brothers claim Atrus is dead and blame each other. The player must visit Ages, find red and blue pages hidden there, and return them to the corresponding books. As pages are added, the brothers become clearer. The player is left with a choice to help Sirrus, Achenar, or neither. A green book leads to D'ni, where Atrus is imprisoned. The game has several endings: giving either brother the final page traps the player in the prison book; linking to D'ni without the page leaves the player and Atrus trapped; bringing Atrus the page allows him to return to Myst, where he returns to his writing and asks the player to help in the future, setting the stage for Riven. Upon returning to the library, the red and blue books are gone, with burn marks on the shelves.

Development of Myst began in 1991. Designers Rand and Robyn Miller had previously created black-and-white, largely plotless games aimed at children. They wanted Myst to be a graphically impressive game with a nonlinear story and mystery elements aimed at adults. The game's design was limited by the small memory footprint of video game consoles and the slow speed of CD-ROM drives. It was created on Apple Macintosh computers and ran on the HyperCard software stack, though ports to other platforms subsequently required a new engine. Cyan took inspiration from games like Zork, Star Wars' mythic universe, portals to other worlds like in C. S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia, and the mysterious islands of Jules Verne. The game's name and atmosphere were inspired by Verne's The Mysterious Island.

Reader's Guide

Myst was a critical and commercial success, selling more than six million copies and becoming the best-selling PC game for nearly a decade. Critics lauded the ability of the game to immerse players in its fictional worlds. It has been called one of the best and most influential video games ever made. The game helped drive adoption of the CD-ROM drive, spawned a multimedia franchise, and inspired clones, parodies, and new video game genres, as well as spin-off novels and other media. Myst has been ported to multiple platforms and remade multiple times. Its unusual gameplay—providing very little backstory, no obvious goals, no enemies, no violence, no time limit, and no threat of dying—set it apart from other adventure games of the era. The game's nonlinear story and ethical choices for the player were among the designers' goals, and its success influenced the adventure game genre and broader gaming culture.

Did You Know?

• Myst was developed on Apple Macintosh computers using the HyperCard software stack.
• The game's name and atmosphere were inspired by Jules Verne's The Mysterious Island.
• Myst was the best-selling PC game for nearly a decade, with more than six million copies sold.