Point-and-click adventure games were a predominant genre when it came to computer gaming of the 1990s, and none perfected the formula quite like Myst. The original game in the series celebrates its 25th anniversary later this year, having made its debut on September 24, 1993.
The game is played from a first-person perspective, where players control an unnamed person known simply as the “Stranger.” The character is not given any sort of backstory nor are they given a gender – this was so that the player could always be able to project themselves into the world instead. The story begins with the Stranger reading an unusual book, titled “Myst,” and, upon getting to the last page, is transported to the titular island of said book.
From there, the player is basically free to explore the island; in a move unusual for gaming at the time, Myst really just sort of drops the player onto the island without any instruction or guidance, and instead the player is encouraged to explore on their own and figure out what to do from there. Eventually, the Stranger discovers that Sirrus and Achenar, the sons of Atrus, have been trapped in red and blue books. The Stranger explores the island in order to solve puzzles, find the missing pages of the red and blue books, and eventually discover the truth behind the books and behind Myst itself.
Myst was designed by Rand and Robin Miller, two brothers who incidentally didn’t have much of an interest in video games. They instead were interested in making an interactive storybook that would appeal to an adult audience. Eventually they were turned on to adventure games, and development of Myst began in 1991 with a small group of developers. Due to the limited technology at the time, a number of constraints were present during development – most notably, the slow read speeds of CD-ROM drives.
The game was a significant success upon its original release and helped push computer gaming as a legitimate platform for video games in a market largely dominated by consoles. Myst received praise for its open-world nature and narrative-driven gameplay; while many other games were focused on action and defeating enemies, Myst achieved an audience by focusing on stories and puzzles. The game was actually the bestselling PC game for nearly a decade, until the release of The Sims in 2002.
Myst was later ported to a number of different systems, including the Atari Jaguar CD, the Sega Saturn, and the Nintendo 3DS – though more recent ports have been criticized for not doing much to upgrade the game in the two decades since its original release. The success of the game helped to generate an entire series, with the most recent, Myst V: End of Ages, arriving in 2005. End of Ages was billed as being the final game in the series, so it’s unlikely that new original Myst content will be made. However, the series continues to be celebrated today, as Cyan Worlds, Inc. has recently launched a Kickstarter for a complete collection of all seven games in the franchise.
