Myst
Myst original box
Myst is a graphic adventure computer game created by the brothers Robyn and Rand Miller. It was developed by Cyan, Inc and published and distributed by Broderbund. The Millers began working on Myst in 1991 and released it in 1993.
Myst has sold over 9 million copies. Its popularity led to two sequels, Riven and Myst III: Exile; an improved rerelease featuring seamless landscapes, realMYST; a parody, Pyst; and three derivative novels by the creators called The Book of Ti'ana, The Book of Atrus, and The Book of D'ni. A third sequel featuring massively multiplayer gaming aspects, Uru: Ages Beyond Myst is currently under development.
Development
The game was created entirely on Apple Macintosh computers, especially Quadra models. The entire game was essentially a very large, color HyperCard stack, with each card consisting of a three-dimensionally rendered scene.
Gameplay
The gameplay of Myst consists of a first-person journey through an interactive world. The player moves the character by clicking at the outside border of the game display and can interact with specific objects on some screens by clickinging or dragging them. Unlike most computer games, there are no enemies or threat of "dying" or a "game over" event. The only competition is the player vs. the puzzles presented in the game. To complete the game, the player must discover and follow clues to be transported via books to several Ages, each of which is a self-contained mini-world. Once traveling through the Selenitic, Stoneship, Mechanical, and Channelwood Ages, the player would return to the starting point of the game, Myst Island, with all the information necessary to complete the game. For those less patient, this information could be obtained from an outside source and the game objective could be completed in a matter of minutes.
