Myst

aka: Myst 1, Myst I
Moby ID: 1223
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Description official descriptions

You have just stumbled upon a most intriguing book, a book titled Myst. You have no idea where it came from, who wrote it, or how old it is. Reading through its pages provides you with only a description of an island world. But it's just a book, isn't it? As you reach the end of the book, you lay your hand on a page. Suddenly your own world dissolves into blackness, replaced with the island world the pages described. Now you're here, wherever here is, with no option but to explore.

Myst is a first-person point-and-click adventure where the player controls a character known as The Stranger. Magically transported into the world described in the book, he needs to explore Myst Island and solve its mysteries. The game is presented as a series of static scenes where the player acts with the environment by clicking and manipulating objects. There are no enemies and it is not possible to die. Through Myst Island, the game is further divided into mini-worlds set in different ages accessed through different books.

The game's interface is reduced to a single cursor for navigation and interaction. Rather than collecting items and using them to solve puzzles, the player must gather subtly placed clues and manipulate complex mechanical devices in order to advance in the game. The world of Myst is mostly uninhabited, and the game has very few live-action scenes with characters and dialogue.

Spellings

  • ミスト - Japanese spelling

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Credits (Macintosh version)

28 People (10 developers, 18 thanks) · View all

Designed by
Directed by
Graphics
Animation
Environmental Sound Design
Sound Effects
Musical Score
Video and Movie Editing
Producer
Production Assistant
Assistant Product Manager
Senior Marketing Manager
Marketing Coordinator
QA Lead Technician
Alpha Testing
Manual
Special Thanks to
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 78% (based on 66 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.3 out of 5 (based on 330 ratings with 12 reviews)

A majestic, surrealistic experience.

The Good
Myst was one of my earlier games, I have to admit. I suppose one could claim I'm biased slightly towards it because of that. But I also played it again recently, in the wake of playing games like Half-Life, System Shock 2, Planescape: Torment, and Unreal. The truth is that even though my experience was to a degree lessened by my having completed the game before in my earlier days (and thereby already having seen it all and completed all the puzzles) I still found it a pleasure to play.

I have indeed seen criticism after criticism of this game coming out of the gaming community. Not enough action, lousy interface, just a bunch of screenshots, and the like. While such may be true, Myst really needs to be looked at in the light of its intent.

Myst excels at what it is supposed to be. It is supposed to be experienced. It is about beautiful, immersing environments and a chilling solitude as you explore this place where once upon a time there were beings, but now only you.

Playing Myst again I was once more struck even today by the beauty of the graphics. Not just by the way they are rendered, the quality of the images, but by their content. Every location is designed to convey an experience to the player, every object and vista to add to the ambiance.

The same goes for the sound and music. From the wind blows in a particularly lonely way that makes one's spine tingle and the music that finds its way into certain places, the essence of the moment is captured.

I found the plot to be interesting as well. I enjoyed the openness of the exposition, which allowed the player to come to a lot of his own conclusions.

All in all, I had wonderful time playing Myst and, in my mind, it achieved its purpose with excellence.

The Bad
It is too short and replay value is rather limited. The experience is not as potent after the first time.

The puzzles were fair, but one could argue that there aren't enough and one rather breezes through the game.

The Bottom Line
Playing Myst for the first time is like the viewing of a work of art. Definitely not an action title, but excellent in its own right.

Windows 3.x · by Steelysama (82) · 2000

Myst did to PC gaming what grunge rock did to the hair/metal bands!

The Good
Myst came out and PC gaming was never the same again...

Then again, just because it was new and different and successful, doesn't mean every developer has to imitate it. That's their fault, not Myst's.

Where Myst does best is in delivering ambiance. It does this through outstanding (for the time) graphics, background noises, and yes, even the non-interactive aspect of each screen.

The retro-futuristic puzzles are difficult to master, but not impossible, given a little thought. It was fun unlocking the puzzles, and then entering and solving the different ages.

The Bad
Not much replay value, because nothing changes. I still remember many of the puzzles, as well as the ending - so what's the point of doing it again.

And unfortunately, Myst broke the old adventure game formula, and in becoming so successful, became the adventure game formula - at least for a while. sigh.

The Bottom Line
A fun and immersive little diversion from real life.

Windows 3.x · by ex_navynuke! (42) · 2005

Quite an experience!

The Good
The graphics are spectacular, the music eerily appropriate, and the intrigue of the story is discovered pieces by pieces, bits by bits, like a fascinating puzzle.

The Bad
The game is too easy for an experienced adventure gamer. What I can't understand is why didn't they make the puzzles more random. It would have made the game more interesting to replay.

The Bottom Line
Myst is probably the most beautiful and enticing game to come out in the mid-nineties. It has spawned a multitude of clones, and will probably be remembered for years to come.

Windows 3.x · by Belboz (6512) · 2000

[ View all 12 player reviews ]

Trivia

1001 Video Games

Myst appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Development

Myst was rendered entirely on stock color Macintoshes using only Stratavision Software. Until the success of Myst, The Miller brothers ran Cyan from their basement.

Easter egg

A mosaic on the floor in the D'ni Age shows the face of developer Chuck Carter.

Novels

Hyperion published three novels set in the Myst universe:1. The Book of Atrus (1995), by Rand Miller, Robyn Miller and David Wingrove; 2. The Book of Ti'ana (1996), by Rand Miller, Robyn Miller, and David Wingrove; and 3. The Book of D'ni (1997), by Rand Miller and David Wingrove.

A fourth novel, The Book of Marrim, by Rand Miller and David Wingrove, was put on hold while the last Myst games were completed, and is now expected to be published at some point in 2006.

Additionally, Dark Horse Comics published two issues (Passages and the Joining) of an aborted Myst comic book miniseries, The Book of Black Ships.

Reception

Myst is the best-selling game of all time. Over the course of a few years, it stayed on PC Data's top ten list. The game's non-violence (the creators are both pious Christians), simplicity, and amazing graphics contributed to its success. Myst was also responsible for many people buying a CD-ROM drive for their computers.

References

While in D'ni, you may notice there is a mosaic of a face on the tile floor. Though it may look like one of the characters in the game, it is actually Chuck Carter, one of the graphics designers for the game.

References to the Game

In the 1995 episode "Treehouse Of Horror VI" of the TV series The Simpsons the last of three parodies named Homer³ is based on a Twilight Zone episode. Homer gets sucked into the 3rd dimension and enters a 3D animated world where some 3D objects exist on a grid. As he walks along, you can see a replica of Myst's library and a snippet of the Myst finale theme music can be heard.

Cancelled versions

Sunsoft announced releases for both the Sega CD and the LaserActive's Mega LD format, both of which were in an advanced state of completion before being cancelled.

Soundtrack

Myst soundtrack composed by Robyn Miller was released in 1998. This soundtrack is pretty much available everywhere, in almost every online music CD store.

The songs are parted to several Myst game ages:* Myst Island (1-6) * Mechanical Age (7-13) * Stoneship Age (14-17) * Selentic Age (18) * Channelwood Age (19-21) * Finale (22-23) * Bonus Tracks (24-26)

Tracklist: * Myst Theme * Treegate * Planetarium * Shipgate * The Tower * The Last Mesage (Forechamber Theme) * Fortress Ambience, Part I * Fortress Ambience, Part II * Mechanical Mystgate * Sirrus Cache * Sirrus Theme * Achenar's Cache * Achenar's Theme * Compass Rose * Above Stoneship * Sirrus Theme - Stoneship Age * Achenar's Theme - Stoneship Age * Selentic Mystgate * The Temple of Achenar * Sirrus Theme - Channelwood Age * Achenar's Theme - Chennelwood Age * Un-finale * Finale * Fireplace Theme * Early Selentic Mystgate * Original Un-finale

Awards

  • Computer Gaming World
    • November 1996 (15th anniversary issue) – #11 Most Innovative Computer Game
    • November 1996 (15th anniversary issue) – #13 Hardest Computer Game
    • November 1996 (15th anniversary issue) – #3 Least Rewarding Ending of All Time
  • Electronic Entertainment
    • March 1994 – Editors' Choice Awards: Breakthrough Game (Honorable Mention)
  • FLUX
    • Issue #4 - #14 in the "Top 100 Video Games of All-Time" list
  • GameStar (Germany)
    • Issue 12/1999 - #33 in the "100 Most Important PC Games of the Nineties" ranking
  • MacUser
    • 1993 - Best Game (Editors' Choice)
  • PC Gamer
    • April 2000 - #42 in the "All Time Top 50 Games" Readers' Poll

Information also contributed by Adam Baratz, Agent 5, Big John WV, Mu77etOfDeath, PCGamer77, Pseudo_Intellectual, Scaryfun and Scott Monster

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Related Games

Myst: The Collection
Released 2006 on Windows, 2007 on Macintosh
Myst Trilogy
Released 2002 on Windows, Macintosh
Myst (Desktop Edition)
Released 1998 on Windows, Windows 3.x
Myst III: Exile
Released 2001 on Windows, 2002 on Xbox, PlayStation 2
Real Myst
Released 2000 on Windows, 2002 on Macintosh, 2015 on iPhone...
Riven: The Sequel to Myst
Released 1997 on Windows, PlayStation, 1998 on SEGA Saturn...
Myst IV: Revelation
Released 2004 on Windows, Macintosh, Xbox
Ages of Myst
Released 1998 on Windows, Windows 3.x, Macintosh
Myst IV: Revelation (Collector's Edition)
Released 2004 on Windows, Macintosh

Related Sites +

  • Cyan's Myst Walkthrough
    Full solution to Myst
  • JTB's Myst Help
    A webpage providing a hint book in three different formats, illustrated puzzle solutions, both spoiler-free and spoiler-laden tips, maps of the Channelwood Age, links to other sources of online help for the game, and a set of save games for the Macintosh version of the game.
  • Myst UHS Hints
    Online web hints for Myst, written by Jason Strautman.
  • Myst.Com
    Cyan's Official Myst Homepage.
  • Play Myst For Me
    An article by Scott Rosenberg, originally published in the SF Examiner Sunday Magazine, detailing his experiences attempting to get Myst running on his (dated) PC (1994 - Feb. 1995).
  • The Myst Guidebook
    The Myst subsection of the Guidebook fansite that provides information about the game and a brief background on the game's production and later remake in addition to game hints and a walkthrough.

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 1223
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by MAT.

PS Vita added by Fred VT. PlayStation 3 added by Lance Boyle. CD-i added by Corn Popper. Windows added by Trixter. iPhone, PSP added by Sciere. SEGA Saturn added by Kohler 86. Windows Mobile added by Kabushi. Macintosh added by Terok Nor. PlayStation added by Grant McLellan. Amiga added by Syed GJ. 3DO, Jaguar added by quizzley7.

Additional contributors: Jeanne, Guy Chapman, Havoc Crow, Parf, Ms. Tea, Zeppin, Patrick Bregger, Plok, FatherJack, Evolyzer.

Game added March 29, 2000. Last modified February 4, 2024.