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Myst, One of the Most Influential Games Ever, Turns 25 (fastcompany.com) 134

Posted by msmash from the closer-look dept.
harrymcc writes: On September 24, 1993, Myst debuted as a CD-ROM game for the Mac. The mysterious, puzzle-laden adventure went on to become the best-selling game title of its era, inspiring a devoted following and multiple sequels. But for all the people who loved Myst, it was disrespected by many in the gaming industry, who found it less engaging than previous adventures and even blamed it for killing of the earlier genre of more action-packed adventuring. Over at Fast Company, Benj Edwards provides an appreciation of Myst but also talks to game designers about the game's still-complex legacy.
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Myst, One of the Most Influential Games Ever, Turns 25 More

Myst, One of the Most Influential Games Ever, Turns 25

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  • That means Pyst is also 25 years old.

    • Re:Pyst (Score:5, Interesting)

      by commodore64_love ( 1445365 ) on Tuesday September 25, 2018 @03:02PM (#57374922) Journal

      No Pyst came 3 years after Myst, so it's only 22. I like the description from wikipedia: "The basic concept of Pyst was to show what Myst Island (from the best-selling game) would look like after four million people (players) had visited....... the island is full of litter, most of the buildings are ruined, and graffiti reveals secret doors and solutions to puzzles that challenged players in Myst."

    • Cheryl: "This primitive cave was once the ceremonial center for the aboriginals of Pyst."
      Other announcer: "How primitive were they, Cheryl?"
      Cheryl: "Their simple language consisted of a mere seven symbols: hello-goodbye, tree, bad, luck, very, martini, and death."
      Other announcer: "Wow, it sounds like we know very little about them."
      Cheryl: "Yes, except for that one haunting sentence they have left behind, 'Very bad martini death, hello-goodbye.'"
      Other announcer: "Oh, I've had one of those."

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Ramley ( 1168049 )
      I received a copy of Pyst as a gift when it came out. I never opened the package and still have it in the cellophane. Maybe it will be worth something long after my demise.

  • I much preferred Seventh Guest (Score:4, Informative)

    by kriston ( 7886 ) on Tuesday September 25, 2018 @02:27PM (#57374676) Homepage Journal

    I much preferred Seventh Guest. It was a lot more fun and is also puzzle-focused.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Black Dahlia was good too.

      (SCUMMVM Games I loved)
      The Dig
      Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
      Day of the Tentacle
      Full Throttle

      • You forgot Monkey Island and Monkey Island 2.

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by Rei ( 128717 )

        Ahh... good memories. :)

        My favourite easter egg in Full Throttle was one that most people I talked to missed. It's possible to get another box of bunnies after having them set off the minefield, which you can hang onto until near the end of the game when you're hanging onto the out-of-control truck. If you open up the grille and expose the spinning radiator fan, and apply the box of bunnies to it, the Ride of the Valkyries music comes back on while you shred each bunny against the fan ;)

    • Didn't like that one much compared to Myst. Too many of it's puzzles were unrelated to the plot and the setting. Ie, to uncover a clue you have solve a puzzle about moving pennies around, and then later even more penny puzzles. The point with Myst I think is that it was interesting to actually look at. Later sequels added more back story and such which was slightly interesting but after awhile it just got old.

    • The Residents Freak Show.

    • The 7th Guest is one of the first video games that I played through to completion, so it has a special place in my sig^H^H^Hheart.

    • Back when it was new, my local CompUSA had this game running on a local demo PC. I tried it and even though I sucked (still do) in these types of games, I got a crowd going to watch me play. Haha. My queen ant found me and told me it was time to go. Pretty cool game, but not for me since I suck in these types. :)

  • 5 minute game (Score:3)

    by Sigma 7 ( 266129 ) on Tuesday September 25, 2018 @02:29PM (#57374688)

    Myst can be completed within 5 minutes. Faster if you speedrun it.

    Proof: https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]

    Other adventure games that can be completed that quicky include Alpine Encounter, where you can get a backpack (by waiting at a certain area), call the inspector (whom you weren't introduced to yet), and give the backpack to the inspector (which then solves some crime).

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Merk42 ( 1906718 )
      The point of these games is figuring out the solutions, which would not take a mere 5 minutes.
      • What Sigma 7 is referring to, is that if you know the solution already (the discovery of which requires that you complete at least the majority of the puzzles in the game) you can reach the end game in mere moments. I've demonstrated that exact process to my children when they became disillusioned with the puzzles - just to get the game over with. - That said, I completed the original Myst game after about 2 weeks of exploring and figuring things out, then moved on to the sequels. It's an acquired taste, an

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by r1348 ( 2567295 )

          It's not Ubisoft who released the 25th anniversary edition, it's Cyan after getting back the rights for III and IV from Ubisoft, and tweaking them to work on modern systems.

        • There are people who immediately go online to the walkthrough and follow that. They often end up missing the whole point of the game, presumably because they were used to shooters where they just want to get to the action and find the good hidden guns.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Sigma 7 ( 266129 )

        That is true, however a game about figuring out the solutions to puzzles shouldn't include a means to bypass most of them. It's quite possible someone could stumble upon them by accident or brute force - like entering the fireplace, and trying every combination in that book that lists possible answers. Maybe one could do that a bit faster then getting deadlocked on one of the other island puzzles.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Merk42 ( 1906718 )
          That's like saying a Rubik's Cube, or even old-school cardboard puzzles, are bad because they could be brute forced.
    • Let's see you solve it in 5 minutes without knowing the answers to the puzzles.

  • Puzzles (Score:5, Interesting)

    by fluffernutter ( 1411889 ) on Tuesday September 25, 2018 @02:33PM (#57374710)
    Myst immersed me in its world. There was nothing jumping out at you or time limits on anything, but you wanted to solve the problems for the graphics and the story. Last one I played like that was Syberia II that came out in 2004; although now I have just noticed there is a Syberia 3 that came out in 2017. There doesn't seem to be a lot of games like that since first pirson shooters became popular.

    • Re:Puzzles (Score:5, Interesting)

      by arth1 ( 260657 ) on Tuesday September 25, 2018 @02:58PM (#57374888) Homepage Journal

      I guess graphical adventure games are lost in the mysts of time.

      Personally, I'd go a bit farther back. Infocom text adventures is what I remember with the most fondness. From before they became semi-graphical. Trinity and Leather Goddesses of Phobos were just awesome.
      These days, however, they are kind of pointless, because you can find solutions online. Which defeats the purpose of these games, which were meant to be difficult.

      • I have played games that provided a hint system aka walkthrough as an in-game mechanic. You may skip watching somebody play in Youtube.

        • You can always call the hintline from Monkey Island 2, and in-game you'd find a phone booth where you could call up and get to a cartoon receptionist who supplied no help at all.

      • Text adventures are still alive these days, but not so much commercial. More like "fan (interactive) fiction". For example: https://ifcomp.org/ [ifcomp.org]

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Check out Obduction. It's a modern Myst made by some of the same people.

      • I'd mod you up if I hadn't already commented. This game is definitely worth checking out if you like atmospheric adventure games

    • Re:Puzzles (Score:5, Interesting)

      by commodore64_love ( 1445365 ) on Tuesday September 25, 2018 @03:17PM (#57375018) Journal

      Myst didn't impress me too much. It reminded me of Activision's text-graphics adventure Mindshadow (1984) which also had lots of still images, and puzzles to solve.

      Of course people brand-new to PC computing had no idea about the older pre-crash games. To them it was a new experience (even though it really wasn't).

      I thought later efforts like ICO were far more impressive and fun (thanks to random battles).

      • I agree with you.
        As I worked in the pre-press industry at the time, and it was all Mac all the time my friends all thought Myst was the most amaaaazing game of all time.
        I was the only person I knew that owned a PC, and frankly thought Myst was a bit meh really.

    • You may like to check out The Witness if you haven't already.

    • I never played Myst. But, recently, I attempted to find a game I'd like to play and couldn't. Much about Myst sounds like what I'd like in a game.

      I have no desire to play any standard shoot em ups, especially against other people online. I did enjoy Splinter Cell years ago, though I find it very annoying to have such a set script or even a game that has an ending. A much more open world version of that would be far better.

      What I believe I'd enjoy the most would be hiking or survival games based on real worl

      • > I'd just like the game to be beautiful, relaxing, complex, and unbounded.
        > I couldn't find anything that seemed to come close to catering to my needs. If I missed something, I'd love to hear suggestions.

        You don't say which platform but I'd highly recommend ALL of these (in alphabetical order):

        The Room [steampowered.com]

        The Talos Principle [steampowered.com]

        The Vanishing of Ethan Carter [steampowered.com]

        The Witness [steampowered.com]

        Enjoy!

        • I particularly do not agree with the recommendations once I have read the OP request. He/she probably would prefer something like No Man's Sky. Or Out There. Or Dwarf Fortress. Or Simcity 2000. Or Block'hood. Or Euro Truck 2. Or Minecraft.

          Most games have a win/lose state so it disqualifies a lot of them in this recommendation. I do not see how a realistic game about survival, let me call it Survivalist Simulator 2018, would sell.

      • Also see these old classics:

        * The 7th Guest [steampowered.com]

        * The 11th Hour [steampowered.com]

      • Not photo-realistic but The Long Dark is a great survival game.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by r1348 ( 2567295 )

        You can now find the whole Myst saga on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/8699/Myst_Collection/ [steampowered.com]

      • I'd just like the game to be beautiful, relaxing, complex, and unbounded.

        Just like Oblivion; peaceful, bucolic, quiet music, and.. AUGH why is this unicorn attacking me? Get er off, ugh, dammit... reload.

      • It sounds like you just need to get some camping equipment and head out. Be careful of the permadeath, though.

      • I enjoyed it tremendously, even though I did need to consult a walkthrough on a few rooms. to find the clickable icons. At the time, the immersive 3D landscape was _stunning_ to encounter. I tried the later, more 3D and graphically enhanced remake of it, which used the best available graphics tools, but was not truly happy about the remake. It was interesting to study and learn about the graphic enhancements, but they didn't provide the charm, for me, of the original. Even then, I was learning a great deal

      • You might want to check out Subnautica. While it's not that realistic, it is very pretty and mostly relaxing, it does have the rare stressful moment of turning a corner to find some leviathan swimming by. Its focus on exploration and discovering the back story make it a lot of fun.

    • There doesn't seem to be a lot of games like that since first pirson shooters became popular.

      First person shooters have been popular long before Myst came out. Unless you mean with the game studios. Making creative and engaging puzzle games like this or even Tomb Raider can be quite difficult, time consuming, and therefore expensive. With a first person shooter you can use almost the exact same code base after year and just tweak the story and multiplayer. The only genre with less innovation would be something like Madden. Why people continue to pay a $60 per year subscription to an NFL roster

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by r1348 ( 2567295 )

      Just so that you know, Syberia 3 is really disappointing.
      But Cyan made a new game too, Obduction. It's not connected to the Myst saga, but it's a satisfying experience nonetheless.

    • My all time favorite was Time Lapse from 1997. Beautiful graphic and good puzzles with lots of mystery and a great story line. I never looked at the Easter Island the same.

  • Leisure Suit Larry...

    Yea, it didn't have the graphics interface of Myst, but it sure had the story line, puzzles and sleaze...

    Larry was the beginning of the end for the PC console game genre

    (/sarcasm off)

    • Lesure Suit Larry/Police Quest/Kings Quest came way before Myst. I think I had Police Quest for my Apple ][+. I liked those too though.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by TWX ( 665546 )

      /walks up to desk clerk at "The La Costa Lotta" Hotel /tries all of the right-click options including the zipper

      "Please sir! Do you have any other form of identification?"

    • If you want to know what hit adventure games hard, it was Gabriel Knight 3 and its cat-mustache puzzle. Myst is just an adventure game with CGI graphics and animation on a CDROM, with puzzles that are just too logical compared to the cat-mustache.

    • and Myst never taught me as an early teen, the importance of remembering to wear a spearmint-flavored, striped, rough-cut, colored, libbed lubber.

  • First five paragraphs are how obsessed anyone with a PC got about Myst. Mentions how people put up with the crashing and restarts just to get to the puzzles than concludes with Myst being the start of "casual gaming"

    Which is it?

    I think Myst was a very interesting title in its day - but if you going to write an article about it pick a thesis, and support it.

  • Not that influential (Score:3, Insightful)

    by rh2600 ( 530311 ) on Tuesday September 25, 2018 @03:09PM (#57374968) Homepage
    Perhaps one of the most influential mac games, but this was essentially a curiosity in the wider gaming world of PC and console gaming...

    Only a diehard mac fanboy of old would try to argue its massive influence in wider gaming - and I say that is a mac user...

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by skam240 ( 789197 )

      It's popularity is credited with speeding up cdrom adoption on PCs by several years. That alone is pretty frick'n influential

  • was a great concept for its time (Score:3)

    by citylivin ( 1250770 ) on Tuesday September 25, 2018 @03:09PM (#57374970)

    For basically a fancy hypercard stack, it really had beautiful graphics and pushed the limits on what was possible with that era of technology. That said, i can still hear my quad speed cdrom drive churning, between movements, whenever i even think about that game!

    • Having the higher resolution pre-rendered graphics led to quite a few similar games, and also changed the look and mood of many of the "find the pixel" graphical adventures (ie, think Syberia).

  • Fond Memories of Myst (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Only Time Will Tell ( 5213883 ) on Tuesday September 25, 2018 @03:17PM (#57375028)
    I remember it was one of the first games I got that came on CD. I had first seen the game at a friend's house and was enamored with the graphics and music. I even ended up getting a collector's edition later that came with a Myst t-shirt and a game music CD which I listened to numerous times. I went on to read the Myst book trilogy (they were OK, but still a fun read), but never really explored the computer games beyond the first one. I still have fond memories of the game and can envision the various worlds if I close my eyes.

  • My problem with Myst (Score:4, Insightful)

    by smooth wombat ( 796938 ) on Tuesday September 25, 2018 @03:33PM (#57375130) Journal

    The biggest thing I didn't like about Myst was the lack of design. And by that I don't mean the physical game, I mean the design of the puzzles.

    What nutjob thought it would be a great idea to have to unlock this puzzle by going to the other side of the island and having to solve two more puzzles first? No real person would ever make something so ridiculous to accomplish tasks.

    Yes, I know, it's a game, and it had its moments. But it was the stupid stuff which got to me.

    • What nutjob thought it would be a great idea to have to unlock this puzzle by going to the other side of the island and having to solve two more puzzles first?

      This mechanic has evolved into the fetchquest.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by msk ( 6205 )

      You've pretty much described questing in WoW.

  • Maybe its just me but I personally thought Myst was boring and over-rated.

    * Took me two weekends to finish it off. I thought the puzzles were rather simple / easy.

    * Story was meh -- I don't even remember it these days. Guess it was "that" good. /sarcasm

    * I didn't play it when it initially came out. I did a few years after when I was taking a break from my Quake / CTF / TF fix -- maybe ~1998 ? The entire time I was wondering "Why can't I look up/down?" Yes, I know the scenes were pre-rendered (looked good)

    • I believe the key is that you didn't play it when it came out... Quake was the first truly 3d shooter, and came out 3 years later. Myst for the time was stunning visually, and personally I found the story/mysteriousness immersive. By 1998 it was definitely old hat and felt restrictive/primitive.

      The puzzles... hard to say. I was 14 when I first played? I found them challenging without being so absurdly so that I had to resort to looking in a cheat manual in a game store or spend some of my few precious minut

    • RealMYST is orders of magnitude better since you don't get disoriented. The puzzles and story are the same however.

  • I never enjoyed playing Myst (Score:3)

    by jader3rd ( 2222716 ) on Tuesday September 25, 2018 @03:56PM (#57375288)
    I knew that Myst was a hot game, but every time I tried to play it I got bored really quickly and really didn't have any idea what I was supposed to be doing.
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • I had just gotten a new computer and picked up Myst along with it. I was a videogamer, but this was a new sort of experience. Actually, as a gamer, i'm not sure that I ever would have finished the game if it wasn't for my mother. She had absolutely no interest in video games, but I called her over to show off the new computer and used Myst for my demo. I started clicking here and there, and she immediately "got it", and was able to easily determine the solution to one of the early puzzles before I could

  • as the article mentions, the traditional gaming press wasn't really impressed by it, neither were most of the game developers of the time.
    and i agree with that, it was just a boring horrible game.
    photorealistic graphics? seriously, they were rubbish already back then.

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