What is "myst"

Myst is a graphic adventure puzzle video game designed and directed by the brothers Robyn and Rand Miller. It was developed by Cyan, Inc., published by Brøderbund, and initially released on the Macintosh platform on September 24, 1993. Remakes and ports of the game have been released for platforms including Sega Saturn, PlayStation, 3DO, Microsoft Windows, Atari Jaguar CD, CD-i, AmigaOS, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS, iOS, and OS X. The game puts the player in the role of the Stranger, who uses a special book to travel to the island of Myst. There, the player solves puzzles and travels to other worlds known as "Ages". Clues found in each of these Ages help to reveal the back-story of the game's characters. The game has several endings, depending on the course of action the player takes.

After producing several interactive games aimed at children, the Miller brothers decided to create an adult-targeted game with a non-linear story, believable characters, and an ethical dilemma. Initially turned down by Activision, Cyan was later approached by Sunsoft, who helped fund Myst. The game took two years to develop and was Cyan's largest project.

Upon release, Myst was a surprise hit, with critics lauding the ability of the game to immerse players in the fictional world. The game was the best-selling PC game until The Sims exceeded its sales in . Myst helped drive adoption of the then-nascent CD-ROM format. Mysts success spawned four direct video game sequels as well as several spin-off games and novels.

Myst is a franchise centered on a series of adventure video games. The first game in the series, Myst, was released in 1993 by brothers Rand and Robyn Miller and their video game company Cyan, Inc. Riven, the sequel to Myst, was released in 1997, and was followed by three more direct sequels: Myst III: Exile in 2001, Myst IV: Revelation in 2004, and Myst V: End of Ages in 2005. A spinoff featuring a multiplayer component, Uru: Ages Beyond Myst, was released in 2003 and followed by two expansion packs.

Mysts story concerns an explorer named Atrus who has the ability to write books which serve as links to other worlds, known as Ages. This practice of creating linking books was developed by an ancient civilization known as the D'ni, whose society crumbled after being ravaged by disease. The player takes the role of an unnamed person referred to as the Stranger and assists Atrus by traveling to other Ages and solving puzzles. Over the course of the series Atrus writes a new Age for the D'ni survivors to live on, and players of the games set the course the civilization will follow.

The brothers developed Myst after producing award-winning games for children. Drawing on childhood stories, the brothers spent months designing the Ages players would investigate. The name Myst came from Jules Verne's novel The Mysterious Island. After Riven was released, Robyn left Cyan to pursue other projects and Cyan began developing Uru; developers Presto Studios and Ubisoft created Exile and Revelation before Cyan returned to complete the series with End of Ages. Myst and its sequels were critical and commercial successes, selling more than twelve million copies; the games drove sales of personal computers and CD-ROM drives, as well as attracting casual gamers with its nonviolent gameplay. The video games' success has led to three published novels in addition to soundtracks, a comic series, television and movie pitches.