PC gamers from the 1990s, most likely remember playing Myst. This old PC game is a fictional puzzle adventure game. It was developed by Cyan and released by Broderbund in 1993 for use on Mac computers. Unlike other games released during this decade, Myst was not designed to be an educational game, but still required the player to use problem solving skills to make decisions about puzzles they face. It was so popular that it remained the best selling PC game for almost a decade, and has resulted in additional versions of the game to be produced.
Storyline
In this game, the player assumes the role of a “Stranger” who has discovered a book that allows him to travel to the island of Myst, which is where the game gets its name. After arriving in Myst, the player has to solve a number of different puzzles along their adventure to be able to travel from one age to the next. As the player makes decisions about how they will solve the puzzles they are faced with, the outcome of the game is determined. As a result, it is possible for the player to play the game multiple times and have different outcomes simply by making a different decision.
Rand and Robyn Miller
Key developers for the game Myst, were brothers Rand and Robyn Miller. The brothers joined together with the idea to create a game that would appeal specifically to adults to play on a home computer. Although their idea had been turned down previously by other gaming companies, the brothers stood their ground to develop the game with a complex story line, a realistic character, and the need for the player to make ethical decisions throughout the story. Cyan saw the potential of the idea and worked together with the Millers to develop Myst, the largest scale collaboration they had undertaken until that point.
CD ROM
The majority of previous old PC games was played using floppy discs or had been booter types of games. However, Myst was one of the first CD ROM games to really take off. During its development though, there were some concerns about the potential limitations that the use of a CD ROM might present. The development team at Cyan though took their time to pay attention to a number of details to help ensure the graphics were high quality and enhance the gaming experience. The result was a number of gaming companies seeking to develop CD ROM old PC games to replace the previous formats of PC gaming.
Playing on Handheld Devices
As the world of PC gaming has evolved, there have been a number of classic old PC games which have been developed for play on gaming consoles. The popularity of Myst was so great amongst PC gamers that it also began to see a number of versions released for play on gaming consoles. In the last decade, there has been a release of versions of Myst for the PlayStation and the Nintendo DS. And for those who want to play this game on their handheld mobile device, there are versions of realMyst available for both Android and iOS based mobile devices.
