Last week, it was announced that developer Cyan Worlds would be closing its doors for good. After more than 10 years, 6 games, three novels and one of the most diverse online communities to surround a game, the final chapter has been written and the Book of Cyan is now closed.

I’ve played (but not beaten) every Myst game released. I’m definitely a fan of the series from the early Macintosh days and am sad to see the studio finally go the way of the dodo.

Myst games represent a sort of golden era of gaming. An era where you didn’t have to blow everything up or shoot anything that moved to have a good game on your hands. While not everyone’s cup of tea, Myst forced you to actually think and work your mind over in directions you weren’t used to. There was no instant-gratification to be found in a Myst game, but when you finally did unlock that one puzzle, that one challenge that opened up the rest of the game to you, the feeling of accomplishment was always significant.

Myst was THE example to show whenever you wanted to talk about games as an emerging art form. More effort went into the visual design and artistry than the game mechanic coding I bet. Cyan didn’t make games so much as they made beautiful worlds to explore, and a wonderfully complex story to discover.

Myst was the Killer App that made CD-ROM drives a must-have device in computers.

Myst was the first game that crossed the boundaries of gamer and non-gamer. Until The Sims came along years later, this was pretty much the only game that anyone could pick up and play, even if they weren’t a gamer. It held the most-units-sold title until The Sims (and it’s umpteenbajillion expansion packs).

Myst, for a time, even managed to revive the Adventure Game genre.

Like it or love it, there is no question that Myst was a big player in video game history. No other franchise out there built what Cyan Worlds did with Myst.

5 Games (in-series)

• Myst (The story of Atrus & His Sons)
• Riven (The story of Catherine & Atrus’ Father; Ghen)
• Exile (The story of Savaadro and his drive for revenge for what Atrus’ Sons did to his home)
• Revelation (The final chapter in the story of Atrus’ sons; Sirrius & Achenar)
• End of Ages (The final chapter in the Myst Saga, due for release Sept 05)

1 MMO (failed)

• Uru: Ages Beyond Myst (Tried to explore the world of the D’ni, the race who wrote the ages)

3 Books

A sense of imagination and exploration no one else has been able to reproduce.