Myst
An island with no instructions, no timer, no way to die — just a series of machines to solve, each more surreal than the last. Myst proved a computer game could be a slow, atmospheric mystery with no combat and endless patience.
Brothers Rand and Robyn Miller created Myst at Cyan, with Broderbund publishing. It released September 24, 1993 for Mac — an adventure game built entirely in HyperCard, presented as pre-rendered still images linked like a multimedia slide show with QuickTime video flourishes. You arrive on the island of Myst via a magical linking book, and the puzzle-solving begins: you explore Ages, manipulate levers and machine mechanisms, and piece together the story of a fractured family.
The Millers had previously made children's games and wanted something ambitious — a graphically impressive mystery aimed at adults with no instructions or timer, where death was impossible. The result became the best-selling PC game of the 1990s, shifting six million copies before The Sims finally dethroned it in 2002. For 52 months it was America's most-purchased computer game. More significantly, it helped drive adoption of the CD-ROM drive itself.
The game has aged into something close to art — its quiet island has an almost meditative quality. It spawned the sequel Riven (1997) and a multimedia franchise, and is regularly cited among the most influential games ever created. It proved that a computer game didn't need to be fast or loud to be unforgettable.
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