Myst coming to iPhone

Posted on by Peter Cohen, Macworld.com

Cyan Worlds on Wednesday evening confirmed plans for an iPhone version of its legendary adventure game Myst. A release date and price have not been announced.

In posting to the Myst Online forums, Cyan employee “Chogon” confirmed that “iMyst” for iPhone was in the works.

“This is a small project that probably a very few of you know about. We are porting Myst to the iPhone. Ok, before some of you start groaning, this is an outside funded project that is keeping a few developers employed… but it is really more than that. It is an interesting and fun project. This is also a very small team with three of us (which includes Derek, Rand (not Randy) and myself).”

Myst was first published in 1993 and became one of the best-selling computer games of all time. Originally published on the Mac, the non-violent game placed the player on an island, where you follow clues to be transported to “Ages” by using magical books. Each age featured puzzles that had to be solved in order to continue exploring the world of Myst. It featured a point-and-click interface comprising hundreds of pre-rendered 3D images. Myst was one of the first mainstream successes of a game distributed on CD-ROM.

The game’s absence of linear gameplay, non-violent nature and languid pacing appealed to players looking for a different gaming experience, and its huge popularity would ultimately spawn an entire series of sequels along with a cottage industry of “Myst-like” adventure games that followed the same basic mold.

Cyan Worlds, the game developer behind Myst and its sequels, has had a tough row to hoe in recent years. After the 2005 release of Myst V: End of Ages, the last in the game series, the company laid off almost all of its staff.

Cyan later relaunched an online game called Myst Online: Uru Live, republished through GameTap, which brought the game to Mac gamers using TransGaming’s Cider technology — one of the first major games to get the Cider treatment. Earlier this year, however, GameTap discontinued Myst Online. Cyan has acquired back the rights to Myst Online and plan to relaunch it.

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