Myst came out of nowhere. When it first launched in 1993, the lonely adventure game was unlike anything people had played before. There were no enemies, no action, and the world itself was arguably the most important character. And thanks to the advent of CD-ROM technology, it also featured some of the most lifelike visuals ever seen. It went on to be a massive success, selling upwards of 6 million copies, but surprisingly didn’t have as large an impact on the medium as many expected. “It was kind of weird,” co-creator Rand Miller tells Grantland. “We got accolades for increasing the exposure of what was called the ‘adventure game,’ and then we got blamed on the other hand for the death of the adventure game, because it was too big and too hard to top it.” The story of the game’s creation is almost as interesting as Myst itself, so be sure to check out Grantland for the full story.
‘Myst’ was a revolutionary game, but it didn’t start a revolution
is an entertainment editor covering streaming, virtual worlds, and every single Pokémon video game. Andrew joined The Verge in 2012, writing over 4,000 stories.
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