A Myst opportunity

In my post on Tuesday, I included Myst in a list of my favourite classic adventures. After spending an afternoon at a friend’s house while he played and seeing Myst Island with my own eyes, I promptly purchased the title so I could play it for myself.

So many people fell in love with this graphic-adventure when it was released: it was a surprise hit with critics praising its ability to immerse players in its world, and was the best-selling PC game ever until The Sims exceeded its sales in 2002. Its success led to a number of ports, remakes and sequels, along with several novels which filled in the series’ backstory.

It was my fondness for the original which led me to become a backer for Cyan’s 2013 Kickstarter campaign for Obduction. Rather than a direct sequel, it was a title which ‘harkened back to the spirit of earlier games Myst and Riven’ and it did indeed give off the same vibe. Unfortunately though, it just couldn’t reach the dizzy heights of the title that started it all and fans were left wanting more.

I’d therefore imagine I wasn’t the only one who got incredibly excited when the news that the developer starting up a new Kickstarter project landed. To celebrate its 25th anniversary, Cyan decided to complete a ‘never-been-done’ before historical anthology of the series; and although the games would be available later, but the ‘special packaging’ would only be available through the campaign and never be sold again.

I therefore headed over to the page as soon as possible and have to confess: I’ve never pledged so much towards a Kickstarter backing before. I’ve gone in at the Bookmaker level so hopefully towards the end of this year I’ll receive digital downloads, as well as physical copies of the titles within a special Linking Book box complete with window and hidden compartment.

To be honest, I would have liked to have gone in at one of the higher levels in order to receive the Linking Book with LCD screen showing the fly-throughs from the games; but sadly, adult responsibilities call and its not a purchase I can justify right now. The Bookmaker tier is available for $99 but watch out for the shipping fee, as backers in the UK can expect to pay an additional $22 for delivery costs.

It seems as if there are plenty of people willing to part with their money however, as (at the time of writing) the campaign has already reached £1,245,678 from 10,834 backers – surpassing the original £182,710 target in just eight hours. And with 12 days still to go before the funding deadline, there’s the opportunity for others to get on board and push that amount even higher.

If you’re interested in doing so, get yourself over to the Kickstarter campaign before 18:02 on 24 May 2018. Downloads of all seven games (the five Myst games plus Uru: Complete Chronicles and realMyst: Masterpiece Edition) are available for $49 at the Archivist tier. The estimated delivery for the digital titles is August so we haven’t got long to wait: prepare yourselves for a Myst marathon stream at some point this summer.