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The unseen history of Myst (Patreon)

Published:

2025-05-22 15:05:01

Imported:

2026-06

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Content

Back in 2023, we announced we were working with Cyan, the developers of the Myst series, to preserve their video archives. The Cyan collection was one of the highlights of our library when we launched it back in January, and we figured it was time to dig in and share some of the unique, exciting, unusual things we found buried in the Cyan Vault.

Working directly with an active developer to preserve their history like this rarely happens in the game industry. We're grateful that Cyan opened their doors to us, and we hope it can be a model for the future of game history!

Big thanks to Philip Shane, director of the upcoming The Myst Documentary, and longtime Cyan community member Katie Postma for connecting us with Cyan to make this possible.

Files

Previews only

The unseen history of Myst | VGHF Library Highlights

Explore the Cyan collection here: https://archive.gamehistory.org/folder/22cf9aa2-812b-4f39-b42e-e87a3c153b8c Working directly with an active developer to preserve their history like this rarely happens in the game industry. We're grateful that Cyan opened their doors to us, and we hope it can be a model for the future of game history! Thanks to Philip Shane, director of the upcoming The Myst Documentary, and longtime Cyan community member Katie Postma for connecting us with Cyan to make this possible. Someone go tell 12-year-old Phil he gets to do this. --- Support the Video Game History Foundation: https://gamehistory.org/donate/ --- Links: - The Myst Documentary https://themystdocumentary.com/ - Moving Image Preservation of Puget Sound https://www.mipops.org/ Articles: - Electronic Entertainment, Volume 1, Number 1, January 1994 https://archive.gamehistory.org/item/a011cfa2-f329-4aaa-8a20-757c54ecc63f - Computer Game Review, Volume 3, Issue 5, Number 29, December 1993 https://archive.gamehistory.org/item/551750e8-a314-4ccb-afdd-5d692b014110 - Computer Games Strategy Plus, Issue 39, February 1994 https://archive.gamehistory.org/item/8947972e-a8a9-49fc-8cad-2829a0043143 - CD-ROM Today, Volume 3, Number 4, April 1995 https://archive.gamehistory.org/item/1af63480-4b02-4109-964a-d6dae896b4ab Video and photo credits: - Cyan vault footage via Philip Shane https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/philipshane/the-myst-documentary/posts/3551583 - Uru background via patchallel http://uru.patchallel.com/teledahn_images.html - Photo of tape boxes by Tony Fryman Music: - Mechanical Age - Mechanical Mystgate from Myst, composed by Robyn Miller - Jungle Totem from Riven: The Sequel to Myst, composed by Robyn Miller - Fissure from Riven: The Sequel to Myst, composed by Robyn Miller - The Library from Uru: Ages Beyond Myst, composed by Tim Larkin - Myst Island - Planetarium from Myst, composed by Robyn Miller - Convergence from Uru: Ages Beyond Myst, composed by Tim Larkin