Making Parents Play Myst

7/31/2019 Making Parents Play Myst

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Making Parents Play Myst

By Skycoaster

4/10/12

When given Myst for the iPad via the iTunes store, my parents, began their questinto the Ages of Myst on March 23, 2012.

The process has been and will be slow, since I have insisted they play together.

Theyve agreed to devote at least an hour a week to play, and so far their efforts

seem to be rewarding them with reasonable progression, considering how neither

has a history of gaming or experience with the sort of logic needed to solve the

puzzles contained within Myst.

Theyll need a little help. Nothing major, but encouragement, the occasional point in

the right direction, and a sense of accomplishment beyond the game, whose ending,

while satisfactory, lacks the note of finality theyll be expecting. And while Im suretheyll like the game, Im not sure I can get them to play the much harder and

infinitely more intricate sequel Riven.

I cant just tell them where to go or what to do. Even now, when theyre just starting

to unravel the story and the first fragments of a goal, I feel as though Ive helped

them too much already, robbed them of the experience of discovering things

themselves. I remind myself that everything theyve done theyve figured out by

themselves, but I still wonder if they would have found the crucial note that Atrus

left for Catherine if I hadnt guided them between the library and the dock and

encouraged them to slow down. Surely they would have, right? Its quite prominent

there, I cant believe they Myst it to begin with (see what I did there?).

So with that in mind Ive decided that whenever they need a hint or help I will onlydo so in a fashion respectful of the Myst mindset, that is, with a code or riddle that

takes application of logic or critical thinking to unravel. The first such riddle was

one they, or rather Dad, didnt solve. It was a Facebook status from March 28entitled Making Parents Play Myst, Day 1, with a hidden message contained in the

capitalized first letter of each word:

First Impressions Nebulous, Disorienting. Trying Hints, Even Now, Obviously. TooEvident?

Decoded as F-I-N-D T-H-E N-O-T-E

When I told Dad about the message, I think he started getting the idea of the kind of

thinking required for Myst. I think its clear hell be the one to unravel most of thecoded secrets contained within the game, but it takes more than cleverness to

achieve the optimal ending, so thats where Mom comes in. Where Dad can crack a

code, Mom has more intuition and will be able to deduce where the next clue is


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likely lurking. I think shes already found the book with the fireplace codes in it,

based on her claiming to have found a book with a bunch of numbers, so in that

regard shes made a pretty big leap, one that most players didnt make until one of

the brothers told them where to find it.

They found the first note with my guidance, and I guess it helps that I didnt have totell them what they were looking for, and applied it well to the game, figuring out

that the strange levers dotting the island were the Marker Switches in question,and that the room by the dock was the forechamber mentioned. I have no idea

how long it took them, but they managed to tally all eight Marker Switches around

the island, even the yet unreachable one by the clock tower, and entered the number

into the imager to retrieve Atrus message.

Thats where they are now, trying to figure out what Atrus meant by Tower

Rotation. Theyve discovered that the map in the library serves to rotate the tower,

but right now Dad believes it serves as a power/electricity router, having

apparently found the power station for the rocket ship already. They havent evenmentioned the paintings used to open the tower access yet, and Im beginning to

think that they might be having problems distinguishing similar but separate objects

from one another.

Its one of the most concerning issues for me that they didnt recognize that the red

and blue books were different, nor have they found that the pages by them can be

inserted into the books themselves. Its an important aspect to the story, I wonder

how soon theyll discover it. Maybe its the control scheme of the iPad thats

hindering them, since on the PC you had no choice but to insert the page you were

holding when you clicked on the book. With the iPad maybe you need to drag and

drop it.

Story, too, is an aspect that seems to be eluding them insofar. When I pressed the

point Mom compared it to Lost and Dad talked about the journals in the library

like they were written about Myst Island, instead of the other Ages accessible

through the linking books. What about that message in the forechamber? Why arentthey curious about why Catherine apparently never viewed it? Why dont they

wonder what the something terrible was that destroyed so many of the books?

And assuming they figure out the red and blue books needing pages, will they

connect that the men contained within are the sons of Atrus, brothers Sirrus and

Achenar?

To encourage them to take notes and more fully immerse themselves I ordered

them the only blank Journalof Myst I could find online. It came with the game

itself for PC players, along with a pamphlet containing a few hints, but luckily the

Journal they got left out the hints since Ive told them to avoid using the iPad

versions built-in map/hint system anyway. I guess the makers figured those would

be ample substitutes for the Journal when they ported the game to mobile devices,

when in reality theyre no replacements at all- youd be far more likely to have a


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journal in your possession than a full color map and arbitrarily convenient hints for

the mysterious location you just stumbled onto. It kills the immersion, and thatswhat Myst is all about. Its you in the game, so the game should become your world.

So I guess leaving hints for them outside of the real world isnt exactly in that spirit,

but at least with mine they have to work to decode them, and I try to arrange themin a way that wont give anything away, but rather just point them in the right

direction. My latest one was a numeric code attached to an e-mail thanking them for

some very cool pictures from 14 years ago from the first time I visited Los Angeles. I

responded with some trivia about Myst and the code:

-There are several endings, only one of which is good. The story is over once you

reach it, but afterwards you can still play the game if you so desire. You are only

truly done with Myst when you start its sequel, Riven, also available for iPad (i.e.,

guess what you're getting for your birthday next year?)

-Technically, it is possible to beat the game (that is, reach the best ending) in under

two minutes. This can only be achieved by a player who knows exactly what to do,and the game is designed to prevent new players from stumbling upon the solution

accidentally, as the odds of doing so are approximately one in 280 trillion.

-The original version came with a special journal for keeping notes and a pamphlet

containing a few hints. I guess you guys don't get either. So sorry. If you were to get

them by some freak act of charity on behalf of an anonymous third party, however,

you probably still shouldn't use the hints.

-415(2)2085(3)198916(4)69181920(5)

The code is the simple letter-number correspondence with the added layer that

while I tell how many letters are in each word (the numbers in parentheses), I dont

separate the letters, just the words. It was just a happy coincidence that the phrase Iwanted to convey comprised of consecutively larger words:

Do The Ship First

Raising the sunken ship is, naturally, the easiest task for them at this point, since its

clues are the most obvious. Dads already played around with the planetarium, and

since theyre close to figuring out the tower rotation theyll definitely get that the

dates and times listed in the tower should be entered there. After that, its a simple

matter of activating the appropriate constellation markers around the model of the

sunken ship. Its also helpful thatStoneship is the simplest age to return from with a

red or blue page. Once they find different red and blue pages in the different ages,perhaps theyll realize their significance and more closely investigate the red and

blue books.

The puzzle box Im making uses the code 1-5-8, which theyll only know when they

beat the game. I hope I can get it functional before they get here, though if they

havent already beaten the game by then (doubtful at the pace theyre going, though

theyll have made significant strides)Ill still be able to demonstrate its mechanics.


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In the meantime, they know what it means to me that theyre playing this game. Iknow it was a gift to Mom, but them playing it is a gift to me. Maybe now theyll

understand a few more things about how I think, how I write, and why games are

important to me as an art form.

4/19/12

They havent played any since last time. I dont think they figured out the hint.Maybe they arent as into the game as I thought. Moms excuse was that she had atrial to prepare for recently, so I cant fault them. Still, theyre so close to a major

breakthrough that will lift the veil over so many new parts of the game... its exciting

to think that maybe theyll have done it all by themselves. Nevertheless, I continue

to throw subtle hints their way, like the name of the latest game of Scrabble I started

with my dad:

Sgnitniap egnarts tahw ym

Simple enough, just backwards letters:

My what strange paintings.

This is to suggest further investigation of the paintings inside the library, which are

crucial for opening the bookcase tunnel to the tower, where the access keys for the

places of protection lie. Again, I dont know if theyve realized that there is more

than one painting there, or if theyve even given it so much as a cursory glance.Thats the thing about Myst- its not always obvious whats important and whats

not. Maybe theyll get better at discerning critical elements with more practice. Ifonly I could get them to play...

Perhaps the e-mail message I plan to send should they fail to make progress on their

own will get them playing. Ive designed it so that they can only decipher it together,

I just hope I dont have to send it since it gives away quite a bit:

For Mom:

H-ll-, P-r-nt-!

- r---ntl- d----v-r-d ----th-n- -b--t ---r v-r---n -f ---t f-r th- -P-d, -n th-t -h-n --- p--- ----

th-n- -p --- h-v- t- dr-- -nd dr-p -t -nt- th- --r--n t- --- -t. Th-- -- d-ff-r-nt -n---h fr-- th- --

-p-t-r v-r---n, -h-r- -n -t-- l--- - --- ---ld --t---t---ll- b- ---d b- j--t -l----n- -n th- -ppr-pr--t-p--nt -n th- --r--n, -n th-- ---- - l---, th-t - f--l -t n------r- t- --p-rt - ---pl- h-nt: R-D T- R-D,

BL-- T- BL--.

H-pp- ----n-!

L-v- ---!

For Dad:

-e--o, -a-e--s!


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I -ece---y -isco-e-e- some--i-g a-ou- you- -e-sio- o- Mys- -o- --e i-a-, i- --a- w-e- you -

ick some--i-g u- you -a-e -o --ag a-- --o- i- o--o --e sc-ee- -o use i-. --is is -i--e-e-- e-oug-

--om --e com-u-e- -e-sio-, w-e-e a- i-em -ike a key wou-- au-oma-ica--y -e use- -y -us-

c-icki-g o- --e a---o--ia-e -oi-- o- --e sc-ee-, i- --is case a -ock, --a- I -ee- i- -ecessa-y -o

im-a-- a sim--e -i--: -E- -O -E-, --UE -O --UE.

-a--y Gami-g!-o-e you!

Odd letters taken from Moms, even Letters taken from Dads. When combined:

Hello, Parents!

I recently discovered something about your version of Myst for the iPad, in that

when you pick something up you have to drag and drop it onto the screen to use it.

This is different enough from the computer version, where an item like a key would

automatically be used by just clicking on the appropriate point on the screen, in this

case a lock, that I feel it necessary to impart a simple hint: RED TO RED, BLUE TO

BLUE.Happy Gaming!

Love you!

I wonder how difficult that would be to figure out. It would be obvious that theyd

received an incomplete message, but would they realize that they each held half, and

how could they most easily and quickly combine the messages?

I say theyd figure it out. It would probably take a half hour or so, and granted the

hint isnt huge, but it would point them in the right direction regarding the red and

blue pages and their respective books, and therefore the requests and fates of Atrus

sons. I want to wait a little bit before I send it, though, just to see if they can figure itout on their own. Ill wait until I get another update to send it, but I like this hint. Its

cryptic enough to not be obvious but elegant enough to be unscrambled with proper

application of critical thinking and collaboration, which are the core concepts Im

trying to convey in making them play. Not to mention that it directly mirrors one of

the final puzzles in the game, with the two halves of the note instructing how to

open the Myst Island vault. I hope theyre smart enough to write that down once

they get that far in the game. I was going to tell them about taking screenshots on

the iPhone/iPad by pressing Home and Sleep at the same time, but Ive decided

against it since taking pictures isnt in the spirit of Myst. Myst IV, yes, but not theoriginal. If they miss the note, well, theyll realize their mistake soon enough, and

retracing their steps will just be part of the fun. I predict Dads complaint will be thatyou can only carry one page at a time, and that you cant take anything else with you.

I also bought Myst for myself on Monday, for my iPhone. I was nervous about how it

would play on such a small screen, but I was pleasantly surprised: even with only

minor modifications/zooms, the game looks and sounds fine. I havent beat it yet,but Ive made it to all the Ages and gotten all the pages from each except the

Selenetic, which I realize is the hardest to get to and to come back from. The easiest


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is probably Mechanical, now that Ive played it again, though Stoneship andChannelwood arent so bad.Stoneships logic is a bit convoluted, with a key chained

tantalizingly out of reach of a lock, only to realize that the key opens a chest (with a

key inside) that must be made to float up to the key. I remember feeling so smart

when I figured that one out so many years ago. Channelwood doesnt even really

have any puzzles, save for the water-power pipes, but its a large and disorientingage so getting lost is the main obstacle. Selenetic just has those annoying sound

puzzles, and I wouldnt be surprised if the maze caused Mom and Dad to drop thegame for a while. Balancing that out is that Selenetic is probably the most beautiful.

It and Channelwood feel the most authentic and complete, while Mechanical and

Stoneship feel isolated, unfinished; its hard to believe Atrus when he writes in his

journals they once had significant populations of inhabitants, since theyre just so

small. I still stand by my hint that they should Do the Ship First, though- I thinkStoneships just my favorite of the four Ages.

One thing that escaped me in my first playthrough, and that was clearer but still not

obvious this time, was that the locations of the red and blue pages in the foursurviving Ages were associated with the brothers, red for Sirrus and blue for

Achenar. Theres little indication that a particular room belonged to Sirrus orAchenar, save for the occasional letter or video message. It takes a leap of logic,

therefore, to grasp the concept that Sirrus was greedy and Achenar was sadistic, and

that these undesirable characteristics led to the destruction of so many Ages, the

capture of Catherine, and the deception of Atrus, since connecting the brothers with

these places takes a higher level of thinking. Realizing that neither can be trusted

isnt so hard, since each speaks against the other, but piecing together that theyve

committed atrocities in these and other Ages might not come so easily. That will be

where Mom comes in, I bet. If they find Sirrus treasure room and Achenars torture

chamber in Mechanical, shell be the one to connect the dots there; And theyll haveto find those if they want to complete the game, since thats where the pages are in

that age, so well just have to see what happens. If they ever get around to playing it,that is.

4/23/12

Success! After some cajoling, theyve picked up the game again, and made some

headway, even to the point where my Odds/Evens hint isnt necessary, nor was my

backwards Scrabble game title clue since they figured out that the paintings open

and close the hidden tunnel behind the bookcase. Im very proud of them also for

finding out that you have to drag and drop the red and blue pages to theircorresponding books- the iPads control scheme places a new player at a

disadvantage in that respect, but now that I think of it, that does seem a tad more

realistic, right? On the PC youd just click on the book and the page would suddenly

jump in and reattach itself, whereas here you have to make the conscious decision to

place the page inside.


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And they did it, meaning theyve met Sirrus and Achenar and heard their pleas for

red and blue pages. Now comes the interesting part, since as soon as they get a page

of any color, theyll be told not to trust the other brother. What will they do? Will

they try to get the other side of the story, or will they continue to gather pages of

just one color? And whom will they trust? (Once again, I predict complaints that the

game only lets the player hold one page at a time).

I must refrain from giving any more hints and, as tempting as it may be, even asking

questions that could let them on to a secret. Not that my clues have helped them out

all that much, but at this point theyre on their own. Theyre just inches from

figuring out the secret of the tower rotation, since they know the marker switches

turn on the points on the map and will therefore soon realize that certain landmarks

produce a red line when the tower is facing them. Still, I wonder if theyll see some

of the harder-to-miss parts of the game, like how the access keys are opposite the

view when the tower is rotated to face a book, or how the giant redwood is fairly

well concealed behind the cabin.

But perhaps theyve already found both of these things, and are still working on one

thing at a time. They seem to be more intrigued by the game now, since tonight they

even skipped The Daily Show to keep playing. Maybe they just wanted to uphold

their end of the deal they made with me yesterday (they agreed to play two hours of

Myst if I sent Aunt Dorothy my Modern Family spec script), but thats still a pretty

big deal that they were so engrossed in the game that they wouldnt stop playing

even for one of their favorite shows.

I cant wait to see the notes theyve been taking- that should be fascinating. Dad sayshe and Mom take turns driving, and that they only play together. I wonder who

sees more, whos better at putting together the pieces. I also wonder if now theyvegot some idea of the plot, since Sirrus mentions his name the first time you talk with

him in the red book; Achenar says it but its impossible to make out, though surelyits easily deduced that hes the other son of Atrus. These two men are clearly

trapped inside these books and need pages to escape- their father has left his wife a

message that she never received informing her that one of their sons has destroyed

most of his books. Thats enough to get a general idea of whats going on, or at least

to develop some theories.

They arrive here in Los Angeles in less than two weeks, and if they keep the pace up

they might just have the game beaten by then. Honestly, though, I doubt it. Yes,

theyre making good time, but unless they put some serious hours in between nowand then it doesnt look like theyre on track to figure out that the code to my puzzle

box, which is now completed and works like a charm, is 1-5-8. Its a shame, too,

since Ive figured out exactly what to put inside it when they arrive: wood burnings.

The soldering iron I used to make the locking mechanisms for the box works great

for drawing on spare lumber, so Ive started practicing in preparation for decoratingthe box itself, which Im putting off until Im better. Ive made a nice, if rudimentary,

representation of an Umbrella Tree and a more than decent sketch of the picture


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Dad took of Bucky, so with time I should be able to make something good for each of

them to reward their efforts with Myst. If, that is, they can open the box. If not, I can

give each one their stuff for Mothers/Fathers Day.

But maybe I shouldnt be rushing them. After all, Myst isnt meant to be played fast.

Sure, it can be beaten in two minutes by a player who knows exactly what he or sheis doing, but such an action makes no sense in context and isnt rewarding in the

slightest; I should know, since after legitimately beating my copy for iPhone I went

back and did a speed-run and feltas though Id Myst a whole lot (see what I didthere?). No, theyll take their time. Once they start having to grapple with some bona

fide puzzles, not just vague clues about where the next hint lies, theyll get into the

pace of the game. I shudder to think how long the Selenetic Age will take them- I just

hope they dont try that one first!

Oh, and I got Riven for iPhone, too, and realized what made it so much more

difficult: guesswork is necessary. To beat the game, you have to understand that the

hints and clues you can find might only limit the number of possible permutationsfor a code so much- after that, youre on your own. That being said, the clues dosignificantly reduce the viable permutations, especially in that one puzzle where it

goes from 563100468840000 combinations to a whopping 6, but there is some

information youre just not given. I bet people who actually beat it on their ownwent crazy trying to find that last piece of the puzzle, only to realize how it wasnt

necessary and could be solved with some simple guess and check. Even this time I

recognized that Id limited my choices in one puzzle from 53130 to 20, and even

then the last part to get that down to 1 was findable, but I couldnt remember it from

my first time and didnt feel like searching for it, so brute force it was. It probably

took less time in the long run.

I hope my parents never go for brute force in Myst, since guessing isntnecessary at

all in that game (code 158 is one of exactly 281474976710656 different

combinations for the fireplace, by the way). It worked for me in Myst IV, though, and

that took hundreds of different attempts, so many that when I finally got it Id

forgotten why it worked. Then again, the logic behind that game was a little

convoluted, so I dontblame myself for going that route. At least I figured it outlegitimately, without a guide. In fact, the one time I did use a guide in that game was

just to get past some fake difficulty, since the game isnt clear at all about the

motions necessary to pet the snake in the correct way to get him off of the canopy

rides handle in Haven. It bugs me how unnecessary that puzzle, and indeed the

entire age of Haven, were in that game. What a sorry follow-up to Exile, the bestgame in the series, in my opinion. I doubt my parents will ever play it, though, but

honestly Ill be happy if they make it through Riven. Id even settle for the best

ending of Myst, but Im optimistic. For now, Ill leave them be, and just make it a

surprise for myself to see how well theyve done when they get here next Friday.

Until then, Im afraid my writing cannot wait...


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5/1/12

Theyll be here in three days. Finally, a chance to watch them play in person, and to

see their journal notes. From what theyve told me on the phone so far the problemtheyre facing now is not being able to understand a word Sirrus and Archenar are

saying other than who are you because of the static, and therefore not being ableto comprehend their requests for red and blue pages. I pointed out that putting a

page of the right color in each book cleared up the static a little bit, enough to let

them get at least a few words, and that seemed to get them on the right track in that

they know they need to look for more pages. But seriously, the few words you need

from the brothers first messages arent that hard to hear: Bring me a red page, I

am Sirrus (which could be misunderstood as serious, granted), I must have the

blue pages, etc. Personally, I think the Miller brothers did a good job editing the

static in those videos to revealing crucial information at the correct pace, so

assuming my folks realize the secret to the tower rotation soon theyll be off in

another Age, and hopefully finding pages. (I also mentioned that the two Miller

Brothers play all the roles in the game, not mentioning that theres only three rolestotal, but this at least let them see that the man in the blue book was not the same as

the man who left the message in the Forechamber, whom they call the Father atthe moment despite having seen his name on the note to Catherine; I think when my

Dad read it he said Alrus. He thought Achenar and Atrus were the same person in

the game, while Mom didnt. Interesting.)

It occurred to me the other day that the Ages are arranged in what the Miller

brothers must have seen as ascending order of difficulty, going clockwise from the

tower rotations starting position: Mechanical, Stoneship, Channelwood, Selenetic.

The pages are easiest to come by in Selenetic, ironically, but hardest to find in

Channelwood, and actually kind of easy to miss in Mechanical. I wonder which Agetheyll go to first, and how long it will take them to get a page and come back. I

wonder if theyll even get a page their first time. They know to be on the lookout forthem, anyway, and in all but Mechanical theyre in obvious locations. I guess Ill see

this weekend, and then later when they get back from wine country. Hopefully

theyll be more willing to put in hours when the pace of the game starts picking up.

Red lines, guys, notice the tower rotations red lines. Theyre significant, everything

in the game is significant!

5/2/12

When Im right, Im right! They figured out the red lines two days ago and arealready inside the clock tower, moments away from getting to the Mechanical Age. I

dont know if its a coincidence that they happened to start with that one, or if theypurposefully went with it since it was the first one in the path of the towersrotation.


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If they play on the plane ride out here who knows how far theyll get? How many

Ages theyll see, how many pages theyll find, and whom will they trust? Comingacross Achenars torture chamber in Mechanical, with the decomposing human skull

in the chest, is enough to turn you against him, but what about his note to Sirrus

reprimanding him for his extreme greed? What will happen when theyre told not to

give the other brother their pages? Will they try to get both sides or will they stickwith the first one they pick? (And for the record, I still predict my Dad will complain

about the inability to hold more than one page at a time.) It also occurs to me that

Mechanical does not have one of the halves of the Myst Vault Instructions. If they go

in order, they should find the first half in Stoneship and then the second half in

Channelwood (personally, I think the second half has enough information to guess

the secret to the vault, or at least find it with a little lucky experimenting). I wonder

why the Miller brothers designed it so that the two halves of the note would be

found when there was still one more Age to visit?

The logic of the playthrough probably goes something like this: my parents would

find the two halves, put them together, find the vault and get the white page. Findingnowhere appropriate to put it, they would continue to Selenetic and be forced to

drop the page when they pick up the red and/or blue one, at which point they would

get the proper information about the fireplace while being told not to open the

green book.

Now, by then theyll definitely have picked up thatthe brothers cantboth betrusted- they have to pick one or neither. But will they realize that both are evil?

Will the presence of the white page alert them? After all, in Channelwood lies an

important clue in Achenars recording device, where it is revealed that Sirrus and

Achenar are together in whatever scheme they hatched, and that they were only

planning to take one page from some man.

Will they connect the dots? Will they realize that was the page in question? I realize

that the two halves of the note are found in rooms belonging to different brothers;

will that affect their judgment, or help them realize the brothers worked together to

destroy all but four of the Ages? So many questions, and Im not even playing the

game!

I wish I were...

5/4/12

The parents are here.

AND THEY FORGOT THE JOURNAL.

I put up with far too much from them.


11/33

But enough of that- their progress, despite their claims to the contrary, has been

extraordinary, and watching them play tonight I saw an eagerness, a frustrated

obsession, or dare I say an addiction?

Most remarkable of all so far: THEY ALREADY FOUND THE WHITE PAGE.

How? Well, luck. It seems their strategy for the tower rotation was to turn on each of

the Marker Switches as they found them, and once all were on after they reached the

clock tower island they experimented with turning them off one-by-one starting

with the dock, which of course opened the Myst Island Vault and revealed the single

page the brothers took from Atruss Myst book. They promptly lost the page when,

as I predicted, they made it to the Mechanical Age and found the red and blue pages.

It seems they were playing the entire flight from Atlanta to Los Angeles, and while

they made some impressive advancements I cannot help but notice that Mom lets

her emotions get the better of her while she plays. She taps and slides around the

screen at a frenetic pace, unwilling to accept the fact that this method, as well as nottaking detailed notes, is not conducive to an enjoyable Myst experience. She

practically begs me for hints, which I of course deny her, beseeching her to keep

exploring and let the answers reveal themselves in time, but also to take the time to

develop theories and ideas behind the places she uncovers.

And what theories they have! They seem to think that they have traveled through

time by touching the Mechanical book, since the cog that housed it on Myst Island

has a replica in the Age. They found Achenars note to Sirrus, condemning him for

his greed, and seem to think that one of the brothers is evil based on the message

Atrus (Dad does indeed call him Alrus, mistaking the t for an l) left for

Catherine. I chided them at dinner for not asking themselves upon hearing thatmessage why Catherine had apparently not received it- they still arent in the

appropriate mindset for the game, apparently, which is why their focus is exactly

the opposite of where it should be.

I base that last claim on their exploits in the Mechanical Age I witnessed tonight.

Theyve found Sirrus and Achenars treasure and torture rooms, respectively,

though they, as I predicted, do not associate the rooms with the brothers yet. They

also discovered the elevator and even positioned it correctly to ascend to the top

floor, Dad recognizing that the middle button stops it halfway up but failing to

notice, even with the elevators warning beeps, that if the halfway button is pressed

from the top floor that the elevator gives one ample time to jump out before itdescends, allowing them to access the fortress rotation controls.

Mom knows she has to rotate the fortress somehow, thinking that the other islands

around it lead to underground tunnels that she read about in the journal for the

Selenetic Age. She thinks it has something to do with the four-symbol code by the

half-cog, and wants to know why the Fortress Rotation Simulator isnt actually

rotating the fortress.


12/33

Ill say that again: Mom wants to know why the Fortress Rotation Simulatorisnt

actually rotating the fortress.

Shes looking so hard shes staring right through it.

So instead of investigating the buttons on the mysterious elevator, she and Dad look

endlessly through the brothers rooms. Mom says shes looked everywhere, yet shecontinues to sift through the merely decorative set dressings, becoming more and

more frustrated when trying the same thing over and over yields no different

results. She also claims they havent found anything new today, and thats certainly

not true: I was there when they found Sirrus treasure room and the top floor of the

Fortress, where they caught a glimpse of the two levers controlling the actual

Fortress Rotation, but they seem to have forgotten them already and instead

sequester themselves into one area, seeming to believe theyve exhausted all

potential in others without a second thought.

Or perhaps theyre just tired. I know I am- I think Ive been awake 40 straight hoursnow; thesis stuff. After a good nightssleep Im sure theyll realize the leap of logicthey need to make- provided, of course, they ever stop looking at Sirrus miniature

chessboard.

Take notes, Mom!

5/7/12

Dad got through the puzzle box in about 10 seconds. Guess it wasnt as secure as I

thought. I probably shouldnt even have let him touch the thing, since he didntknow the combination anyway and guessing it might spoil Myst for him, but at least

now Mom has her Mothers Day present, and I even convinced them to try andforget the combination 1-5-8, which I think they did, even if they dont know how it

applies to Myst.

In that vein, I had to develop an additional charade to keep them from jumping

ahead too fast: whereas before they thought I knew the solutions to all the problems

in the Mechanical Age (which they finally beat when Dad figured out the trick to the

elevator), but now they are under the impression that I havent played any more of

the game than they have, since I got my old friends Drew and Logan to skip me to

the end when I first played it years ago. This isnt totally a lie: I didnt complete thegame legitimately all those years ago, and indeed I only completed one age by

myself, though it was Stoneship instead of Mechanical. Nevertheless, it is a virtuous

lie since now they arent begging me for hints and spoilers, even though Ive since

gotten the game for myself and solved all the puzzles, including the correct code to

the fireplace. They already found the book of codes, too, and tried one of the 150+

combinations (#5, as it was the first number they copied from the keyboard code in

the Selenetic journal) before realizing that it did nothing and that such a brute-force


13/33

approach would be futile. I only hope that they either truly forgot the puzzle box

combination, didnt read it correctly, or dont make the connection until they find

the combination when either Sirrus or Achenar tells them, since Id hate to be the

reason they missed over half of the game. Feigning ignorance seems to be working,

since while theyre in town I can watch them play and, should they get too far off-

course, make seemingly nave suggestions that while not terribly informative willpoint them in the right direction. Dad says hell just chat with Drew, with whom hes

a good Facebook friend, and get him to give him the answers. Im sure hes kidding,but just to be sure I got to Drew first with a Facebook message:

Dear Drew, ol buddy ol pal,

Got a favor for you: I know youre chummy on Facebook with my Dad, who, along

with my Mom, is currently playing Myst on the iPad. Blast from the past, right?Anyway, theyre doing well in the game but at times they get frustrated and beg me

for the answers to the puzzles, which I of course deny them, and I told them,

perhaps unwisely, that theyre now at the point where I stopped trying and just

asked you and Logan to help skip me to the end. Dad says hes just gonna ask youhow to beat it now, and though I think hes kidding, PLEASE dont help with the

game- torment him mercilessly with the fact that you COULD, sure, but no actual

hints- Im trying to vicariously relive the authentic Myst Experience I shouldve had

in middle school.

Thanks a lot, and congratulations on graduation!

His reply:

hahah okay, and thanks!

Dad says hell tell Drew, an avowed atheist, that Jesus wants him to help him. Thatshould go over well.

But I still wonder if I was like this when I first played the game. At twelve, I made no

attempt to unravel a story in this game; I thought it was just for the sake of finding

and exploring new worlds (and as it turns out, thats not too far offwhen alls said

and done). But I did manage to get to all of the four main Ages by myself, and fairly

quickly, too, though getting back with a page in hand was a different story. With the

Mechanical Age I think I figured out the elevator but never realized what it did, and

went back to Myst Island in frustration, either by a previous save or just a new game

(which is why Im telling my parents not to use the iPad versions bookmark

feature, so they wont make the same Mystakes I did (see what I did there?)).Stoneship I beat, and was very proud of myself for doing so- Channelwood I dont

remember leaving, though Im pretty sure I found the pages since I remember

finding Sirrus message to Achenar about only taking one page- and in Selenetic I

made it to the underground maze but never made it out on my own.

In fact, I think one of the major factors in my reaching the ending of Myst, aside from

Drew and Logan who only told me the correct fireplace combination, was my old


14/33

teacher Mrs. Cooks journal. She lent me her notes in her official Journal of Myst

after she beat the game (by herself, probably), and with that I easily found the white

page and gave it to Atrus. Before that, I kept trying to give Atrus either the red or

blue pages found behind the fireplace, which just led to the bad ending of being

trapped in Dni (It occurs to me that Riven could technically occur after Myst even

with that ending, but I wonder if Atrus would send someone foolish enough toignore his warning about being sure to bring the white page with them?). Mrs.

Cooks journal included the complete message from the two halves of the page aboutthe Vault, so finding that led me to the ending and let me see the scorch marks left

after Atrus destroyed the Red and Blue books.

My parents are at Stoneship now and making good progress, now that theyre moreaware of the type of logic the game employs: finding the tools for solving a puzzle is

easy, its just applying them that takes a higher level of thinking. I dont think theyre

fixating on picayune details anymore like in Mechanical, though they are taking time

to admire the scenery and impressive set pieces. And man oh man, they finally

started taking real notes! It took a frustrating repeat of the clock tower puzzle,alternately pulling and holding levers to align the numbered gears to 2-2-1, which

Dad had done before on the plane ride out to L.A. but forgotten how afterwards-

when the puzzle got messed up when Dad accidentally reset it, he and Mom

struggled for a while to reconfigure it, and decided to note the process in detail for

posterity, realizing that their memories alone werent sufficient. Before that, only a

code or a number had been worthy of recording, but after the clock tower incident,

and seeing how the stars in the planetarium resemble the constellations in the

Stoneship journal when set to the dates in the tower, they decided to keep better

records.

Seriously, where was their imagination there? Could they really not see that thestars deliberately resembled the leaf, the bug, and the snake? The only one thats

hard to determine is the snake, but the other two are incredibly, incredibly obvious,

even to me when I was only twelve. And even if they didnt see the pattern right

away, how could they not make the connection? Theyre given dates, which they

know plug into the planetarium (Mom is still convinced the game has something to

do with time-travel because of this, thinking that each Age is the same location but

a different time period. Actually, that kind of makes sense for Mechanical and

Stoneship, but they might have a hard time substantiating that theory in

Channelwood or Selenetic, since their geography is radically different), which give

them star patterns, which resembled the constellations in the book, which match the

patterns on the eight columns around the ship model! They saw all these elementsbut made no effort to act on the obvious relation between them until I pointed them

in the right direction by mentioning that the star pattern of the bug was

symmetrical, probably deliberately so. From there, they took some time to plug in

the other dates and draw all three star patterns, which led to them finally activating

the correct columns (which they now think are the Marker Switches, since theres

eight of both. Getting the Vault Note will correct that, if they ever find it). That raised

the ship, to much excitement.


15/33

Dad figured out the chest/key puzzle pretty easily, knowing that he needed to make

it float and figuring out the water pumps automatically, though I had to mention that

the spigot was open before they closed it to keep water from coming back in. This

led to the room with the generator, which Mom did not recognize as such but Dad

instinctively cranked, fully charging the battery. This lit the passages down toSirruss and Achenars rooms, though when I left them they had only explored the

former, finding the red page among his hoarded treasures. They also, and Im just soproud of them for this, found the telescope on top of the stairs and marked, actually

MARKED, without me telling them, the degrees of several prominent features

around the Age (I also told Mom how proud of her I was that she compared the

grandiose dcor in the Pantages Theater to the visuals in Mystwhen we saw Billy

Elliot yesterday- it was on par with Dad automatically thinking of possible Portal

placements on the white walls of the Tri-Cities Airport). These landmarks included

the two off-center spires of the ship and, most importantly, the lighthouse beacon,

which hopefully theyll connect with the compass when they see it in the hidden

chamber off of the two passageways to the brothers rooms. I remember being soexcited when I figured that puzzle out; I even used the calculator on the old Gateway

2000 (or did we have the Dell by then? I seem to remember playing Orpheos Curseat around the same time, so that would be Gateway, but maybe we upgraded before

I started playing Myst) to figure out which switch around the compasss perimeter

would have favorable results instead of blacking out everything and activating the

siren (Im sure Mom and Dad will love that one), and was so relieved when insteadof being plunged into darkness the underwater lamps turned on, allowing me to see

in the ships underwater cabin to retrieve and use the Myst book hidden in the table.

I dont know if they realize that there are two passageways down from the two

halves of the fractured ship in the Age, or if they realize that the ship is in twopieces- Mom confesses, and I agree, that her spatial recognition isnt too great, and

she gets disoriented easily, and Dads had some problems with distinguishingseparate objects in Portal, too, so it may take some for them to grasp that aspect of

the Age and find Achenars room and the hidden passage. Boy, Channelwoods gonna

drive them insane, its so nonlinear... I hope they have the foresight to make a map,

or even copy it from the Channelwood journal before they go, though that may be

hoping for too much.

Mom keeps asking how close to the end they are. I of course profess not to know,

but in reality theyre not even halfway there. Id estimated the total time needed to

complete the game at twenty hours, and she thinks theyve been at it longer thanthat, which I disbelieve completely- Id say theyre just now approaching ten hours

of true gametime, so theyre actually going at a pretty good pace. How well they can

maintain it has yet to be seen, as getting to the remaining two Ages is looking to be

problematic. Apparently it was Mom that got the boiler lit in the cabin, since she

suggested they actually strikethe match; that almost makes up for the Fortress

Rotation Simulator fiasco (almost). They turned the boiler all the way up, which

means they heard the sound of the tree rising up, but they mustve disregarded it


16/33

since they havent mentioned anything, and of course they werent taking notes back

then, despite my supplications. I hope they mess around with it when they get back

from Stoneship and realize the effects raising and lowering the temperature have.

As for opening the rocket and getting to Selenetic... um, that could take a while. Dad

found one of the circuit breakers on the electric tower, but the other one is hidden

pretty well so I dont know how long itll take for him to figure out how to set thegenerators power to the rocket to 59 volts. Once inside they should pretty easily get

the keyboard puzzle, since they found the piano diagram in the Selenetic journal, but

thats just a really intricate Age, so getting back from it could be quite an ordeal.

Im also waiting for their verdict on Sirrus and Achenar. At this point Dad thinks

Sirrus is evil (correct) and Achenar is crazy (correct), but happily they both think

theyll have to choose one or the other in the end. What will they do when presentedwith the green book to Dni? Will they open it, ignoring the brothers false warnings

that its a trap? And will they understand that the statuses of the Ages is the result of

the brothers lust for riches and power, Sirrus embodying the former and Achenar

the latter, as evinced by the state of their rooms and the clues left around the Ages?That Im not so sure about- when alls said and done, Mom and Dad are bright, andwould have to be to work as a lawyer and a social worker, respectively. But neither

is terribly logical and both seem to be having trouble with memory lately, Dad being

zero for three with the Myst Journal, the picture of his bull he said hed e-mail me formy continuing experiments with pyrography, and the story I wrote in high school ISaw It Coming for my personal archives. Helping to preserve or even develop theircognition and retention for their sakes (and mine, admittedly) was one of the

foremost things I had in mind when I got them the game, but watching them play in

these early levels I cant help but think of Sherlock Holmes most common complaintto Watson: You see, but you do not observe. During the more frustrating moments

of playing with them Im even more tempted to echo Sherlock Holmesscondescension in Benedict Cumberbachs words: Dear God, what is it like in your

funny little brains? It must be so boring!

Butthats unfair of me to say. After all, while the puzzles are obvious to one familiar

with the solutions, theyre notso obvious to a newcomer. I wonder if Id be sayingthe same thing if we were all playing some game for the first time (The 7thGuest,

perhaps?) And its not like theyre not trying. In fact, the problem may be theyre

trying too hard- Dad concocted a strange hypothesis connecting the Forechamber to

the Columns based on the gold discs in the Imager, an idea which Mom correctly

pointed out was too much of a stretch, but interesting nonetheless (This was

probably based on the fact that due to a bug of some sort the imager doesnt workproperly at this point in the game- the proper Marker Switch Diagram wouldnt

come up no matter how many times we entered code 47, so he assumed the circles

at the bottom of the Imager were the Marker Switches in diagram form, when in

reality theyre supposed to be the hologram projectors).

Anyway, I must have more confidence in them; theyve impressed me before, and

they may defy my expectations if theyre willing to put in the time, and if Mom ever


17/33

learns the proper way to navigate the game with touches and swipes on the iPad

screen.

Plus, I wonder if, with my limited knowledge of Java programming, I could make a

Myst-style game...

5/20/12

Unbelievable. Un-be-frickin-lievable. I dont know how they managed to do it, but

Mom and Dad have completely subverted the intended path of play for Myst.

Their first, and probably most flagrant, premature discovery was the white page in

the vault by the dock. They had no idea what to do with it and it vanished back into

the vault, which is now closed, when they picked up another page, and as of now

they have no idea how to open it, turning all the marker switches on and then

turning the one by the dock off. I almost considered interfering in the game by

deliberately turning off a Marker Switch unbeknownst to them, just to try to ensurethey didnt accidentally stumble upon it again and found it legitimately, butthiswasnt necessary, as theyve left the Marker Switch by the cogs off and arent likelyto go up there again.

And yet, maybe dumb luck might be the only way they will be able to find it, since in

a very interesting twist, THEY MISSED THE FIRST HALF OF THE VAULT NOTE! They

made it through Stoneship, Mom working out the telescope/compass connection

and finding the Myst book hidden in the table when the underwater lamps were

turned on, with Dad being the first to realize that the ship was in two sections

around the rock and the paths down led to two different rooms- he even surmised

that the rooms belonged to the two brothers, and correctly identified which roombelonged to which brother! I was worried they wouldnt make that connection, but

theyve got itin their minds now.

But in looking through Achenars room, where the first half of the note is hidden,

they arrived at the chest of drawers and, after playing with the Rose/Skull Hologram

for a while, they began opening drawers, revealing various maps hidden within. I

have no idea how it happened, but they managed to skip the one drawer of six that

contained one of the most vital clues in the entire game.

I was tempted to tell them that theyd skipped one, but I decided against it. Dad

would say its because I enjoy watching them suffer while playing through the game,but my intentions arent malicious, I swear. For one, Im still maintaining the

charade that Im totally unaware of the games secrets, even though by this point I

know them fairly well, so that when I do suggest something I can do so in a way that

doesnt seem to give away anything (and its working, by the way- Dad still thinksnothing Ive said has helped, as he articulated during the Selenetic Age, which Ill get

to later). For another, the whole point of this was to have them get an authentic

puzzle game experience, meaning that Ill help them take baby steps, but for the


18/33

really important stuff they have to get it themselves and what they miss, they miss.

Lastly, the other half of the note is practically unmissable (gee, that sounds an awful

lot like what I said about this half...), and honestly, since theyve already stumbled

upon the vault once, itshould be enough. After all, Ive looked into it and the

majority of the information is in the second half of the note, I suppose since its

supposed to be found last. Maybe mom and dad will think that the second half is allthere is and fill in the missing information since they already have some idea of

where to find the page. Regardless, they missed it, and well just have to see wherethat leads.

Anyway, they did make it out of Stoneship and returned both pages to the books in

the library, then proceeded to get stuck again. We were staying in Yosemite National

Park when they reached this, the halfway point of the game (Just a thought: Sirrus

mentioned there were only two more pages, yet he knows he needs three more?

Maybe he meant two more in other Ages, trying to put off the page in the fireplace so

he could win the player over and convince them not to open the green book until he

was able to speak as clearly as possible through the static). And while I drove backto LA for a final week of classes at AFI, they took one last loop around California

with trips to San Francisco and Big Sur, where they saw a whole beachload of

elephant seals, and during which time they couldnt find their way off of Myst Island

again.

I sort of slipped up before I left Yosemite and told them that the next age they were

going to was one of the easier ones and thatMom should drive through it. Dad saw

through this and asked me how I knew that if I hadnt played the game in 11 years,

to which I answered that I had looked back on it since then but only in passing. That

seemed to keep my bluff safe, so when they returned to LA for the final two nights of

their vacation I was ready to help them get to Channelwood. The only problem was,they didnt go to Channelwood- they went to Selenetic!

The rocket ships has weighed heavily on them the entire game, since from the

beginning its been the most obviously inaccessible area and one of the only locked

doors where a solution is not even remotely apparent. Theyd found the towerrotation clue, 59 volts, long ago, but in trying to apply it theyd blown the circuit

breakers between the generators and the rocket. Dad found one of them a long time

ago but didnt know what it did, since when he tried it before there was still too

much power in the generators. I prompted him to return when all the generators

were off and he realized its true function, and upon returning to the generator room

the Power to Ship gauge was working again. I did have to suggest they figure outexactly how much power each button allotted, but they did the math by themselves

and were thrilled to find the door to the ship open.

When confronted with the keyboard and the note-sliders, their attention to the

details in the librarys journals truly paid off since they remembered the keyboard

diagram written inside and, with some trial and error and a few hummed pitches,

they found their way into Selenetic. Dad always lets Mom bring them into the new


19/33

Age, or Era as they call it, still believing that each Age is a representation of the

same island at a different point in time. I wonder how long it will be before they

realize this is not the case- both of them seem to cling to a theory once theyve got it

in their heads, and it doesnt serve them well. The prime example of this is their

tower rotation hypothesis, that rotating the tower to face a landmark on the island

supplies power/electricity to that point, when there is nothing in the game tosuggest this. I tried to talk them out of it and they seem to have recanted,

recognizing that the tower rotation serves only to relay messages concerning how to

access the books, but Im still concerned with how obstinate they are when it comes

to holding on to matters of pure speculation. Like Sherlock Holmes said, change the

theory to match the facts, not the other way around. Hopefully theyll realize this

when the true meaning of the game is revealed: I keep telling them I look forward to

the moment when they realize what the game is really about, and that it can be

summed up in one word.

So, on Selenetic, they proceeded to find the five symbols, not seeming to connect

that the sounds around each (or most, I dont know about the obelisk) of themseemed to be connected to the symbols. They did register that the things above each

symbol were microphones, something even I hadnt realized, and Dad wisely hadeach one of the switches turned on. He wasnt able to find the fifth symbol, the water

drops, walking straight past it each time, but Mom found it with relative ease. Thats

one of the problems I think Dad is having with the game: he gets turned around very

easily and doesnt take time to really register where he is. Walking around Selenetic

must have been very disorienting for him, since multiple times hed walk down the

same path thinking he was heading in a completely different direction, only to

become frustrated when he found himself back where he had started. Mom has

problems with spatial reasoning as well, but her main issue aside from fixating on

unimportant minutia is that she gets frustrated a lot more easily, so shes less willingto find her bearings when she gets lost or confused. She also keeps saying that she

cant play the game, that she doesnt think it was designed for people like her, andwhen confronted with a puzzle with seemingly infinite combinations, shes too

hesitantto try any of them (this is known in the gaming world as the Quicksand

Box syndrome, where, as Tycho from the webcomic Penny Arcade describes it,When given the opportunity to do everything, [one] tend[s] to do nothing). Yetinvariably five minutes after the peak of her complaints she finds herself making a

breakthrough. In Mechanical it was finding the treasure/torture rooms, in Stoneship

it was finding the Myst book hidden in the table, and here in Selenetic it was rotating

each of the five satellite dishes over the control panel on the island in the middle of

the crater to face the appropriate location as indicated by the symbols: water towater, fissure to fissure, clock to clock, etc. I wanted them to reach the Mazerunner

before they left for home, so I innocuously suggested that they focus the dishes so

there was no interference, and that they note the order the sounds were played in

when the Sigma button was pressed. With that in mind, they quickly realized the

sounds themselves were the code to be dialed into the door at the beginning of the

age and, after I pointed out that Dad had wrongly positioned one of the sliders, they

reached the Mazerunner, blue page in hand.


20/33

And thats where they are today. They played on the plane ride back but havent

been able to figure out the logic behind the puzzle, that the noises made at each

rotation point correspond to the directions theyre supposed to go to reach the Myst

book. They also think that the Myst book is actually in the fountain on top of the

grassy knoll on the surface, since thats where Atrus said he left it initially in theSelenetic journal, and that they somehow have to drain it to get the book.

In theory, the vigorous note-taking player is supposed to be able to get the key to

the Mazerunner almost instantly, since he or she will have marked the sounds made

by the Fortress Rotation (Simulator or Genuine) in the Mechanical Age that indicate

which direction the fortress is facing: a bing for north, a fsshh for east, a dong

for south, and a whirr for west, which can be combined to indicate the secondary

directions, and the same sounds correspond to the same directions here. This key is

also deductable from the Mazerunner itself, since you start out with north being

your only direction and get the bing from that, then a whirr indicates that of your

two options west is best, since south would only take you back to where you were,then east and east which gives you the fsshh leaving only the dong for south, soyou have what each one means. I only wonder how long it will take them to realize

that the sounds are significant. Maybe when theyre both able to hear the game

theyll get closer to the answer (their headphone splitter wasnt working properly

on the plane so only one of them was able to hear- I wonder who it was? Maybe they

each took one earbud from a single pair). Still, though, sound is the pervading motif

in the Age- it took them sound from the keyboard to get there, the natural sounds of

the Age opened the door to the Mazerunner, and now sounds are the key to

navigating through the labyrinth- youd think theyd be in the mindset that soundwould be their guide. Sure, I didnt exactly realize it the moment I got in this

subterranean vessel (Mom thinks its a submarine, and itdoes kind of look like theYellow Submarine, but theres no indication its ever underwater), but I recall not

actually giving that part of Selenetic much thought, since the visuals in the

Mazerunner werent as impressive as other parts of the game. I did beat it with thenotes from Mrs. Cooks Myst journal, just following the path shed traced in a map of

the whole maze (I dont recall if shed figured out the sound/direction connection).

Maybe Mom and Dad will make a map too and just solve it by brute force, a perfectly

legitimate, if less efficient, solution. If not, well, then theyll probably be stuck down

there for a while.

And I say let them sweat down there. Theyll get it eventually, and theyll probably

slap themselves for missing it- the answers to most Myst puzzles tend to hide inplain sight (or sound) like that. But if it takes them a little while to get it, then so be

it- itll be a good balance to the help Dad doesnt think Ive been giving them. Trust

me, ifI hadnt been looking over their shoulders and making a few little comments

every now and then, they would still be in the Mechanical Age trying to figure out

what to do with that elevator. The important thing right now is that they both think

they did it by themselves, and depending on whether I let them read this journal or

not, it might just stay that way.


21/33

So, well see what happens. Since theyve left LA nowtheyre bound to beat the game

without me there, so they are officially on their own. I did tell them that this wasnt

the easy age I had in mind, since they skipped Channelwood in favor of Selenetic, but

they had to face it eventually if they want to beat the game. They came close to

discovering Channelwood, Mom mistaking the piston-tree for the grassy knoll, stillthinking time travel has something to do with the game, and failing to notice the

elevator a distance up the trees trunk. Since the cabin with the boiler is the onlything on the island that hasnt been used to reach an Age yet, hopefully thats wheretheyll go when they get back from Selenetic, and turning off the boiler and hearingthe noise the tree makes when it rises and falls should be their next step. And

actually, this order might make things more interesting plot-wise, since now theyll

come across Sirrus message to Achenar in his video recorder as one of the last

things they see in the game, one of the only clues the player gets that the brothers

are in cahoots and that neither should be trusted. Theyll also get the second half of

the Vault Note just before the finale, and with any luck they should find the white

page again and bring it to Atrus. Im so very eager to see what they do whenpresented with the final choice: Red, Blue, or Green? Whom to trust? What to do?

Why to do it? And what, WHAT, is Myst really about?

5/31/12

Let them sweat down there, I said. Well, I got what I asked for, and sure enough,

theyre still down there, trying to work out how to get out of the maze. They didnt

even realize that it was a maze until I told them so, Dad thinking it was more of a

transit system. No sir; its a 37-hub maze in which they are very, very lost. Funnyhow for all this talk about pointing them in the right direction, here thats the last

thing Id be able to do lest I give away the answer.

But I did give them a small hint(devilishly cryptic, as I called it). They recognizedthat the sounds bing, fsshh, whirr, and dong, had something to do with thepuzzle, though they couldnt figure it out even when they took my advice and started

making a map (which theyve only completed to seven hubs so far), and I think I mayhave figured out why. Theres an additional layer to this puzzle that complicates the

matter further, needlessly in my opinion: On the right track, the sounds correspond

to the direction that will bring the player closer to the end of the line and the book,

but if you ever get off of the main track, the sounds correspond to the direction that

takes you to the nearest dead-end, and once you reach that theres no sound at all. I

remember when I got stuck at this part when I was 12 that some hubs had soundsand some didnt, butI never put it together that the silent ones were the dead ends,let alone that the sounds corresponded to directions and that they pointed the

player in the right direction only under certain conditions.

Its definitely the hardest part of the game. Perhaps the Miller Brothers hadnt quite

gotten the hang of puzzle-making yet when they conceived of this one- this is their

first game for adults, after all. And yet there is a certain logic to it, frail though it may


22/33

be- after all, Atrus meant the Mazerunner to be solvable only to those who knew

how to navigate it, and the code was easy enough to deduce for someone who knows

what to look (or listen) for, but hed want to throw off anyone else and so he put in

the additional hubs to disorient anyone who didnt know what to do. That waytheyd be down there for quite a while, probably solving it by brute-force if they

never got the conditional logic down, or if theyd never been to Mechanical, whichhas the same sounds for the same directions. Come to think of it, I think the Miller

Brothers didknow what they were doing. After all, the game rewards dedication to

note-taking, something I endlessly implored my parents to do in Mechanical, and yet

they didnt listen...

But I took pity on them. They were getting desperate, once again looking to wild,

unsupported theories rather than focusing on deriving a pattern from what was

right under their noses. Dad believed that the water in the pool on the grassy knoll

(where both of them surmised the Myst book resided) had gone down once they

opened the door to the Mazerunner (it hadnt, and Ive confirmed it). Mom believed

the path taken by the Mazerunner corresponded to something on the surface of theAge (it didnt, and I told her so). So to get them going, I devised the aforementioned

devilishly cryptic clue, which I gave to them over the phone:

What are the sounds of news?

If all goes well, they will recognize that the letters in news are all seen in thedirections of the Mazerunners compass readout, N, E, W, and S. That, hopefully, will

lead them to connect that each direction has its own sound. I told them to write it

down, so maybe seeing the words and the letters will help them unravel my Myst-

ical clue (see what I did there?). Im nervous about them getting off of the main path

and reaching a dead-end, since that might make them scrap the correct idea aboutwhich sound corresponds to which direction. But if all else fails, theyve got their

map, so theyll reach the end sooner or later.

What I am looking forward to is revealing that they could have solved the whole

thing in about five minutes if they had just been taking notes the whole time. Once

theyve gotten both pages back from Selenetic, Ill tell them to go back to Mechanical

and play around with Moms beloved Fortress Rotation Simulator, where theyll

hear the same sounds that will have been driving them crazy for weeks. I can almost

hear their exasperated reactions now- it will beglorious.

6/4/12

They made it out of the maze tonight, using the brute force solution, though when I

talked to Dad he seemed tojustfall short of realizing that the noises corresponded

to directions. I guess my hint was too cryptic. I almost goofed and told Dad that the

maze randomly resets itself each time they go back to the age, but I realized I

couldnt back that up and confessed that I mustve been thinking about Riven, which

really does have several randomized puzzles. I think Dads onto me, since after my


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recollections and shockingly accurate predictions about their locations he asked if

Id been playing the game, but I chalked it up to remembering from when they

played it with me when they were out in California. Again, a necessary lie- its

important to keep up the faade.

Also interesting is that when they got back from the maze, they thought theyd putthe page in the book but instead they had only opened the book to reveal Achenars

previous message (the one he gives when only two pages have been put in) and

forgotten to drag the page to the book itself, assuming it had happened on its own

since the page disappears from the screen during the video. I realized this when Dad

found his way back to Selenetic, or the Maze Age, as theyve come to call it (though

its the proper name for the age, the word Selenetic doesnt actually appear in the

game), and touching the red page produced the humming noise that accompanies a

page being replaced in a book or placed back in its hiding spot in the Ages- this

meant that the page they were holding had gone back to its original spot, and

confirming that the blue page was back by the pool of water confirmed my

suspicions. Theyre lucky I heard it over the phone, no?

So now they have to go back through the maze again, following their map, which

should get them there quickly, and then do itagain to retrieve the red page for real.

And then, only then, do I get to guide them to the Mechanical Age (or Gear World,

as they call it- they also call Stoneship Ship Land, just to complete the nicknametrifecta. I can only assume assume theyll call Channelwood Tree Ville) to show

them how the directional noises were right in front of them for the longest time. If

only theyd taken better notes. Hee hee.

Seriously, why wont they take notes? Getting back from Selenetic they didnt even

remember how to return to get the other page, completely forgetting that it hadsomething to do with the rocket ship. Sure, it had been a while since theyd had to

arrange the musical sliders to activate the linking window, but again, had they

written it downto begin with they would have remembered in an instant, wouldnt

they?

Stubborn parents. After theyve gotten each of the third pages back, and after I show

them the Mechanical Age noises, Ive vowed to maintain complete silence regardinghints or pointers, no matter how cryptic. Theyll have to figure out how to get to

Channelwood, how to find the pages, and how to get back all on their own, and when

it comes to that theyll have the big decision to make. Red or Blue? Sirrus or

Achenar? Greed or Sadism? The beauty of the game is that before you can refuseboth you have to choose one or the other. Which will be more appealing, or less

repugnant, to them? Will they find the missing Myst page? Will the information on

the second half of the Vault Access page be enough? And when alls said and done...

will they have likedit?

6/13/12


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Okay, so it wasntimmenselysatisfying revealing the secret of the Mazerunner, sinceneither parent had even thought for a moment about writing down the sounds made

by Moms precious Fortress Rotation Simulator, but they did recognize why the

sounds were what they were, and that the answer had been right in front of them

the whole time. Hopefully theyll be more cautious in Riven- sound figures in that

game, too (hint, hint)!

So they solved the maze twice more and got both pages back to the brothers,

meaning only one Age remains: Channelwood. I had been slightly worried that they

would once again be at a loss for how to leave the hub island of Myst and venture

into a new Age, but thankfully Dad realized that the only thing on the island that

hadnt yet played any part in concealing a book was the cabin with the boiler and thetree, and remembering that the tower rotation line turned red when pointed

towards the tree, he knew it significant and began trying to unravel its secrets, even

in a post-Bonnaroo haze. He realized that turning the boiler down released pressure

and, hearing the noise from outside, ran out and saw that the tree was sinking into

the ground with every hiss, and that a small platform was carved into the tree.When I left them they hadnt figured out what to do with this, though Dad was trying

to see if he could ride the platform down into the ground somehow- Mom had the

good idea to count the times the tree rises and falls so they could gauge the

platforms position without having to leave the valve, though really they could justturn it all the way up, wait until it stops rising, then turn it all the way down and run

outside with plenty of time to spare. Regardless, theyre very close to entering a new

Age. Or maybe they have already, if theyve played more since I last checked in.

I think theyll like Channelwood- as I said before, it feels like the most completeAge, and its beautiful to boot. Hopefully with their experience in the Mazerunner

will lead them to create diagrams and/or maps for the water pipes and treehouses,since they can be a bit disorienting. Finding the book in that Age isnt hard

compared to finding the pages, and of course with the pages comes the shocking

revelation that NEITHER brother can be trusted, as well as the second half of the

Myst Vault Note.

So much to look forward to in these next few play sessions! I listened to them over

the phone as they placed the fourth pages in the red and blue books, hearing Sirrus

and Achenar pleading once again not to free the other brother, but when I asked

them whom they trusted more they had no idea. I guess it didnt come across thatthe decadent parts of the ages were more Sirrus speciality, while the more grim

aspects were Achenars. I think the Miller brothers definitely intend for us to trustSirrus more, assuming we pick up on that, until we see Sirrus message to Achenar-but will they know what it means, what it refers to? They know they have to make a

choice soon, so which will it be? I know they wont leave the Age without first

finding both pages and discussing which one to bring back to some extent. Maybe

Achenars giant bear trap and god-complex-revealing messages will dissuade them

from returning the blue one. Sirrus, however, has that knife under his bed... wonder

what theyll think of that?


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I just hope they get it right the first time. Getting trapped in either of the books or in

Dni is really demoralizing, even if you know its coming, and reloading from an

earlier save feels cheap, though I dont think that would bother them quite as much

as it would me. The prospect of being trapped forever is just so horrifying, I wonder

how they would take it- would they assume thats just how the game ends? Thecredits do roll after the bad endings in the iPad version- would they feel inclined to

go back and try something different? Will they have a bookmark near the crucial

point, or will they have to retrace a significant portion of the game?

So many questions. But thats just part of the game, I suppose. When they start Riven

there will undoubtedly be exponentially more such questions since the game is far

more immense and complex. Its good for them, though, to be challenged like this,

and for them to start seeing things with the mindset of a gamer, which I feel is a

good way to approach real-world obstacles since a gamer is willing to experiment

but ultimately seeks a path of elegance and efficiency. Ive decided, therefore, that

they shall play at least one game to completion per year for the rest of their lives,with me picking the games and guiding them through (though they have to beat it

on their own). Myst was a good place to start (technically Dads got a lot of Portalexperience under his belt, though he has yet to beat the second one), and the sequel

will be a good continuation, but what next? I could send my PS2 home with Exile in

2014 and let them play that, but maybe theyll be tired ofMyst-like puzzle games by

then. RPGs like Final Fantasy VII are too time-consuming, repetitive (I can only

imagine Dads frustration at the endless random encounters), and confusing (Mom

would have a conniption trying to understand Materia), and action games are too

violent for Mom. Ooh, how about Limbo? Its nice and short, I bet theyd appreciatethat, plus its hauntingly brilliant and beautiful with cold hard logic mixed in with

deep but subtle emotion. The whole trial-by-death aspect of the thing might be alittle frustrating for them, but it could be worse- I couldve given them Super Meat

Boy or VVVVVV.

Whatever, thats two years from now. Ill find something that they can relate to that

will still enhance their perception of the world of gaming. Right now, I need to focus

on their progress through the world of Myst. Theyve come so far, and the end is just

ahead- a crucial juncture, and a very difficult decision, awaits...

6/19/12

The ending approaches... they did indeed make it into Channelwood (or treehouseland, as they call it, pretty close to what I thought theyd name it) and have figured

out how to operate the elevators by diverting the water supply with the switches on

the pipes. Theyve only explored the first and second levels so far, not having foundhow to reach the top treehouses. I didnt ask if theyve found the Myst book yet, but I

wouldnt be surprised- if they know about the waterpower then they might have

raised the bridge and extended the pipe to get the water to the correct elevator.

Thats not really much of a puzzle, just a natural progression that shouldnt be a


26/33

problem. Getting to the top level is a little more subtle, but theyll get it- they have tofind the lever to open the doors to the spiral staircase so they can move between the

first and second levels without using an elevator, then route the water to the motor

below the elevator by the spiral staircase so they can ride it from the second to the

third level, where theyll find the pages, the second half of the note... and Sirrus

message to Achenar. Its exciting to think that everything crucial to them reachingthe best ending of the game lies just above them.

I keep urging them to start thinking about whom they trust, but they dont seem to

have any clue so far- they do know, from the messages the brothers gave after the

third pages, that each brother claims the other is guilty of something, though

Achenar is the only one that claims their father is dead at his brothers hand. Mybiggest fear is that theyll pick a brother, get his message about the fireplace and

code 158, then find the two pages and the green book but decide that before they do

anything they want to hear what the other brother has to say and give him the page

they found in the fireplace... which automatically completes the book and traps them

inside, freeing the brother within and locking them into a rather disturbing ending.Not to mention that theyll have to go all the way back to the last place they

bookmarked, which as far as I know is before the Mazerunner when I saved their

progress for them since that part is a little glitchy on my iPhone version- maybe

theyve bookmarked since, I dont know. I should tell them to save their progress. Infact, hold on a second...

...Okay, Im back. I sent them both transcripts of the most recent messages from

Sirrus and Achenar for their records, and, as an added twist, I requested that when

the time comes to make the choice, Mom be the one to do it- after all, it technically is

her game for her iPad. I specifically emphasized the emotional significance of the

ending so that hopefully theyll recognize the need to bookmark right beforeanything crucial, even though I didnt say it outright.

Just keeping them on their toes.

6/30/12

10:59 PM

Im here live with both parents as they initiate what could and should be their final

session with their first of many birthday-gift video games, Myst. Mom is taking the

wheel first, while Dad, who has been driving all day to reach our current location of

Chautauqua, New York, checks his e-mail and plays a few games of Scrabble, thoughMom is already starting to get frustrated- apparently the water power pipes puzzle

was done primarily by Dad, who, at the moment, is still playing Scrabble and is

telling Mom to chill. They work so well together.

11:09 PM

Dad has taken it upon himself to get Myst running while Mom looks at a picture on

his computer.


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11:11 PM

Mom has resumed driving with Dad in the passenger seat. They are on the second

level of the treehouse but returning to the pumphouse under the windmill.

11:22 PMRather than seeking the secrets of the upper levels of the Age, the parents have

proceeded to start unraveling the Myst-eries (see what I did there?) of the other

elevator, the one that leads to the Myst book. Undoubtedly theyll be happy to find a

way out of the Age, but disappointed that they are no closer to finding either page.

Dad keeps mentioning how they should be diagramming the pipes and treehouses,

but so far he has yet to touch pen to paper.

11:43 PM

After saying three times how they should have been diagramming the whole thing,

Dad has finally begun to map the world, with Mom driving hastily. They should find

the... oops, nevermind, theyre too tired, theyre going to bed. Well try again later.

7/01/12

10:11 PM

And, were back! Mom at the wheel and Dad making a map, they press on. Today,

Mom revealed that she officially believes the father to be dead, with one of the

brothers responsible. Dad joked that he thought blue was good and red was bad, but

based solely on how red states vote Romney.

10:14 PM

Mom is finally starting to slow down from her usual frenetic pace, but mapping isgoing slowly. Theyve had to return to the windmill/pumphouse several times to

regain their bearings.

10:17 PM

Dad has made a Myst-ake (See what I did there? Or is this joke making you Pyst off?)

on the map. Mom realized it and is trying to correct him, though they dont know

where the error is.

10:19 PM

Theyve figured out how to divert power to the elevator leading to the Myst book.

Stand by.

10:26 PM

Theyre back in the treehouses. Dad only thinks there are three of them and does not

wish to explore there anymore. Mom correctly thinks that the spiral staircase is not

an elevator, though they do not get that the door to the staircase is locked. Mom

correctly thinks the staircase is a way down from the second level.


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10:31 PM

Dads main problem is that he does not recognize that two of the pipes converge

again after splitting.

10:36 PM

Mom thinks there are two elevators. Dad thought there were three, but correctedhimself when he saw that the spiral was just a door.

10:42 PM

They had it, but they lost it.

10:43 PM

Wait a minute, they got it again! Theyre about to find the Myst book... hold on, it

seems like Dad thinks water has to be going to the bridge generator even when its

not on.

10:44 PMOkay, theyre proofreading the map, Dad driving and Mom with the pen. Looks like

they figured out the pipes rejoin at one point, the intersection with no valve.

10:56 PM

Mom had successfully mapped the pipes and walkways when she began

complaining that they hadnt done anything that night. I counted backwards from

ten and sure enough, they had found the book before I was done. Thats how it goes,

isnt it? Mom complains about the game being too hard for her, and invariably,INVARIABLY, they discover something new within moments.

They went back to Myst, pageless, and I showed them the map that was in theChannelwood journal the whole time. Again, taking notes would have saved them so

much time and frustration (as would not just playing this with me at night, when

theyre tired and frustrated). Dad has forgotten how to get b

Making Parents Play Myst

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