While it’s not as well known among younger gamers, to a gamers of a certain age, Myst is an untouchable classic. When it came out in 1993, Myst changed what a puzzle game could be. It was the best selling game of the decade, becoming so popular that it helped make the CD-ROM player into a household item. The game is even included in MoMA’s video game collection. Now one documentarian wants to tell the story of the game, and he’s turning to Kickstarter for help.
The man behind the documentary is Philip Shane, perhaps best known for his work on Being Elmo, a heartwarming documentary about the man who operated the Elmo puppet on Sesame Street. Shane is a long time fan of the Myst games, and started thinking about making this documentary after meeting Myst’s creators, brothers Rand Miller and Robyn Miller, at a conference in 2016.
Shane says that he has already filmed over 100 hours of preliminary footage. He hopes to use that footage to document “an extraordinary transformation of the technology through which we interact with each other, and with which we tell our stories.” Shane clearly isn’t the only modern figure who’s impressed by Myst, as there’s an unrelated Myst TV show being developed at Hulu.
The Kickstarter campaign has a set goal of raising $200k. While that may seem like a lot of money, a board game recently raised almost $13 million on the platform, so anything’s possible. If the Kickstarter is a success, gamers will get the inside story of one of the most important games in history. Here’s hoping!
