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Myst
The Library · Myst · Riven

The Island · Mechanical · Stoneship · Selenitic · Channelwood · The Brothers and the End

Remember: nudges and pushes are printed plainly. Answers hide in the darker boxes. Highlight to read, and only if you must.

The Island

Nudge. Before anything else, walk everywhere you can, and read everything you find. The library is the heart of the island.

Push. The map in the library isn't only a map. Click on it and hold. Now go look at the tower outside.

Answer, highlight to read:
The map turns the tower to face places on the island. Line it up with one of the four places that matter (the ship, the gear, the rocket, the big tree) and it lights up. Then go into the tower. One ladder shows you where you're pointed. The other shows you a clue for that place. Every Age starts this way.

The Mechanical Age (the gear)

Nudge. The big gear on the hill won't open. The clock tower is out in the water where you can't get to it.

Push. Point the tower at the gear. The clue has a time in it, and three numbers.

Answer, highlight to read:
Use the two wheels on the shore to set the clock to 2:40, then press the button and walk out to the tower. Inside, work the levers until the numbers read 2, 2, 1. The gear opens, and the book is inside.

Once you're in the Age: the fortress turns. Figure out how before you ride it anywhere, and remember which way you came in. I got lost here for a whole evening.

The Stoneship Age

Nudge. The ship sunk at the dock. The planetarium, which you've probably walked past.

Push. Point the tower at the ship. Take the three dates to the planetarium, set each one in, and draw what you see in the sky. One of the books in the library will tell you what you've drawn.

Answer, highlight to read:
The three pictures are a snake, an insect and a leaf. Find the pillars on the island with the little symbols on them and turn on just those three. The ship rises.

Once you're in the Age: the pumps drain the rooms, but only one set at a time. Think about which part of the ship you need dry, and when. You will get your feet wet at least once. Everyone does.

The Selenitic Age (the rocket)

Nudge. The rocket ship needs power, and something at the other end of the island makes it.

Push. Point the tower at the rocket. The clue is a number of volts. Find the room full of buttons and do the arithmetic.

Answer, highlight to read:
59 volts. Each button in the generator room adds a different amount. Press buttons until you have exactly 59 without going over. Then the rocket has a musical puzzle inside, and for that one I'll only say: use your ears and your notebook.

The sound maze. This is where I lost three weeks.

Nudge. Before you set off in the little car, press each of the direction buttons and listen.

Push. Every time the car stops, it makes a sound. It's not decoration.

Answer, highlight to read:
Each compass direction has its own tone. At each stop, the sound you hear is the tone of the way you should go next. Match it and keep going. Write the sequence down as you go so you never have to do it twice.

The Channelwood Age (the tree)

Nudge. The enormous tree near the log cabin, and the furnace inside the cabin.

Push. Point the tower at the tree. The clue is three numbers. There's a safe in the cabin.

Answer, highlight to read:
The safe opens with 7, 2, 4. It holds matches. Light the furnace, turn up the pressure, and the tree rises. Get inside it and ride it back down to the book.

Once you're in the Age: water is power here. Follow the pipes from the windmill, and pay attention to the switches where they fork. This is the elevator I had backwards for a month. Sorry again, everyone.

The Brothers, and the End

Nudge. Each Age has a red page and a blue page. Each brother wants his own color.

Push. Listen to what each brother says about the other, and then ask yourself what they both left out.

Answer, highlight to read:
Never give either brother his last page. The one you want to help is their father, and his book is hidden in the library. When you meet him, he will ask for something that is on Myst Island. Have it in your hand before you go, or you'll both be stuck.

That's all of Myst. If you finished it, write and tell me how you felt at the end. I collect those letters.

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Last updated Saturday, September 11, 1999