Myst and Media

Like many multimedia projects, Myst makes use of video, still images, audio, and traditional text. What separates Myst from the others is the fact that these different media are included not simply to make use of the current technology, but to make use of the unique characteristics of each medium.

Specifically, an entire world of Myst crucially depends on the player's understanding of the importance of a certain sound -- water passing through pipes. Without this realization, the player will be forever stuck in this world.

Several other worlds require that the player reproduce certain sounds in order to gain access to locked rooms. In this way, Myst has recreated the notion of the key: access is granted not with a tangible object, not even with a standard password, but by the reproduction, in this example, of notes on a keyboard.