Puzzle

From MYSTlore

Puzzles are crucial to all Myst games. It is hard to define exactly what a puzzle is (and what it isn't), but in general terms, a puzzle is an element that serves as an obstacle that the player has to overcome in order to progress, either through the story, or through the actual environment ("unlocking" an area, so to speak). These obstacles are most often dealt with through experimentation, observation and logic deduction. Often, several minor puzzles come together to help the player solve a "bigger" puzzle. A great (and rather complex) example of this is the Power marble puzzle in Riven.

[edit] Notable Puzzles

Famous or notable puzzles in the Myst games, for their difficulty or complexity, include:

• The Mazerunner puzzle in Selenitic, which was nearly impossible to solve without (apparently unrelated) information given in Mechanical. Even players who had completed Mechanical first sometimes became lost in the maze.
• The aforementioned Power Marble puzzle in Riven (called the "Waffle Iron" because of its shape), which relies on information gathered from throughout all five islands.
• The Roller Coaster in Amateria, the result of the proper combination of several previous puzzles.
• The infamous Crystal Orchestra puzzle in Spire, also called the "Spider Chair", which relies on a combination of widely scattered notes and trial and error - and was, occasionally, impossible to solve, depending on the user's computer hardware.
• The almost equally infamous Mangree-Camodile puzzle in Haven, which required precise timing, careful planning and observation, and which refused to reset itself when ignored.
• The Age of Ahnonay, as a whole, has been known to frustrate players who try to uncover its secrets.