Want to make your inner child cry? Play Myst in VR.

This was only ever going to be amazing.

myst_oculus_screen_01.jpg

When I got my first PC as a Christmas present, I needed to learn every possible thing I could about it. I took it apart, put it back together, and spent an unhealthy amount of time crawling through the file system. I knew everything about that machine. When the power supply failed and my parents gave it to my uncle to fix, I spoiled a birthday present because I found CD-ROM drivers that weren’t there when it left.

This level of obsession is where I was at in life when I found Myst on sale at local shop. I didn’t have a lot of games, but it looked so pretty and the box said it was all about puzzles so I was extremely ready for this experience.

I have played Myst more times than I have bothered to count. I own it on PC, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and I keep it in my pocket thanks to the release for Android. As much as I love the other games in this series, I always find myself coming back to this little puzzle island when I want to relax. And now that I can also play Myst on Oculus Quest, I can put my virtual hand on a linking book and be transported into the virtual worlds of this incredible classic.

There’s not much else to say about this. It’s Myst and it’s in VR. The game has been tweaked slightly to support waving your hands around to solve the puzzles — for example, the machine you use to interact with the clocktower is slightly modified — but the puzzles themselves haven’t changed much. You can choose ro randomize the puzzles at the start of the game, but otherwise it’s the Myst you either know and love or have never heard of before.

myst_screen_11.jpg

Be default, Myst in VR is teleport-based for movement and most of the environment looks like a lot of work into making it feel good in VR. Some of the effects, like leaves on the trees and water droplets, are not overly convincing 2D shapes in a 3D environment and break the illusion, but the port to VR is otherwise well done. This very much feels like a port, and not a total remake of Myst, right down to being able to beat the game in about five minutes if you remember all of the puzzles.

If I had to pick a single thing that could’ve been done to push the envelope on this experience, it would have been hand tracking. This is supposed to be Myst, built from the ground up with Oculus Quest in mind. How epic would it be to reach out with my actual unencumbered hand to throw a switch or put the missing page in Atrus’ book? It’s likely the experience would be difficult to make as smooth as what we have with the controllers, but it would’ve dramatically increased how real it all felt and made the VR edition feel more unique.

Myst will always have a special place in my heart, and experiencing it in VR is something I wanted before I knew VR was a real thing. If you don’t have a Quest, Myst 2D for PC will be released soon and will also support multiple VR headsets. Here’s hoping this release is successful enough to help pay for a VR version of Riven. Mine Cart Ride in VR? Yes please.

Nostagia Puzzler

Myst

220px-mystcover.jpg

$30 at Oculus

If you know, you know.

Being able to experience this magical puzzle island in VR is going to make a lot of 30 and 40-somethings very happy, hopefully happy enough to fun some of the sequel games in VR as well.

Related posts

Latest posts

Google gives memory superpowers to Gemini for more natural chats

You will no longer have to look up past chats with Google’s chatbot. Thanks to the memory feature, it can now recall details from previous conversations.

Android 16’s latest beta promises deeper mobile photography controls

With Android 16 Beta 2, Google is upgrading the camera app framework with a hybrid exposure system, and granular controls for color temperature and tint levels.

Why are really old iPhones suddenly so popular?

In a trend driven by K-pop stars and celebrities in South Korea, old iPhone models and digital cameras have become a desirable accessory.

Apple is working on a mini-LED Studio Display, but the iMac Pro is nowhere to be found

Apple’s Studio Display could soon get a mini-LED upgrade to elevate it for professional users. Yet it’s also made me wonder if the iMac Pro is ever coming back.

Dell slashed the price of the Alienware m18 R2 gaming laptop with RTX 4080 by $420

The Alienware m18 R2 gaming laptop with the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 graphics card and 32GB of RAM is available from Dell for $2,380 following a $420 discount.

Possible iPhone 17 Air design looks strangely familiar

A fantastic concept video for the iPhone 17 Air has been released. It looks impressive yet somewhat familiar.

Like T-Mobile? You can pay your phone bill by playing games

T-Mobile customers can now work toward paying their monthly bill by playing mobile games in the Ad It Up app.

Galaxy S24 owners could fall a whole Android version behind the Pixel

If you own a Samsung device but not the new Galaxy S25, we have unfortunate news for you.

The competition between AMD and Nvidia is finally heating up

Nvidia has just announced the release date for its next GPU, and AMD is ready to compete.

Meta’s next big bet might be AI humanoid robots for at-home chores

Meta is reportedly moving forward with AI-powered humanoid robots. They will be developed by the same division that is behind its AI and wearable efforts.