In 1993, what would become the best-selling PC game of the 20th century 1, and for many, what ushered in the CD-ROM format, was released.  Myst was a phenomenon, spawned a series of five games, an ambitious (and still on-going) spin-off MMO, three novels, a comic book, many, many remakes and my love-affair with the power of online communities.

Now, Cyan, the company that created Myst, is back with a new venture: Obduction.  Twenty years after Myst, once more, Cyan is beckoning players to immerse themselves in a new world and discover what they can about this strange environment.

The game was funded through Kickstarter, and they reached their stretch goal to include Oculus Rift support, which I think is going to be an amazing addition.  Pre-orders are still being taken, so you have time to jump in if you’re interested, but even as excited as I am for the game, I think I’m just as excited for the community.Cyan, though best known for the Myst series, has created other games, although they were primarily set for a younger audience.  Obduction looks to be a more mature game, once again flinging the player to far-away worlds filled with mystery and possibly something sinister.

During the days of Myst releases and URU being played out online, the Myst Community grew and was a family to me.  I still keep in touch with many of my friends both from the game and our online discussions: discussions, which would go into the long hours of whatever time zone we were in.  Cyan games have a way of bringing people together.  Even while playing the solitary games such as Revelations or End of Ages, we would undoubtedly find ourselves discussing every aspect: puzzles, art design, music and characters, all unforgettable aspects of amazing games that awoke parts of our imaginations.

The relationships I forged are solid, and working with some of my closest friends on various projects only helped to create a literal world-wide network of people I can turn to.  I don’t know if that’s the kind of affect other games have; I would bet it isn’t.

And while I can’t guarantee that that will happen once more, if you know the right corners of the Internet to look in, you can see it’s starting already.  And that gives me hope.  I can’t wait to be Obducted.