Lost to the Mysts of time

Image credit: Cyan Worlds

We famously love a bit of Myst here at RPS. Always have. So, naturally, Cyan Worlds deciding to bust out a teaser for a new game in the Mystverse that's since been cancelled caught our attention.

"Over a year ago, we spent about four months developing a new prototype for a game in the Myst universe," creative director Eric Anderson said to introduce the YouTube video on the canned game, which was codenamed Project Anglerfish. "What we're about to show you is a teaser trailer for that prototype, that was meant for publisher eyes only."

Development director Hannah Gamiel added that "for a variety of reasons" the game, which is no longer in active development and won't be released in its current form, "couldn't move forward at the time", but that it's being shared as Cyan are proud of their team's work.

Watch on YouTube

The teaser begins with a bloke in a stylish green cardigan enlisting a guildsman to search a mansion for a book, which must stay closed for mysterious reasons. Cue things getting gradually more and more sinister as the puzzling goes via stuff in the mansion breaking, weird tentacle-like growths forming, and the book-requester getting more and more unhinged in his chatter about needing you to fetch that tome. By the end, he's full-on screaming about ages and nasty deaths, in a manner that suggests he's maybe a bit too into this whole reading lark. Perhaps he should try a hobby less likely to leave him loud and frustrated, like playing video games.

As for what Cyan Worlds have been up to since they abandoned this shouty man, Anderson said they're "still hard at work on new games and experiences in the Myst universe" and plan to share info on those when they can.

Notably, Cyan laid off 12 people - roughly half of their team - last March. The studio said at that point that their number one priority was to "secure financing for our next project".