Cyan Worlds, the oldest surviving independent video game studio in the U.S. and creator of the landmark Myst game franchise, announced a Kickstarter campaign to fund new printed super-luxe editions of the game’s book trilogy series.
The campaign seeks to raise $50,000 and begins accepting pledges on October 20, 2026, and will close on November 19, 2026, said Hannah Gamiel, development director and co-studio head at Cyan Worlds, in an interview with GamesBeat.
Based on the worldwide smash-hit adventure game series, The Myst Trilogy Guild of Writers edition brings together all three of the bestselling Myst novels Myst: The Book of Atrus, Myst: The Book of Ti’ana, and Myst: The Book of D’ni into a single collection.
“The books haven’t been in physical format as a trilogy for 30 years, so it just felt like it was time to make those more accessible,” said Gramiel. “I think people maybe in this day and age are looking for something physically tangible they can have instead of something fleeting and digital.”
Gramiel said next year will be Cyan’s 40th anniversary as a company, and the team is looking to explore the Myst Universe more than the current game that the team is working on, whjich is code-named Mudfish.
“It all feels like it’s in service of what all we already have going on. The more people who can be exposed to the Myst Universe, even if they don’t like games and they just like books, the better,” said Gramiel. “We’re focusing on the 40th. We’re bringing Mysterium, the fan convention, back to Spokane next summer, which is super fun. And all during that, we’re just trying to make games too, which is fun and good.”
The novels — written by Myst co-creators Rand and Robyn Miller, David Wingrove, and Harrison G. Pink — will have updated readable content compared to their previous versions, along with contextual D’ni footnotes and translations, elevated craftsmanship including faux-leather binding, printed endpapers, and more.
Here’s some trivia from me. I went to Spokane, Washington, in 1997 to visit Cyan, where I marveled at the dark room for artists and interviewed Rand and Robyn ahead of the launch of Riven. We also have Rand Miller the first Visionary Award at a GamesBeat event in 2018.
Cyan Worlds had a layoff of about a dozen people, or half the team, in 2025. But Gramiel said the smaller team is still working on games.
The updated designs were conceptualized and developed by acclaimed visual designer Claire Hummel. Signed copies of the books by Rand Miller will be available in select tiers.
Thirty years after their original release, these deluxe editions are upgraded versions of the novels, with forewords from Pulitzer Prize-winning author and journalist Ronan Farrow (who is a big Myst fan), Rand Miller, and Harrison G. Pink.
All changes included in this edition of the physical books’ readable contents will be reflected in ebook versions of Myst Trilogy (where applicable). The eBook reward granted as a part of this Kickstarter will be delivered as a DRM-free ePub file through a service called BookFunnel. Backers of this tier will permanently own this eBook format, and you will be able to download and read your eBooks on any device.
Cyan has a version of The Myst Trilogy e-books out already, and it released them last summer in 2025. However, those e-books don’t contain the majority of the changes that the team is implementing now for this physical release, which will also have a new digital release.
“People who already bought the Myst Trilogy ebook — which is a compendium of the novels — will just get an update. They don’t need to re-buy the trilogy, thankfully, and we’re also hoping to offer standalone versions of the digital books at that time too,” Gramiel said.
For those who don’t want to read all three books can also get one in the digital format.
The third book in the trilogy, Myst: The Book of D’ni, has been rewritten. Gramiel said about 30% of it has been rewritten, with a focus on changes and corrections to the lore. The changes are necessary since the book was written before the Myst Universe was fleshed out.
“Some of the changes are corrections and revisions are based on new and updated lore,” Gramiel said. “There are additions to the story that also help explain character motivations that we felt were really important to include, and we’ll also have Harrison G. Pink, who was the author of much of these revisions, go into great detail in a future update describing exactly what some of these changes were. But we think people are going to be very, very, very happy with them, especially existing fans.”
There are additional reward tiers on the Kickstarter site for contributors.
A landmark game which quickly secured iconic status upon its initial release in 1993, Myst invites players to a starkly beautiful island, eerily tinged with mystery and shrouded in intrigue. Players journey to Myst Island and other stunning, long-dormant locations – called “Ages”- and begin to unravel the mystery they have been thrust into. In its sequel, Riven takes players on a journey through dense jungles, awe-inspiring caverns, and monolithic structures, where they will explore a world bent to the whims of a man who sees himself as a god, and where every corner will immerse you in an otherworldly adventure.
Myst and Riven have already been enjoyed by millions of gamers, and their modern remakes are available via a physical edition to treasure on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, through October 25th, 2026 here. Gramiel estimates that the number of people who have interacted with Myst and Riven is above 100 million.
Pledges to the campaign can be made on the official Kickstarter page. Rewards are currently scheduled to begin shipping in mid to late 2027. Digital rewards may be shipped separately.
The Miller brothers founded Cyan in 1987 as an independent game studio. After releasing several successful children’s games such as The Manhole, Spelunx, and Cosmic Osmo, Cyan released Myst in 1993 — a game for more mature audiences that was intended to feel more like a real place than a game.
To date, sales for Myst and its sequel, Riven, have sold in excess of 15 million copies worldwide. Myst also holds the honor of being the best-selling video game of the 20th century, a record that was not surpassed until 2003.
Over the last nearly 40 years of its history, Cyan has released over a dozen award-winning and critically acclaimed titles in the puzzle-adventure game space — including follow-up titles in the Myst series, standalone titles such as Obduction and Firmament, and their latest remakes of Myst and Riven – four of which were released within the last several years by their still-active development team.
Farrow wrote a new forward for the books. He’s such a big fan that he played Atris (correct spelling) in Myst III: Exile. Rand Miller also wrote a new forward for Myst: The Book of Ti’ana. Robyn Miller contributed to the first book decades ago, but he also left the company a long time ago. Rand Miller has been very involved in the changes that have been created for all three books.