You begin on the dock. As you walk to the stairs, note the marker switch. Flip it and all other marker switches on the island. There are eight in total, but you cannot reach the marker by the clock tower just yet. The remaining seven are accessible. Their locations are: the Dock, Gear, Planetarium, Spaceship, Sunken Ship Model, Log Cabin, Brick Building. Read Atrus's letter to his wife that is conveniently lying on the grass. Go back to the dock. You will see a door panel set into the hillside. Press it. Go inside.

Here is the Dimensional Imager Room. Walk to the imager and remove the water by pressing the yellow button at the bottom. Turn around and face the entrance to the room. On the wall to the left you'll see a piece of paper with three imager settings. Click on the paper's button. It will open to reveal the imager controls.

 

Enter the number of marker switches--eight--and press the button to close the panel. Go back to the pool and press the yellow button. The man now before you is our protagonist, Atrus. Listen well. If you feel you've missed something and would like to hear the message again, simply press the button. Go into the library. Investigate. Here is the hub of the game's activity. You can listen to each brother's plea by clicking on the red and blue books. Their speeches will become easier to see and hear with every page you find. Note: you can only return one page from an Age. Choose your brother wisely.

 

Go to the bookcase. Read the books and take notes of their content, being especially attentive to the maps. This can be tedious, but it is necessary. Try to enjoy the reads. There is one book that is filled only with squares. Don't be too concerned with it now. Just note its location for future reference. Now go to the map framed on the wall. When you step to it, it will light up. If it did not light up, then key areas of Myst have not been "marked". Go outside and flip the marker switches.

 

Put your hand on the tower. Click and hold. The white line will rotate and turn red at specific locations. Stop when the line is red. This will be at the Gear, the Sunken Ship, the Giant Tree and the Spaceship. Put your hand on the tower. Click and hold. The white line will rotate and turn red at specific locations. Stop when the line is red. This will be at the Gear, the Sunken Ship, the Giant Tree and the Spaceship. These locations correspond to where the linking books are hidden. You will soon have access to clues that will help you get to the books. Which clues you attain first are entirely up to you.

 

MECHANICAL AGE

Proceed to the fortress, taking note of the four symbol panels on the way. When you enter the fortress, go to the right. This is Achenar's room and houses the Fortress Rotation Simulator.

 

This Simulator represents the rotation of this building and is your learning tool. Play with it to perfect your timing. To operate it, push the left handle up to unlock the gears, then the right to rotate. Pull the right down again once you reach your desired position, and the left to lock it once more. Each direction has a corresponding sound. I've called them by what they sound like to me. Gear Puzzle

Tink=North
Cowbell=South
Air Release=East
Spring=West

Blue Page

In Achenar's room, to the left of the Rotation Simulator, is a section of recessed wall with a horizontal yellow line. Click it. Inside is Achenar's secret room. The blue page is in this room. Leave Achenar's room through the back door. As you walk down the hallway you'll see another corridor to your left with an elevator inside. Take note and continue on. You'll soon be in Sirrus's room.

Red Page

Go to the widow and face the throne. Partially hidden by the tapestry to the right of the throne is a recessed panel in the wall. Click it and enter the room. Inside the opened chest in the corner is the red page. In the wine rack is a letter to Sirrus from Achenar for your reading pleasure. Go back to the elevator hallway. Push the red button and go down the stairs. You will see a control panel with two Us in it. Click and hold down the U's until they line up and turn red. Go back up the stairs. Click the red button. Go inside the elevator.

 

There are three buttons. Push the top triangle. Once on the upper floor, click the rectangle and immediately get out of the elevator. The elevator will go down without you, giving you access to the control panel on top. Do you recognize this instrument? You should. The fortress can move in all four directions but there are only three islands.

Cowbell=Current position
Spring=Ocean
Air Hissing=Island
Tink=Island

Use your newfound skills to achieve the Air Hissing sound. Push red button. Go back down to first floor. Exit fortress and retrieve the two symbols from East Island. Repeat this process for North Island. Once accomplished, move the fortress to the starting position (cowbell). Go outside and enter the symbols in the panel on the first island . This will lower the staircase. Inside is the Myst linking book.

 

STONESHIP AGE

Follow the boardwalk to the island with three buttons (I will refer to this three button place as Pump Island from here out). These buttons trigger pumps which remove water from key areas of this world. Push the right button. This takes the water from the Lighthouse. Go into the lighthouse and down the stairs. Turn the handle at the bottom of the chest to let out the water, then once more to close the spout. Go back to the three buttons and push the center button. The brothers' rooms are now accessible, and the lighthouse is once again filled with water.

 

Go back to the lighthouse. Use the chained key to unlock the chest. Inside the chest is yet another key. Use it to unlock the lighthouse door above you. Go upstairs. You will notice a generator. Crank that baby up. Exit the lighthouse and take the path to the top of the rock. There is a telescope here. You can move it by clicking on it and pointing either left or right. Center the lighthouse in the telescope's sight. Take note of its location: 135 degrees. Go back down to the ship. Descend the stairway in the rock nearest Pump Island. Open the door by clicking the button. Enter. NOTE: at any time your generator could run out of energy. If this is the case, the stairwell will lose its light. Worry not, as you will still be able to see if you concentrate. The remedy for this is simple; re-crank the generator.

Red Page

You are now in Sirrus's room. Snoop around. You'll find many interesting things. Inside the
bottom dresser drawer is the red page. Go back up the stairs and descend the other stairway in the
rock. Click the button. Go inside.

Blue Page
You are now in Achenar's room. Again, look around. The blue page is lying on the bed.

Vault Note

In Achenar's room, go to the map cabinet. In the second to last drawer there is half a letter. Write its contents down.

Now for the tricky part. From the bottom of Achenar's stairwell, click up to the first landing. On your left is a recessed panel with a red square in it. Click it. Enter. If your generator has no power, there will be a terribly annoying alarm with a blue flashing light. Do not go crazy - recharge the generator. The coming puzzle will not work without power. Follow the hallway down into the secret room. There is a compass design surrounded by buttons. Push the button that correlates with 135 degrees. It is the twelfth button clockwise from the North. Go back up to Pump Island. Push the left button. You now have access to the ship. Descend the ship's stairway and enter the room. Enjoy the scenery. On the bottom floor of this ship is a table. Click it. The Myst linking book will appear.Wood Ship Puzzle

 

CHANNELWOOD AGE

The mechanisms here work off of water power. That said, head to the windmill. Turn on the water spigot at the bottom of the tank. Keen players will notice a flip switch in the corner as well - this is a red herring. Go back down to the boardwalks.

 

There are three elevators on this level. Your destination is the middle one (the one without the winding staircase). On your way there, flip the valves on the boardwalk to allow the water to reach the elevator motor. You will always be able to hear the sound of running water if a pipe is supplied. Climb aboard the elevator. Go to the next level. Note: the elevator will not work without the door closed no matter how many times you click the switch. The second level is only a maze. The object is to find the switch to that controls the door at the top of the winding staircase. You can locate the switch via the map, or follow these directions. From elevator, go forward to round hut, right to square hut. Right again to another square hut, right to a round hut, and forward to the switch hut. Flip the switch. Go back to sea level. You can take the elevator that brought you up here, or the now unlocked stairs. It matters not. Once at sea level, manipulate the pipe valves to bring water to the staircase elevator. Walk up the winding staircase to the second floor. Use the elevator from here. You are now on the third level - the brother's level. To the left is Achenar's wing, and to the right is Sirrus's.

Blue Page

In Achenar's wing there are two rooms: the torture chamber, and the bedroom. The blue page is in the bedroom on the floor next to the message machine.

Red Page

The red page is in Sirrus's bedroom in his night stand.

Vault Note
The second half of the vault note is in Sirrus's room in the right drawer under his bed.

 

Use the elevator and stairs to get back down to sea level. Flip the boardwalk valves to direct the flow of water to the lonely pump at the dead end. On the map, a bridge is shown. You will see the bridge rise from the depths below once you flip the switch on the generator. Cross the bridge. You will come to a fork in the boardwalk. To the left is an elevator. To the right is the water supply pipe. Unfortunately, the pipe does not cross the water. To remedy this, activate the crank to extend the pipe. Now you must cross the bridge you raised just moments before and divert the water to the new section of pipe. Refer to the map if needed. Once water flow to the elevator is established, cross the bridge, get in the elevator, shut the door and ride it to the top. The Myst linking book is before you. Tree Puzzle

 

SELENTIC AGE

As you follow the path you will pass a door and control panel to your right. Continue on. Take the left fork in the path and you will come to one of Selentic's many instruments–the clock. There are five instruments in all, each with its own symbol and a microphone projecting the sound to another location. The red buttons turn on the microphones. Press the red button.

Red Page

Continue on the path until you come to a hill on your right with a large vase on top. Here there are crystals that sound like the notes of a base flute. Go down into them. The red page is located on top of the crystal's button. Push the red button. Go back up the stairs and turn left. After you pass the clock, you will come to two sets of stairs. Go up the right stair. Here is a lava pit with the sound of a volcano. Push the button. Go back down the stairs.

Blue Page
Take the left set of stairs and enter the forest. Follow the path until you come to the fountain microphone. The blue page is on the small bench next to the microphone button. Push the red button. You must backtrack now to the flute crystals. Continue on the path past them. It will take you to a manhole with the sound of wind. Push the red button. Descend. There is a switch at the bottom to turn on some lights. Follow the tunnel and go up the ladder. You will come to a small building with metal doors. Open the doors by clicking on them, exposing a control panel with five symbol buttons, a sigma button, and two green triangles (tuners). Spaceship Puzzle

 

This control panel will give you the sequence of sounds needed to access the door you passed when you first got off the ship. The object is to tune the receptor to each microphone by centering the microphone in the display window. To tune, simply hold down the tuner buttons. They will flash in the direction you need to go until you have achieved the correct frequency. Click on a symbol. Center its microphone in the window and repeat for each subsequent symbol. After you've fine tuned, press the sigma key. This will give you the order for the sounds. The order is: Base Flute, Water, Wind, Volcano, Clock. Go back down the tunnel and follow the path on the other side until you reach the clock. Turn left at the fork to bring you back to the first set of doors. By pulling down each lever you will engage different sounds. Enter the correct order of sounds here. Push the button and enter. Once inside the vehicle, press forward. Note: each direction has a corresponding sound. I've called them what they sound like to me. They are:

North=Tink
South=Cowbell
East=Air Hissing
West=Spring

At every intersection there will always be a sound indicating the next direction to take. The order is: N, W, N, E, E, S, S, W, SW, W, NW, NE, N, SE Exit the vehicle. Before you lies the Myst linking book.

FINALE

Listen to the brothers in their prison books. Aside from their blathering, they give a valuable piece of information - how to use the fireplace. Get the book filled with squares from the bookshelf and look up diagram 158. Go into the fireplace and press the button. Enter the diagram onto the panel and hit the button again. You now have access to D'ni (the green book), and the final red and blue pages.

Note: Save your game now.

Many possibilities lie before you. I recommend you try them all. And don't neglect the links to the 4 different puzzles. They will come in VERY handy.

1) Return the blue page to its prison book.
2) Return the red page to its prison book.
3) Go to D'ni without the white page.
4) Go to D'ni with the white page.
To get the white page, refer to the vault note.

Vault Note

The vault is located in very plain view on the island of Myst and access can be achieved very easily if the simple instructions are followed. First locate each of the marker switches on the island. Turn every one of these switches to the "on" position. Then go to the dock, and, as a final step, turn the marker switch there to the "off" position.

 

You already have the markers switched to on--if not, do so now. Go down to the dock and turn its marker switch off. That switch is actually the vault and the white page is hidden inside. Go back to the green book and give Atrus the page.