An utterly epic day-trip has reached its conclusion. Here I sit in Spokane International Airport, slightly brokenhearted for having to leave the headquarters of Cyan Worlds.
Cyan: the geniuses responsible for the games Myst, Riven, Cosmic Osmo, and many others. Their creative all-ages-friendly brand of entertainment has captivated me for as long as I’ve operated a computer, and so to finally meet the man behind the Myst, Rand Miller, and to tour his wild Chocolate Factory (Dark, 75% Cacao) was simply a dream come true.
Flying into Spokane, I was pleasantly surprised - as a penguin - to see the signs of winter. But there was something to it that wasn’t so grey. It was almost… blue? Anyhow, I took a couple pictures from inside the cabin to capture the sensation of flight. Off in the distance a snow-capped mountain proudly stood — Mount Spokane I was later told was its name.
Rand and Tony Fryman were there to greet me at the quaint terminal. We drove down the highway, taking in the sight of proud douglas firs (if Twin Peaks has taught me anything, it’s that douglas firs are commonplace in Washington state). We stopped at a bistro and enjoyed a lovely meal of soup and sandwiches and a bit of chocolate (”The chocolate, my friend,” Rand intoned with a nod to Atrus).
At long last, we reached the indomitable Cyan Worlds! Strong and mighty she stood, caked with a bit of winter snow. Rand brought me inside and showed me the digs: props and costumes from Riven, various awards and conceptual art. But a meeting took Rand by surprise, and so he passed me off to his younger brother, Ryan. He brought me to the lower levels, where I experienced The Vault. Inside were many rare and unusual variants of every Cyan product known to man (including a previously unknown Peacock, a Hypercard-based music sequencer). It was there I saw an original copy of Manhole, published back when Cyan was known as “Prolog.”
Ryan brought me around the offices of the “bad boys” of Cyan. People like composer Tim Larkin, Manny Trembley and Eric A. Anderson — creative team behind the webcomic Panda Xpress!, and webmaster Ryan Warzecha. Piles and piles of URU concept art were dumped at my feet for my perusal. When Rand’s meeting ended, he gifted me with Riven and Myst posters, a coffee table “making-of,” all of which he signed. This was in addition to a Myst IV coffee mug and pen he had given to me earlier. Finally, it was time to return to the airport, where we tearfully parted ways. Okay, nobody cried but at least one of us was holding back.
And here I continue to sit, in Spokane Intl. Airport. There is no non-stop back to Antartica — this is going to be a long night… but a good one!
Red Penguin is here! Red Penguin is here!
