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!

In light of my beta-testery, I have been invited out to the snowy plains of Spokane, Washington to visit Cyan Worlds, the developers behind Cosmic Osmo’s Hexisle. Now this is something of a pilgrimage for me, since these people were responsible for my favorite games of all time, such as Myst. You may recall that over the summer I was involved with a certain fan-convention called Mysterium. This is no coincidence, friends.

A trip report upon my safe return (and no need to pack warmly — I am a penguin after all).

Day 1: Friday
Slowly we filed into the Comfort Inn, unsure at first, but soon assuaged by the camaraderie only Mysterium can provide. Once the group stopped growing, we set out to the coast (with me leading the way in my “snap orange” VW Beetle). We walked across the beach to the Santa Monica Pier, where we spent some time observing marine life and avoiding seagull poop. We found some neat hand prints on a large cylindrical sculpture — I hope somebody took pictures. We then walked from the pier to the Third Street Promenade where we stopped by Puzzle Zoo for a look at their games and collectables. After that we returned to the motel, and all decided that it was time for lunch. I got my first taste of Carl’s Jr. that day (and it wasn’t so bad, really). After a food break, the group traveled to the Museum of Jurassic Technology. What is that, you ask? Besides being an inherent contradiction (“Jurassic Technology, really?”), it’s terribly difficult to accurately describe this place. Without giving too much away – its mystery provides its thrills – it might be described as a conceptual art piece that dreams it’s a museum (I swear the place keeps getting bigger every time I see it, though). It was getting late by the time we got back to the Comfort Inn, but we allowed the disorientation from the Jurassic museum to wear off before continuing to the final location of the evening: The Getty! The first place we explored in this massive art musuem were the gardens, which were suitably Myst-like. After having dinner at the museum cafeteria, we split off to view the various exhibits at our leisure. The highlight was the “Oudry’s Painted Menagerie show, the subject of many of the pieces being a rhinoceros named Clara. When the museum closed, the group disbanded for the night.

Day 2: Saturday
I got a late start in joining some of the Mysterium crew at Universal Studios Hollywood (my brother came too, to my delight). The first thing I did was use the Single Riders line on the Mummy coaster to skip most of the queue. Ha! After that I “rode” Backdraft for my own amusement. The last order of business was to take the famous studio tram tour. By the time that ended, it was quite late and the group had to depart to a party at Shoom’lah’s later that night. Regrettably, my brother and I had other arrangements that night (although I don’t think seeing Daft Punk is much of a regret). I plan to return to Universal Studios again to ride Back to the Future, since it is being removed in early September for a future Simpsons attraction.

Day 3: Sunday
The last day! Mysterium found themselves downtown in the Chinatown district. A meal of dim sum was had by all, which was a nice change of pace from burgers. We all walked to historic Olvera Street afterwards, where we saw one of the oldest structures in Los Angeles (“as old as Tomahna itself,” I remarked). Then we drove to the famous Bradbury building, the site of the climatic sequence from Blade Runner! My brother suggested that we should check out Clifton’s Cafeteria, since it was walking distance from us. By now the size of the group had dwindled, but those who remained decided to check out the La Brea Tar Pits. After a tar-riffic time, the skeleton Mysterium crew headed to Hollywood! We did our tourist-y bit by checking out the Walk of Fame and Grauman’s Chinese. To top the whole thing off, we enjoyed fast food at the local In-N-Out Burger: the perfect ending to an amazing get-together. I hope to see more Mysteriums in my lifetime, and then some!

I have suddenly found myself in the position of itinerary planner and driver for Mysterium 2007, which takes place this weekend in Santa Monica, CA. If you are in the area, and you love Myst or URU, stop over at the Comfort Inn on Santa Monica Blvd. each morning at ten this weekend for a fun-filled day of activities! More information about the event can be found in this thread.

Today I woke up to some exciting news:

I wanted to take a moment to thank you personally for your submission for this year’s Mysterium logo, and also to extend my congratulations! Your Hollywood Walk of Fame star logo was selected for the official Mysterium 2007 logo! We truly appreciate your artwork, as well as all you have done over the years in the community. Congratulations and thank you!

What does this all mean? Mysterium is a convention of fans celebrating Myst, a computer game dynasty that has seen five games, several books, and more recently the online spinoff URU. More importantly, Myst – and the company behind it, Cyan – has been a great inspiration for me. Some of the first computer games I ever played were Cyan’s “The Manhole” and “Cosmic Osmo,” non-violent titles that valued exploration & imagination over mindless destruction (although there is a time and place for that as well).

I have been participating in the Myst community for a long time, but never in an outgoing way. Myst, as many know, was a groundbreaking title that broke records and set precedents for the computer industry. And it was made by a small team, led by the Miller Brothers, in a garage in Spokane, Washington. That brotherly/garage mentality greatly impacted my then six-year old self, and it can be argued that it was a major driving force behind the creation of Penguinbros.com.

Having my design chosen to represent Mysterium is to me an important achievement because it’s a real opportunity for me to give back to a company and a community as a way of saying, “thanks.” And we brothers Penguin will continue to give back to each of our supporters who make this endeavor all worthwhile.

Now I’m off to see my brother in the big city. Maybe he can tell you what’s going on in his life…