In its day Myst was a great looking curiosity. It drew the eye and — when it first appeared — was pretty much guaranteed to attract a crowd of people who would marvel that such a thing was even possible. Ultimately, it was revealed as being a little style-over-substance.

Is it wrong to suggest that the iPhone is the perfect platform for a Myst revival? Lets hope not, because that is exactly what is coming. Cyan have posted a status report to the Myst Online forums that contains a little announcement about iMyst - a port of the original Myst to Apple's little slab of magic.

It could work really well, actually. Being able to cart those puzzles around with you might make them a bit easier to solve (having to fire up your 486 whenever you had a flash of inspiration was always a pain) and it might well make the perfect public transport companion.

Also, Myst had terrible 3G reception. You see? Made in heaven.

Status Report - Cyan development [Myst Online Forums via Wired]

Cyan Worlds said it's formulated a plan to bring Myst Online back to its fans, after GameTap shunted control of the property back to its creators.

Cyan CTO Mark "Chogon" DeForest said in a community board letter that despite having a plan in place, cheerfully titled the "Myst Online: Restoration Experiment (MORE)", there are some "hurdles to overcome". Among the necessary compromises will be an implementation of a $US 25 fee for a six month subscription.

"We are not trying to make any money on this at this stage - but we do need to cover some of the costs", he said.