Firmament

I had Firmament in my backlog for so long I forgot what it was. As I played, it gave me this nagging Myst feeling, but sure enough there’s a lineage there. That said, if you liked Myst, or Riven, or both, you’ll probably like what it does. I certainly did. Good puzzles, cool world(s), and some unique interactions with this gauntlet that truly differentiates it from the previous (spiritually) games.

PLAY IT OR SKIP IT? Play it if you’re up for a slow-paced stroll and some challenging puzzles. Firmament is an all-new game from Cyan Worlds, the developer of the legendary Myst and Riven games, and while Firmament is a fully 3D world, its continuity with those earlier adventures is impossible to miss. Firmament’s puzzles all involve manipulating complex, beautiful machinery rather than shuffling through inventory items. I enjoyed piecing together its story of interdimensional caretakers of reality from the few clues they left behind almost as much as I loved the feeling of finally figuring out how to get one of their huge machines working the way I wanted.