There're numerous ways to finish Myst. It's suggested that you first understand Myst Island, and then go to each Age as you discover it. You can complete the Ages in Myst in any order. The order that follows was solely for the original author's convenience of explanation. Be sure to SAVE YOUR GAME frequently so that if you mess up, you can try the section again without having to restart from too far back!

This note step is not vital to finishing Myst. You should first go around the Island and flip all the "marker switches" that you see (There're seven that you can switch and one on the clock tower that you can't).

When you entered Myst, you may have noticed a "hidden" door that leads down some steps into a room with a fountain or pool. Go in it and drain the water from it by pushing the button in front. Then turn around and you'll see a scrap of paper on the wall. On this piece of paper are three things with three numbers. You can ignore them. Click on the paper, which opens and shows two numbers. Enter the number of marker switches (eight). Turn back around and click the button on the pool (known as the "imager"). You'll see a message that Atrus left for his wife, Catherine, telling her of his problem. You can deduce from his message that your task is to figure out which of his sons is guilty.

Find the bookshelf with some ratty looking books. Four of them will be legible. Read them carefully and copy out onto paper any drawings you see in them (except for the book containing only puzzle clues). Pay attention, as there's some useful information in those books that'll help later. Next find the red and blue books. There're pages lying next to each one. Put the red and blue pages in the respective books. Click on each book, and you'll see a message from each of of Atrus' sons, Sirrus and Achenar. They'll both tell you to find the red and blue pages to set them free, which is the point of Myst, so listen carefully.

There's both a red and a blue page in each of the four Ages (worlds). You should get them both. Since you can only carry one page at a time, you'll have to go twice to each Age. Next, to get the clues you'll need, click on the map. It should have white outlines of where you have flipped markers. Start the tower rotating by holding down where you've flipped markers. You'll see that when it passes some areas, the beam turns red. Stop on the red spots! They indicate that a book that leads to another Age (Atrus calls them the "places of protection") is stored there.

Click on the painting that makes the bookcase drop. Follow the tunnel and elevator to the top of the tower. There'll be two ladders. One with a book and one with a key. The book ladder shows you where the book is, and the key that you will need to solve the puzzle that leads you there. What follows are explanations to each puzzle that take you to each Age.

This one may be one of the hardest to figure out if you don't know what's going on. The clue for this puzzle is 7, 2, 4. Inside the cabin, there's a safe right beside by the door and 7, 2, 4 is the combination that you must use to open it. There's a a match in it. Light the match, turn around, and go to the boiler. Put the match in the slot in the bottom left hand corner.

Crank the handle with the GREEN arrows until you start to hear a loud sound. Wait until it stops, then crank the wheel back the other way with the RED arrows, again until you hear a loud sound. Go quickly behind the cabin. You should see an opening in the tree coming down at you. Climb in the opening. It will take you down. Click on the book, and go to the Channelwood Age!

The clues from the tower rotation are: October 11, 1984 10:04 AM, January 17, 1207 5:46AM, and November 23, 9791 6:57 PM. Return to the planetarium and turn the lights off. Sit in the chair and look up. Enter the dates into the machine. You'll see three different constellations. These will look familiar if you copied down the constellations written in the books in the Library. These constellations are matched up with symbols. They are Leaf, Snake, and Bug. If you go back to the tiny sunken ship in the pool, you'll notice pillars with animals and symbols on them. Click on the pictures on the pillars next to the pool. The tiny ship will rise in the pool and the big one will also rise in the harbor. Go down to the harbor and enter the cabin. Click on the book, and go to the StoneshipAge!

The gears are actually opened up by the solution of the puzzle at the clock tower, which is in the water. By turning the two wheels or valves on the shore, you can change the time of the clock. Set the time for 2:40. A bridge will appear from the water. When you get into the clock tower, there is a game like a slot machine. You have to crank right, left, right, and quickly pull while the wheels are still going, so that only the top row moves to get 2, 2, 1. Return to the gears, a trap door will open, exposing a book. Click on it, and go to the Mechanical Age!

The hint from the tower is 59 volts. Go to the generator room. It has generators as far as the eye can see and a yellow light on top of the building. There are ten buttons that control the power to the yellow light on top of the building. Each button has a different value. Clicking each one on will either add or subtract that value. Many of the combinations will produce "59". There're also handles behind the generator building that'll reset everything.

Now that the power is on, you can open the Spaceship door. If you kept good notes at the library, you'll remember a piano key diagram (or you can return to the library now and get it!). There's a keyboard in the spaceship that's the same as the diagram. Five notes must be reproduced in order, first on the keyboard, then on the lever/control panel in the nose of the ship. The easiest way to get the same notes on the lever machine is to count the notes as you raise the levers. This is tough and will make you mad! Count up (in order 1 - 5), 8 notes up, 20, 23, 13, and 6 notes up. Then pull the lever. It must be exact! It will play the notes. If you did it right, a light comes on, and the next book appears. Click on it, to go to the Selenitic Age!