Where have the all "Myst clones" gone?
 

I gotta admit i was always leaning more toward the classic 3rd person games, but suddenly i realized i miss good ol' 1st person puzzles fest like 7th Guest, Myst, Timelapse...

In 2010. all we gotta of this sort is Rhem 4. It seems like heavy puzzle-oriented games have found their secret hideout in the form of console games like Professor Leyton, but it's more of a series of puzzles that are not integral part of the gameworld.

Keepsake tried an interesting thing with befriending 1st person puzzles and 3rd person gameplay, and most of the story-oriented games lately have some kind of logic puzzles and mini-games in them. But i'd really like to see revision of the sub-genre, even it now seems more demanding for developers to come up with set of original and challenging logic puzzles than with the story.

This is the reason I haven't been playing many games lately. Most of what is available is spooky/scary - there are very few fantasy first person puzzlers being made. Recent ones I'd recommmend are :
Outcry
Amertis (free game, pays homage to Myst)
Slipspace Burmashave analogy
Certainly there is nothing big budget out there, and that's a shame, since so much of the wonder of Myst/Aura/Schizm was the beautifully rendered environments.

I think a few years ago flash games took over this sub-genre. Prerendered graphics are no longer a state of the art thing, so the easiness of loading such games in your browser (and usually for free) wins the players over.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the logic puzzles in Myst and 7th Guest also weren't an integral part of the gameworld (with some exceptions in the case of Myst) - mostly they were random challenges and locks the player was discovering "just lying around".

Yes, my English is not very good, so i may not expressed myself properly:

puzzles in Myst-clones are certainly not "integrated" into story or gameworld like in traditional 3rd person games, but when compared to most current console-type logic puzzles where puzzle just pop-up out of nowhere they feel more like part of the gameworld. For example, in a typical Myst-clone we'd have some scene like this:

http://img704.imageshack.us/img704/1093/timelapse03.jpg

and at some wall you'd find:

http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/406...imelaps.th.jpg

which is a puzzle in order to progress and while it's not "integrated" into storyline, it's still part of the gameworld and not some random imaginery mini-game

or another example:

http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/483...imelaps.th.jpg http://img593.imageshack.us/img593/2...imelaps.th.jpg

Riven has the most perfectly integrated puzzles i've seen in an adventure game. It is still a masterpiece. In other Myst games they were more contrived, although still generally excellent compared to most games. And even when they were, as you say, 'just lying around' there was usually some reasonable justification for them, unlike 7th Guest (a very poor game in my opinion, and I love both 1st person puzzlers and horror games).

It does seem like the developers who focused on the 1st person, puzzle driven games are sadly abandoning them: Kheops, Frogwares. Kheops especially are a sad loss. They seem to have gone 'casual' now and even then haven't been releasing much. And there is no news of any proper adventure games coming out from them. What a shame, considerign that their last release 'Dracula: Path of the Dragon' was probably their best to date.

I agree with the mention of Outcry above - a fantastic game that I would reccommend to any fans of the sub-genre.

The one consolation we have is that at least there were so many of these types of games made in the wake of Msyt that there's a big back catalogue still to play! :D On the down side, they usually don't play too well on modern computers and the higher resolution kills the graphics. It killed me playing through a blocky 'Schizm', knowing that it should have looked gorgeous.

They were worlds you could get lost in and dream of visiting. Sadly, there's nothing like that being made today, outside of the horror genre.

There are some casuals you might like. Recently I played "Nightmare Adventures: The Witch's Prison" which seems to fit your requests. Also "The Fall" triology from Kheops Studio could be to your likings.
Lastly if you do like these be sure to keep an eye on the monthly review on casuals they started here

I recommend searching for the best of Escape The Room games, as well as trying out Submachine and Daymare Town.

darkstar is actually very much like myst. The game is nearly all lever/button puzzles and the like. And then you roam around a spaceship trying to figure out whats different after youve solved puzzles.

Some casual games are okay but what I really like about the Myst-style games is the exploration and the expansive gameworld, the idea that you could be there.

This is beyond the scope of most casual games and, as noted by somebody above, the puzzles in them tend to just 'jump out' at you and have no real connection to the gameworld or story.

'The Fall' I haven't been able to bring myself to look at because of my dissapointment with the lack of new adventure games from Kheops, formerly one of my favourite developers. Just how 'casual' is it? I believe it has first person inventory type gameplay?

I haven't heard of the other game you mention but i'll look into it.

I played part of the first episode, lost interest, didn't finish it. In my opinion it's casual alright, but with better graphics. No HOG screens, but there's a lot of searching for machine parts, pebbles, flowers, etcetera.

I bought the first and second episodes of The Fall, mostly to help support Kheops. The first was OK as a casual game, though not without its problems (some terribly small fragments of objects to find). At least the gameworld was interesting enough, though small. But the second episode takes place in a deserted office building and I haven't found anything about it that is interesting. The story is just a continuation of the one in the first episode. Since it seems pretty obvious that

Spoiler:

your character is in the hospital hallucinating the whole episode so the game could take place literally anywhere (think of the variety in the game Sanitarium)

I don't know why they didn't choose a more interesting environment for the second episode. I think they tried to make the puzzles more like those in an adventure game, but I haven't run across any really enjoyable puzzle yet. I've gotten so bored with the game I can't find the interest to finish it. If they release the third part of the Trilogy, I'll probably get it, but it would be more to support Kheops than because I have much hope for the game. It's quite a disappointment compared to their past adventure games (which all take place in interesting environments) and the puzzles aren't as good as in Safecracker.

Prominence might be something to look forward to, if You don't mind sci-fi.

Wow. I hadn't heard about this. It's looking really nice. Personally I like any type of setting: Sci Fi, fantasy, horror, 'real world', anything at all. As long as its immersive and appealing to look at.

Holy cow that looks so damn awesome! Thanks for the link!

Jonathan Blow (of Braid fame) is also working on a Myst clone - it's called The Witness and it will be in full 3D. Here's the latest interview with him with some screenshots:

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/featur...athan_blow.php

Another mention for Outcry as one to check out.

One that is less obvious as a Myst clone but has similar gameplay style is Safecracker: the Ultimate Puzzle Adventure. It's light on story but has a nice location to explore with logic puzzles in the form of safes to advance through.

I second this. Playing DARKSTAR now. :D

Try Playing
Aura
and
Aura 2 The Sacred Rings

7th Guest is now available on the Ipod and Ipad.

Also Riven is available on the Ipod (iPad version to come in a few weeks I think)