I was born in 1982—so it’s not as if I’ve only just discovered Myst. What I did find astonishing, however, was that in 1997—four years after its release (which felt like an eternity back then)—Myst was still the second-best-selling PC game in the U.S. and worldwide. In first place: its sequel, Riven.

Riven wasn’t released until late October 1997. It took the game just over two months to overtake every other title sold throughout the entire year and shoot to the top of the U.S. and global PC annual charts. Over 1.5 million copies were sold in a very short time.