Cyan, the studio behind genre-defining puzzle classics Myst (1993) and Riven (1997), launched a Kickstarter campaign for their upcoming VR puzzle game Firmament. While the campaign initially rushed out of the gate by garnering over 25% of funding in the first two days of going live on March 26th, it appears the momentum has slowed somewhat as it hovers around the halfway mark.
Update (April 8th, 2019): With a little less than three weeks to go before the ‘all or nothing’ crowdfunding campaign comes to an end, support for ‘Firmament’ seems to have stalled somewhat on its quest to reach the $1,285,000 end goal. Currently the campaign is sitting around the $600,000 mark, and has 18 days until the bell tolls, which will take place on April 27th.
We’re wishing Cyan lots of luck moving forward as they strive to drum up further support for another highly-polished, atmospheric VR puzzler.
Original Article (March 27th, 2019): The studio is searching for $1,285,000 USD in total within the next 30 days. Although it’s an ‘all or nothing’ campaign, Firmament looks to be well on its way to its goal; at the time of this writing the campaign has already garnered over $291,000.
Backers at all funding tiers are said to receive the completed game by July 2020. The lowest funding tier offers a digital download of the game for $30, which includes a digitally delivered manual and strategy guide. Owning to Cyan’s iconic puzzle games, many of the higher funding tiers have already seen a healthy glut of backers. At the time of this writing 36 people have donated $1,000 to the campaign. A single backer has also chosen the $5,000 funding tier.
Cyan previously created two successful Kickstarters that helped launch the 25th Anniversary Collection of Myst and atmospheric VR puzzler Obduction (2016).
First announced March 2018, the studio is still staying pretty tight-lipped on details surrounding Firmament. Cyan CEO and co-founder Rand Miller however says the game won’t be as solitary as previous titles, this time including a companion device that will be “an integral part of both the story and puzzles.” Some of the puzzles, Miller says, are call-backs to Myst regarding the “steam punk, magic vibe.”
There’s also some more teaser text found on the Kickstarter page which you might find more than a bit tantalizing (Cyan flaunting its storytelling chops).
A gasp for air… a release of chilled breath… the crackling sounds of melting ice.
You wake in a glacial cavern — perfused by blue. It’s crowded with metal pipes and adorned with curious, clockwork gears.
Echoing machinery resonates in your ears as a massive metal door opens before you…
As you enter a dark chamber, warm lights flicker to life, revealing a frigid, yet intimate stone interior, supported by riveted iron beams. In the middle of this room is an ancient table – a tea cup on one end and a frozen body slumped over the other. The corpse’s hands hold an exquisite clockwork device — held out like an offering.
You reach for the device, and suddenly… a small whir… a blue glow is birthed from its core as it comes to life and lifts from the outstretched palms of the rigid stranger. It hovers above you, watching.
An apparition appears with a message from the woman that left this gift. She planned to mentor you…
…but something has gone terribly wrong.
An immense, unexpected adventure now lies ahead…
There’s no word at this time on exactly which VR platforms will see support, although it’s clear PC VR headsets will be supported alongside the flatscreen version of the game. We’d imagine this means the standard set: Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and Windows VR headsets.
Check out the whole Kickstarter pitch for a few more clips not seen in the teaser trailer linked above.