Exile begins 10 years after the events of Riven, when the player arrives at Tomahna, the home of Atrus and his wife Catherine. Atrus is a scientist and explorer who has mastered an ancient practice known as the Art: he can create links to different Ages by writing special books. This ability comes from an ancient civilization known as the D'ni, whose society crumbles after the D'ni city is devastated by a plague. Atrus calls the player to his home to display his newest Age, Releeshahn, which Atrus has designed as a new home for the D'ni survivors. As Atrus is preparing to leave for Releeshahn, a mysterious man appears in Atrus' study, sets it on fire, steals the Releeshahn book and leaves behind another. Following the thief, the player arrives at J'nanin, an Age that Atrus had written long before as a way to teach the Art to his sons.
The player explores immersive, pre-rendered environments known as "Ages" by using either mouse clicks or the space bar for movement from set nodes across each Age. Unlike previous games, which employed a series of still images, Exile uses a "free look" system which gives the player a 360-degree field of view at each node. The game also has an optional "zip" mode to rapidly cross explored terrain by skipping nodes. Clicking allows the player to manipulate objects and pick up items. The on-screen cursor changes to show contextual actions. Each of the game's Ages has a distinctive look and theme. Players begin their journey on the Age of J'nanin, which acts as a hub linking to other Ages and as a "lesson Age" demonstrating important principles for later puzzles. Three of these Ages are Amateria, a mechanical Age in the middle of a vast sea; Edanna, a world of preserved nature, with abundant plant and animal life; and Voltaic, a dusty island riddled with contraption-filled canyons
Source: Wikipedia, "Myst_3," available under the CC-BY-SA License.