Ultimate Puzzle Solutions Guide: Conquer Every Challenge from Vatican to Giza

From the Vatican's hidden crypts to the sun-scorched sands of Giza, the path of an adventurer is paved with puzzles. Some are essential to the story, while others guard their secrets in plain sight. This guide provides the definitive solutions to every main and optional puzzle, ensuring you never miss a relic or achievement.

Vatican City Puzzle Solutions (Main Story & Optional)

Vatican City is absolutely packed with puzzles, and honestly? Some of the best ones are completely optional. Here's everything you need to blast through the main story roadblocks and snag those easy-to-miss secrets.

Main Story Puzzles (Required for Progression)

The Fountain of Confession is a three-part beast you'll hit during 'The Stolen Cat Mummy' quest in the Vatican Gardens. First things first - you need to align the white dragon statue (west) and black dragon statue (east) so they both face the fountain's center. Your notebook will help you sketch the correct alignment, so don't forget to use it.

Once those dragons are sorted, rotate the exposed crank at the rear of the fountain clockwise three full times. This lowers the basin and reveals a hidden wall passage that you can climb into.

Inside, you'll face the Baptism Statue puzzle. Lower the left cherub chain until the water hits the first line, release the middle chain completely, then lower the right cherub until all the shells pour a unified stream. This opens the way to the final chamber where the Ark of the Bulrushes puzzle awaits. Step on the floor plates in this exact order: ibis → frog → catfish → crocodile. This rotates the dais and reveals a gold crank handle. Plug that crank into the portcullis socket and turn it twice to lift the gate and drain the fountain completely, which opens the spiral staircase down to the Underground.

After the Fountain, you'll run into the Sacred Wounds puzzle in the Tower of Nicholas V Underground. This one uses a life-size Crucifixion mural and five brass levers. The correct pattern is: Lever 1 (Left hand) Up, Lever 2 (Right hand) Up, Lever 3 (Left foot) Down, Lever 4 (Right foot) Down, and Lever 5 (Side) Centre. You have to push the central confirmation stone after every single adjustment, and when that fifth lever hits Centre, the mural recesses and opens the sarcophagus passage. Behind it you'll snag the Bone Crucible quest item and the Ancient Relic 'Pilgrim's Nail' for 100 Adventure Points.

Optional Vatican Puzzles (Most Guides Miss These)

Most walkthroughs breeze right past these, but there are five optional puzzles tucked away that are absolutely worth your time.

Cryptic Latin Note & Reliquary Dial (Tower of Nicholas V) Grab the scroll in the basement and it'll auto-translate to 'Sub septem rotis lucet via' - which means 'Beneath seven wheels the path gleams.' Equip your torch, stand on the gleaming mill-stone, and overlay your Vatican seal photo to spot Roman numerals V-I-V (that's 5-1-5). Then crouch down and whip-pull the stone to pop open a hidden drawer containing Ancient Relic #3.

There's also a Reliquary Dial locked behind a gate in the left cloister of the Fountain area. You're missing the Saint Matthias figurine, but it's sitting in an offertory box inside the basilica - you'll need a lockpick to grab it. Once you have it, the dial order clockwise from the crimson ruby marker is: Peter (keys), Matthias (axe), Paul (sword), Luke (ox), Mark (lion), John (eagle), Matthew (angel), and Barnabas (pilgrim staff).

Underwater Breathing Puzzle (Fountain of Confession area) The flooded corridor beneath the Vatican looks like a dead end at first - it literally has a 'need breathing device' sign. This is a soft gate you can't pass until you get the Rebreather Mask in the later Greece maritime chapter. Once you've got that, return to the flooded grate behind the Fountain altar, equip the mask, and swim through to a pressure plate. You'll come up with Adventure Book #11 ('Vatican Divers') and a Golden Crusader Seal.

Altar Candelabra Shadow Cipher (Side-chapel) In one of the side-chapels, you'll find this light-based puzzle. Light only the top and bottom candles on the left candelabrum, and only the middle candle on the right one. Then rotate the left candelabrum clockwise until its shadow covers the left saint's crozier, and the right candelabrum counter-clockwise until its shadow covers the right saint's book. The central halo covers itself automatically, and the altar drawer pops open with Ancient Relic #4 inside.

Choir-Loft Chain Puzzle (Fountain of Confession area) First, photograph the sheet-music poster on the lectern, which shows notes E-G-A-E-C. Then pull the chains in this bell position sequence: 1-3-4-1-5 (matching E, G, A, E, C). The trick is to pull slowly and wait for each bell's resonance to fade before the next tug, or it'll reset on you.

Mosaic Pressure Plate Puzzle (Secret tomb) Finally, there's a secret tomb with ten skeleton statues and a cryptic hint about 'chronological order of yellow dude adventure' - the game's weird way of telling you to follow the wounds chronology. Step on the plates in this order: VI → I → II → III → IV → V → VII → VIII → IX → X (that's side, left hand, right hand, left foot, right foot, head, left knee, right knee, left back, right back). Completing it lowers the central sarcophagus, revealing the 'Chalice of the Sacred Wounds' relic and an Adventure Book page worth +100 XP.

Giza Puzzle Solutions (Egyptian Challenges)

Main Giza Puzzles (Story Critical)

The Great Sphinx isn't just a landmark - it's a puzzle gauntlet you'll hit during the story. The first mirror room has you redirecting a sunbeam from the southern inlet across five bronze disks on the far wall, which means fiddling with four mirrors until each one catches the light. Don't forget to stand on that central stone after each adjustment to confirm the disk glows gold; once all five are lit simultaneously, the clamps holding the Gold Mask retract and you'll snag an Adventure Book page.

But you're not done yet. The second room features a single active mirror you must crank 45° to the left (north-west) so it hits a fixed wall mirror, lighting up two side niches where you can swing loose mirrors into place. Angle those just right and the beam strikes the gold statue's sun-disc, dropping the floor gate while Gina gives you the all-clear.

Later, during the Idol of Ra mission, you'll stumble into the Chamber of Resonance beneath Khafre's pyramid. This one's a word puzzle in disguise: first photograph all six Adamic tablets - the sixth hides in a side crawlspace, so keep your eyes peeled. Then at the central mechanism, you must select those photos in this exact order: 'Heed, The Lord's, Oath, Protect, The Secret, Of the name.' Get it right and you'll slide into the Light Chamber.

The Three-Eyed Gate is your final test here. After the Resonance Chamber, ignite the side braziers and rotate three mirrors to project symbols onto the central disc: Eye of Ra on the left, Ankh in the center, and Djed-pillar on the right. When all three glow simultaneously, the gate rumbles open.

Optional Giza Puzzles & Secrets

If you're hunting for every relic and page, Giza has six more puzzles tucked away.

Sanctuary of the Giants Gold Mask sits in the underground tomb beneath the Sphinx (you'll access this during Fieldwork). Here, you rotate mirrors 45° up and 45° down to create an X formation that reaches the two higher wall disks. Nail the angle and the Gold Mask relic drops, plus you get a photograph tick for your collection.

Right after that, the Statue of Light puzzle waits near a Horus statue with an empty sconce. Whip-pull the left torch to widen the light shaft, then rotate the big floor mirror into the ceiling pinhole. You'll need your hand mirror to bounce the secondary reflection into the statue's sconce - do it correctly and the statue sinks, revealing a Statue of Light trinket.

Ancient Relic Door (Khufu Pyramid) is easy to miss. It's under the central platform in the abyss section, and you'll need four plates scattered nearby: Scarab (top-left ledge), Horus (half-buried in a skeleton), Ankh (behind mushrooms and vines), and Sun (pry it from a cracked mural base). Insert them, then rotate each to specific positions - Beetle head up, Horus eye right, Ankh loop down, Sun disc left. The ring glows and the slab slides aside, yielding an extra Ancient Relic you'll need for that 50-relic door later.

Worker Village Locked Chest has a simple code: 4161. You'll find these chests in either the southwest wooden shack or the northwest Weather Station crate. Pop it open for the Desert Survival Adventure Book page and 35 Syndicate Coins.

Solar Barque Mast Rope Puzzle appears during Sanctuary of the Giants Fieldwork. Grab the rope from the roof to re-string the boom, hang the coffin-lid as a counterweight, then light the brazier underneath. Once the rope burns through, the boom whips up and smashes the barred workshop door, letting you grab an Ancient Relic and another Adventure Book page.

Finally, the Western Cemetery False Door Stelae hides in the lowest terrace. Align the three-ring bronze dial so the outer ring shows f (horned viper), middle shows w (quail chick), and inner shows a (lower-arm). The false door sinks, revealing a crawlspace with yet another Ancient Relic that counts toward the 'Riddles of the Ancients' side-quest.

Sukhothai Puzzle Solutions

Main Sukhothai Puzzles (Story Progression)

You can’t miss these - the story literally won’t move forward until you solve them, and they each have a very specific logic that isn’t spelled out in-game.

Hidden Gate Gear Puzzle

This one’s honestly pretty generous compared to the optional stuff. You need six cogs and two gear trains, left and right, and they’ve got to mirror each other. The left side wants L-S-S (large, small, small) from top to bottom, while the right side needs L-L-S (large, large, small). Once you get that pattern locked in, the gate opens and you’re on your way to the Blessed Pearl quest and the Nephilim Game Room.

Nephilim Game Room

Alright, this board-game puzzle looks intimidating but it’s just a logic grid. You have four Nephilim figurines and four Human figurines to place on an 8x8 board, and there are two valid solutions. The easier one is Box Corners - just put the Nephilim in all four corners and fill the rest with Humans. If you’re after the alternate pattern, try the Knight’s Cross arrangement, but the rule stays the same: every row, column, and diagonal must have exactly one Nephilim and three Humans. Nail that and you’re done.

Wat Mahathat Great Game Puzzle

This is the big set-piece where you boss around four villagers on colored plates to rotate giant statues. Here’s the cleanest method: get a villager on each plate - Red, Green, Yellow, Blue - and then step on the central plate yourself just once. That rotates all four statues forward to their next position. If any statue is misaligned, don’t panic; just have that villager step off and back on once to nudge the statue forward one more tick.

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Optional Cogwheel Puzzles (8 Hidden Mysteries)

These are the real brain-benders, and some of them hide relics you’ll need for side quests. You’ll be hunting down cogs and slotting them into weird contraptions across the map.

Riverside Water-Wheel Shrine

You’ll find five axles and a fixed medium cog already on the second axle (Q2). Your job is to drop small cogs on axle 2 and 4, a large cog on axle 3, and another small on axle 5. That sequence - Q2-3-4-5 - gets the water wheel spinning.

Abandoned Monks’ Cellar

Grab your cogs and head down: put a large cog on axle 1, a medium cog on the sliding axle 2 (pushed outward), and a small cog on axle 3. Turn the crank three times clockwise and the reliquary pops open, handing you the Ancient Khmer Amulet.

Hilltop Signal Tower

This one uses two gear trains and a pair of cranks after the gears. The left train is Large-Medium-Small, the right train is Medium-Large-Medium. Once the cogs are in, insert both cranks and spin the mirrors until they align - this nabs you Ancient Relic #11, which you’ll need for the Path of the Sun quest.

Old Mill Rice-Husker

Place the conical driver on the center spindle first, then slot a large cog on peg 1, a medium on peg 3, and a small on peg 4 (the last position). Doing it in this exact order avoids a nasty bug where the large cog won’t register. The reward is the Khmer Era Rice-Husking Idol.

Flooded Quarry Crane

First, open the sluice gate to drain the pit so you can fish out three cogs. Install the two largest cogs on the outer spindles (lower-left and upper-right), drop the medium cog in the top-center, and use the two smallest as idlers. Pull the lever to lift the boom and you’ll reveal the Silver Blessing Bell relic.

Hidden Cemetery Crypt

This dial puzzle is a seven-move dance: left dial ×1, right ×1, left ×2, right ×2, left ×1, right ×1, left ×1. The outer rim lights up without lighting the center, unlocking the Silver-Leaf Funerary Mask and a stash of six spare cogs that you’ll want for the final Ziggurat puzzle.

Elephant Graveyard Carousel

Rotate the central crank and pull the lever after each alignment to match three trunk glyphs in order: water jar → lotus → sun disc. Get that sequence right and you’ll earn the Khmer Elephant Bell relic plus 200 Adventure Points.

Bamboo Watch-Tower Winch

Drop a medium cog on the lower peg and a small cog on the upper peg. Use your whip to yank the release lever and the platform rises, letting you claim Ancient Relic (Sukhothai #6/10) and some .45 ACP rounds. Always remember to scavenge both cogs afterward - you’ll need them elsewhere.

Other Location Puzzles (Marshall College, Himalayas, Iraq)

Marshall College - The Exhibit Puzzle

Right after the prologue, you'll hit your first real brain-teaser in the Marshall College exhibit room. You've got four display cases surrounding a central pedestal, and each case has a brass placard listing a geographic origin: Meso-America, Near-East, South-Pacific, and Africa. You'll need to grab the four artifacts from the cart and drop each one into the case that matches its region keyword - so the Meso-American idol goes to Meso-America, and so on. Once you've sorted all four correctly, a fifth item appears on the cart: an unlabelled stone cylinder called the 'Giant.' That's your key to the central pedestal. Slot it in, and you'll trigger a cut-scene showing the empty silhouette of the stolen Horned Statuette, plus a chalkboard clue nudging you toward the Vatican.

Himalayas - Kummetz Cipher Code Puzzle

The Himalayas only throws one major cipher puzzle at you, and it's inside the frozen wreck of the KMS Kummetz, right before the officers' mess. You'll find a cipher machine with a hinged code table - flip it open, and you'll see Input symbols on top and Output symbols below. Your job is to rotate the three disks until the symbols in the windows match the first three Input symbols from that table. The machine will then display the corresponding Output symbols, which you'll punch into the door keypad in left-to-right order. Get it right, and the bulkhead door swings open, letting you into the officers' mess. Oh, and don't miss the Adventure Book sitting on the mess table - it's easy to walk right past.

Iraq - Ziggurat Secret Vault Puzzle

If you've been hoarding Ancient Relics, the Ziggurat of Ur has a massive endgame payoff. First, you'll need all 50 relics before a sealed stone wall will even consider opening. Behind it lies a vault puzzle with five concentric rings - each ring has 10 slots and only accepts relics of a specific metal. From outer to center, it's Obsidian, Iron, Bronze, Silver, and Gold.

Start by placing the five 'anchor' pieces at 12 o'clock on their matching rings: the obsidian Vulture Seal, iron Lamassu Statue, bronze Scarab Brooch, silver Moon Tablet, and gold Solar Wheel. Once those are locked in, rotate each ring clockwise, and the remaining 45 relics will auto-snap into place. When every slot's filled, the central dial glows blue - interact with it to seal the rings and trigger the secret ending cut-scene. You'll walk away with the 'Master of Antiquities' achievement and that sweet golden whip skin.

Complete Puzzle Checklist (36 Total)

You’ll need all 36 puzzles for the Puzzle Master achievement, and your Journal tracks every single one. The moment you interact with a puzzle mechanism, it’s locked in permanently, so replaying them in New Game+ won’t add anything to your counter.

They’re spread across nine regions, and here’s what you’re hunting: Marshall College has 4, Vatican City carries 6, Castel Sant’Angelo holds 3, Giza Plateau packs 7 (watch out for those missable ones), Iraq Dig Site has 3, Shanghai offers 2, Himalayas contains 2, Sukhothai delivers 6, and the Final Story section closes with 3.

If you want a clean tracking method, grab the Map Genie interactive checklist. It lets you tick off puzzles as you solve them and also covers Field Notes, Ancient Relics, and the entire collectible suite in one place.

Missable Puzzles & Progression Tips

Here’s the catch: no main story puzzle is truly missable, but Khufu’s Pyramid hides two optional Ancient Relic puzzles that’ll lock you out if you blink. I’m talking about the Central Platform Relic Door and the Lower Crypt Relic Door.

Once you ride the exit elevator from the abyss section, that’s it - both relic doors seal shut, and Chapter Select can’t crack them open again. If you finish the game stuck at 34/36, this is why.

The safe play? Before you touch that elevator, open your Journal and confirm you’ve got two Ancient Relic entries listed under Gizeh. If you want to be extra careful (you should), make a manual save right before the elevator sequence.

If you already missed them, your only real fix is a New Game+ speedrun on Story Difficulty. You can reach the abyss again in roughly 3 hours, and unfortunately, no patch or DLC will retroactively open that sealed section.

With these solutions, you can confidently navigate every cryptic chamber and mechanical gauntlet. Remember to check your journal and save before critical points to avoid locking yourself out of optional content. Now, go claim that 'Puzzle Master' title.