If you follow the Indiana Jones and the Great Circle guides on Gamereactor, we've already collected together the 10 ancient relics of the Vatican and the 15 relics of Gizeh. Moreover, you begin to know what these millennia-old artefacts, which predate any present civilisation by far, are for in the main plots and in turn, seemingly, related to the central story.
If after your brief, linear Himalayan and Shanghai journeys, you thought the game was starting to run out of open-world ideas and expansive areas, you couldn't be more wrong. Welcome to Sukhothai, Siam, now known as Thailand.
This beautiful jungle map where you can almost feel the mosquitoes biting you is so large and varied that you will use a means of transport (apart from the useful fast travel between signposts) to get around it for the first time. Once settled in the village of Khaimuk Saksit, you'll set off in your motor boat with Gina (who ironically can't swim and is afraid of water), sailing along the green rivers to dock in the various areas; from Buddhist temples to Italian Fascist military compounds, controlled in turn by the Nazi bad guy, Sturmbannführer Emmerick Voss.
As with the medicine bottles of A Remedy for All, the lost artefacts, or the brawling dens, the Riddles of the Ancients Discovery is a repeated mission structure, with identical format and ingredients to those seen before. With this in mind, let's find the 24 relics in Siam.
Sukhothai opens up to free exploration right from the start, because the game already understands that you are quite experienced in its systems. However, we keep reminding you of our main tip: by following the main story (in this case in search of The Blessed Pearl) you will comb through the different areas and, if you explore thoroughly, you will also find what you need for the side quests.
To get your hands on all 24 ancient relics in Siam you can follow our step-by-step guide, but you can also find additional guidance in the booklet that marks them on the map. In this case, the book is more hidden than usual, both literally (at the back end of the map) and figuratively (when solving a puzzle).
"An ancient esoteric manuscript giving an account of the ancestral relics rumoured to be found in Sukhothai"
The manuscript awaits you once you solve the Elephant in the room Mystery behind Voss' Camp. As we said, you will probably go to this area following the Voss' Gold Stash Fieldwork, with the intention of stealing the expropriated Nazi gold in order to afford the Breathing device that allows you to last much longer underwater.
The Camp is, along with the Armoury, the best-guarded area on this map, so you'll need to be cautious and/or quickly get the Royal Army disguise to be more inconspicuous. In any case, go to the back of the map (the northernmost area) and you will see a small temple on the left hand side, guarded by only two fascisti. At its door, a stone elephant raises its trunk, welcoming you.
Inside you must solve a rather cool puzzle of placing elephant figures on different pedestals. We'll let you follow your instinct to do it, but if you get stuck, think that you might not have looked up. Once you're done, you get the Sukhothai relics map and a nice sum of adventure points.
OK, you can get your hands on this relic much later, but since we were talking about Camp Voss, it's only fitting that we tell you how to get one of the most elaborate relics in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, especially since it spans several maps and chapters.
This chest that Sturmbannführer Voss borrowed from Gizeh awaits you in the tents next to the dining area, as soon as you enter his camp through the main gate on the right-hand side. You can either sneak in or wear a Royal Army uniform. It is a very striking chest, with a coiled snake resting on it, and there is no password to open it, but three different keys lost in the game world.
The mission isn't so much complicated as it is simply long, and you've got to feel like taking a few good walks through places you've already visited. We won't dwell on it too much because if you mark it in the log you'll see the locations, but bear in mind that for the three old keys you'll have to dive with the Breathing device to remove a wooden beam underwater, finding a secret nook in each of the next three maps:
With the three ancient keys in your possession, return to Sukhothai (the blue briefcase icon marks where you will reappear after the last save) and open the snake chest to take the relic and 250 quest points.
Your order may be different, but we picked up our next three relics on our way through the ruins of Wat Si Sawai, as we completed the sidequest Fieldwork "The Kid Who Vanished", which as you may well know already involves "rescuing" or at least freeing Sunan's nephew Aran, who is already looking like a Thai Indiana Jones.
"It seems that Aran made an interesting discovery at Wat Si Sawai. If he's missing, that's the best place to start looking"
The first one is easy to find as soon as you start walking through the ruins, at the western end. Take a look at the attached images to get your bearings.
This temple at Wat Si Sawai has two pipe puzzles. In the first, which is simpler and more introductory, you'll see a suspicious wall next to one of the elbows you need for the circuit. Knock it down and you'll find your prize.
Continue to explore the temple, get past the areas of giant gears, waterwheels and moving platforms, and you'll come to the second plumber's puzzle, the Khmer Pipeworks Puzzle. Solving it is fairly straightforward once you get the tap going, but we've attached Indy's notes below, in case you get stuck. When you get it right, you'll finally free Aran and he'll give you access to the Shiva Shrine, a final secret chamber. The relic awaits you literally at its feet.
The next ancient relic (although this was our first) is found just after docking next to the secret Voss Armoury, southeast of the central island of the map. You can look at the attached map: leave the boat, approach the fascist armoury in the military complex, and you'll almost bump into it, because it's waiting for you in a box on a table. If you are not in Royal Army uniform, we recommend that you say arrivederci and sneak away until later...
"It's very, very old"
In Sukhothai there are several cogwheel puzzles that involve placing Khmer wooden gears to make a mechanism work. You've already seen it in Wat Si Sawai, where it's the star system alongside the water pipes, but there are also small puzzles of this type scattered all over the chapter map.
They're all underground, and you have to dive down into them like a well. Before you do so, however, note the pillar of gears that marks their presence outside: the number of gears on the pillar indicates how many of the small ones you need to solve the puzzle. Interesting, isn't it?
With this in mind, and knowing that small gears can be accumulated and carried with you (even from elsewhere, as in the gear trains to open the hidden door to the hidden pyramid), you can now unlock these sort of prisons on your adventure.
For example, this one to the west, in the ruins of the waterfall, only requires four gears and is a breeze.
We don't know what an anaconda is doing instead of a python in Thailand, but neither did we know what a Nazi warship was doing on top of a Himalayan mountain, and the fact is that this giant snake is one of the highlights of the game and perhaps Indy's greatest possible fear.
When you open the hidden door to the hidden pyramid, you'll see that the first of the four relics you can get in these ruins... isn't so hidden. Stop the boat with Gina by the collapsed tower on the left hand side and don't try to dive in, because you'll be the reptile's snack. Simply jump to the top of the ruin and grab your ancient relic.
Once you've dealt with the giant snake for the first time, you've managed to sneak through a secret underwater entrance to the temple, starting at the opposite pillar to the relic inside. As soon as you poke your head safely out of the ruins, look back into the cave, because your relic awaits you there.
"It will add to the collection"
When you enter the Nephilim stone library (the one that looks like a big Tetris room) and Indy makes a comment, go to the right instead of continuing on your way and, at the bottom, you will find your prize.
You've apparently defeated the giant snake at the end of the library (the trident fight under the war elephant) and are now climbing the inside of the pyramid by jumping and getting whip points with those tridents stuck in huge mushrooms.
When it looks like you've reached the end to go outside and rescue Gina to help you, don't: keep climbing some more (see the snake shed in the picture for reference) and at the highest point you can reach, a relic awaits you.
What is an adventure game without a secret behind a waterfall? Look at the map to find the exact spot and get out of the boat without fear, you're on your feet. Inside you will find a new puzzle that can be solved with the relics you have collected so far.
We talked about all this in our other guide to solving the first ancient relics puzzle, and considering the number you'll be carrying at this point, you'll find it more pleasant than a boat ride.
"Who did this?"
This one is easy and only requires you to access the shrine marked to the north of the map, between the hidden pyramid and Voss' camp. Note where we left the boat.
Another gear pillar. Remember the tips we gave you for the gear pillar in the waterfall ruins above and apply them here. As you can see, for this puzzle you only need five gears and the trick is to understand that the two large discs marked with a symbol are connected and move together. See our solution:
We are in the penultimate temple of Sukhothai, conducting A Study in Fear for Pailin, who in turn has been frightened by the explosions detected south of the village, southeast of the map. In other words, we enter the Khmer galleries, where up to three ancient relics await us.
The first one is easy. You'll get it shortly after meeting your ex-alumni Annika Lund (who will give you a hand in this area) and solving the first wooden key puzzle, when you stop the gears blocking a room. Before you go, jump to where you are shown below and pick up your relic.
Halfway through this trap-filled temple, you'll have to climb up a nook and climb a little too high to get your second relic from the site. See the exact spot on the map:
The final room of the temple is the burial chamber. The relic is on the right hand side of the demon's head, but as it is elevated, you must climb up the left side and cross over with the whip. All you have to do now is solve the puzzle of the sealed sarcophagus to get out of here...
Another about Khmer wooden gears, southwest of the map. In this case, you need six. Ignore the big one in the bottom right corner, which is stuck with vegetation. If you get stuck too, see the solution in the attached image.
For this puzzle you need six small wooden gears. It is near the area of the thieving monkeys. See the solution if you don't know how to do it, but the key is to, this time, use the large gears covered with vegetation on the left.
"With me it's safe"
A minimum of seven Khmer gears are required to solve this puzzle in the north-east. It's easy if you avoid the blocking points along the branches. And no, there is no point in taking out the lighter to burn them. Note the location and the solution:
The most demanding in terms of gears (you'll need 10, the maximum if you collect the ones from other puzzles and the ones from the hidden gate), it's not that difficult to solve. Look at the picture if you need the solution inspiration.
You can actually get this one much earlier than the previous ones, depending on your quest order. We, for example, picked it up in the step before entering the hidden pyramid, by completing the Lost in the Past Fieldwork (yes, that fantastic hallucinogenic nightmare of Indy's because of the frog poison). This is activated as soon as Sunan tells you about the legend of the golden hook and the Story of the Ancients, while fishing in the village.
You can either wait for the dream to be over or reach the relic before you start the prayers, but it's waiting for you to the right of the pillar, crawling through a nook.
"Wat Mahathat, the temple of the great relic, was founded by the first king of Sukhothai"
The first one is on your way. Complete"the great game" (that peculiar kind of living chess) and, as soon as you drop into the water where the picture shows you, you will find this underwater relic.
Before entering the inner temple of Wat Mahathat where the Blessed Pearl awaits you, you will descend some precarious stairs surrounded by apparent chasms. On the right hand side of the exit, however, look carefully because there is a hard-to-see spot where you can grab your whip. Use it to find the relic on the right side of the room.
The room is unmistakable because it is the one with the leeches. Go around it to the left, cross the centre with your whip and finally follow the platforms to get the treasure - this was the last one!
You have now completed the Riddles of the Ancients Discovery in Siam! You should now have a total of 49 ancient relics under your belt (10 from the Vatican, 15 from Giza and 24 from Sukhothai) - can you imagine what you're going to do with them? Next destination: the Ziggurat of Ur in Iraq, where you will solve the puzzle of the 50 relics. Will you join us?