How to Solve – Case 1 – The Statuette
Voss shares the journal sketch found alongside the Sphere and asks Investigation Partners to help identify the artifact depicted. The mission unfolds in three phases, each unlocking the next layer of the trail.
Puzzle 1: Identifying the Statuette
Voss directs players to the Heraklion Archaeological Museum website and asks whether the figure in the sketch corresponds to any artifact in their Minoan collection.
Hints:
- Hint 1: Focus on the Minoan collection. The sketch shows a female figure holding snakes.
- Hint 2: The museum has two well-known artifacts that match that description.
Answer – SNAKE GODDESS
Puzzle 2: Spotting the Difference
Voss confirms the identification and asks players to compare the sketch carefully against the two known statuettes. Something in the sketch does not match.
Hints:
- Hint 1: Compare the sketch to each known statuette side by side.
- Hint 2: Look at what is on top of their heads.
Answer – FELINE (also accepted: cat, head)
Voss confirms: archaeological records suggest more than two statuettes once existed at Knossos. The sketch may depict a third, unknown figurine. Phase 2 unlocks.
Puzzle 3: The Paintings
Voss introduces Kostas Miratis, a Greek painter from the 1960s whose paintings depict a figure too close to the sketch to be coincidental. Players must find what is hidden across his paintings.
Hints:
- Hint 1: Look for subtle differences between the paintings – not everything is stylistic.
- Hint 2: Applying image filters can help reveal details that are hard to see at normal contrast.
- Hint 3: There are letters hidden across the paintings. Try to find one per painting.
- Hint 4: Once you have all the letters, think about what order to read them in.
Solution Each painting contains a hidden letter, difficult to spot at standard contrast – using filters or adjusting brightness makes them more visible. Collect one letter per painting, then arrange them in the order of the paintings.
Answer – AEGEAN
Voss acknowledges the find but notes the Aegean contains over 1,600 islands. They share the artist’s clinical file from the Solène Institute. Phase 3 unlocks.
Puzzle 4: The Recording
The clinical records show the artist repeatedly said the name “Christiana” throughout his time at the institute – in sessions, in sleep, in moments of agitation. Staff concluded it referred to a person. The institute commissioned sleep study recordings to capture what the artist said while unconscious.
Hints:
- Hint 1: The recordings are audio files – but the answer isn’t something you hear in the usual sense.
- Hint 2: Try opening the files in a spectrogram viewer. Audacity works, as do free online tools.
- Hint 3: No single recording gives the full picture. Look across all of them.
Solution Open each sleep study recording in a spectrogram viewer. Each file contains a fragment of a phrase visible in the visual noise. Across both recordings, the phrase “CHRISTIANA ISLANDS” becomes readable. “Christiana” was never a person – it was a place.
Answer – CHRISTIANA ISLANDS
Puzzle 5: The Paintings (Part 2)
The Christiana Islands are a small group of volcanic islands in the Cyclades. The paintings contain more than letters. Now that you know where to look, go back to them.
Hints:
- Hint 1: The letters weren’t the only thing hidden across the paintings.
- Hint 2: Try overlaying all the paintings on top of one another.
- Hint 3: The variations between paintings don’t just spell something – they draw something too.
- Hint 4: Look for a shape and a marker within that shape.
Solution Overlay all the paintings digitally. Beyond the letters, the variations between them align to reveal a coastline outline with a pin marking a specific point. Match the coastline against a map of the Christiana Islands – the shape fits. The pin marks a specific location. Use Google Maps to identify it and read the coordinates.
Answer – 36°14’40″N, 25°12’26″E
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