Unlock the Animus Challenge

The Unlock the Animus Challenge was something that Ubisoft released in November for everyone to play. It consisted of five puzzles, or sequences, where the candidate must work out the problem and solve it. The winners would be able to play the final strand, and the first person to solve it would win a trip to Istanbul for a few night with a friend, as well as being given spending money and a guided tour.

The first strand
The first puzzle to be released was a video showing moments in the Assassin's Creed series. After the video ended, the player was told to make a list of the clips in order of their appearance. For example, the ifrst scene is an arch in Rome, so the first answer is 'Arch'. The order in their appearance is as follows:

1. Arch

2.Arrow

3.Toll

4.Inferno

5.Shadow

6.Links

7.Fortress

8.Pray

9.Gallows

10. Peaks

11.Portcullis

12.Tempest

The second strand
The next puzzle consisted of seemingly random symbols in rows, and the player must work out the five top- most symbols. This is infact the Templar cypher, and reads a phrase. The answer is:

1. The 'X' like symbol

2. The up- right pyramid with a dot in the centre

3 and 4. An up-right pyramid without a dot, with a smaller triangle underneath it.

5. The 'V' like symbol.

When done, the words read 'Nulla e reale. Tutto e lecito.' This is 'Nothing is true. Everything is permitted,' in Italian. At the end, Ezio says a rather eerie 'Requiescat in Pace,' and the screen writes a red 'Rest in Peace,' at the end.

The third strand
The third puzzle is a mix of three small puzzles.

The first is artifact identification, which shows a Portugese coin with the words 'In hoc signo vinces' on it. This means 'In this sign you will conquer,' which is a phrase used Constantine I, and it refers to the templar cross. The player must then enter the phrase into a cryptex, and when it opens the player must find the correct coordinates. They mostly consist of Roman landmarks, but the correct one is 'N4100518E2858795,' which are the coordinates for the Hagia Sofia in Istanbul. The last puzzle tells the player to align the circles in the correct pattern, and the answer is simply to arrange tham in the shape of the Hagia Sofia. The picture should have the four bigger ones in the diagonals north- west, south-west, north- east, and south- east, with all of them having half of the circle in the centre, and half outside. The smaller circles