The temple's Glyph Door

The gem that wants a pattern

Climb a temple's grand stair to the top and you'll find a shrine with a stone door and a glowing turquoise gem above it. It isn't there for decoration. It's a lock, and the carved glyphs on the temple are its key.

Stand close to the gem and press E. A card opens: the gem shows a pattern of carved signs (a sun, a river, a leaf...), and below it sit six glowing stones. Pick the stones in the same order as the pattern. Get it right and the gem turns gold, the door grinds open, and a small chamber waits inside with an old chest and a painting on the wall.

How it works

• Every temple has its own glyphs. Each temple carries six signs picked from twelve (sun, moon, star, river, leaf, flower, mountain, flame, snowflake, shell, feather, fish). A land draws on its own favourites, so the frost lands lean on snowflakes and moons, the deserts on suns and flames. Two temples almost never have the same set.
• The pattern grows with the land. Home lands ask for 3 signs, the middle lands 4 and the far lands 5. In the far lands the pattern fades after a few seconds, and a button shows it again for free.
• Nothing can go wrong. A wrong stone makes the gem hum and the pattern starts again from its first sign. No fighting, no cost, no timer. After 2 wrong tries the gem shows the pattern again and lights the first stone for you.
• It works with a controller. Move between the stones with the d-pad or the stick, and press the confirm button. Esc (or the back button) leaves the card.
• It's yours. Opening the door and the chest is kept for you alone: each friend opens the temple for themselves.

The chamber

Inside, an old chest holds a keepsake that fits the land: coins and goods the explorers of that realm would carry, and one rarer find. The painting on the wall teaches one true fact about the land, and it is kept in your NOTES page. A temple's chest opens once per player, so pick your temples well.

Where next

Temples stand all over the world, in every land and even on islands in the water. Find them with the map (the temple icon), then try the next realm's glyphs. The lookout towers have a surprise of their own: Lookouts and the telescope. More places like this are in Things to discover.