Monarch medals

[Frungi]

In "The Kings' Message" in the British Museum, the second paragraph reads:

From John to the first James
You must cut a Christian name

What does this mean? I konw that the solution is available online and even ingame, but how do you get there from here?

[cloister56]

I know this thread is 7 years old but this riddle has annoyed me for a day so far.


This is a spoiler for this puzzle!

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2958304761

This is the coin locations at the time of this riddle:

John to the first James
You must cut a christian name
Their numbers plus 3 will do
This given name we give this number to
And exchange with Charles Two.

So I did not solve this on my own and unfortunately the hint system just gives you the solution
Exchange Henry 6th for Charles 2nd.

The second part is obvious. But why Henry and why 6th?
So the best solution I can come too is if you draw a line between John and James you pass through several Henry's (2 or 4 depending where you draw your line)
So I accept that for a christian name is "cut" is Henry.

As for the 6 well it can't be the number of Henry's you "cut" nor their numbers as with 3 added this would be 5 or 7 or too big a number. The number of Henrys in sequence from John to James is 6 but then you need to add 3.
All of the solutions seem to say James + John + Christian name + 3 = 6 but why you would come to that I think is a stretch.
The riddle has pointed you towards Henry so then saying "their numbers" should refer to Henry. Also the next line when it says "this give name" wants you to think Henry. But if we are supposed to return to James and John why not give them this number? (apart from there is no 6th of either of these).

Anyway I needed to rant about this puzzle. Maybe 7 years on it's nice to know this puzzle is still annoying people wanting to solve it.

If anyone else has a cleaner explanation please add it, I am quite prepared to slap my forehead in realisation if I am overlooking a "true" solution.

[Frungi]

I do find it somewhat telling that the in-game hint system says, “The letter details the exact instructions slightly cryptically, [so screw it here are the answers]”.

[Aqueous]

Dreadful puzzle. As far as designing puzzles goes, it commits a cardinal sin in the solution for the final verse.

Good puzzles provide you with all the information you need to solve them. It may be obscured or hidden - you may need to go in search to find it - but it's there. The trick is then using that information to find the solution.

This puzzle does not provide necessary information. Unless you're an English history buff - or prepared to look things up online while playing - you are unlikely to know that William I is the oldest monarch and George II the youngest. Without that knowledge, you will be completely unable to solve the final verse. Honestly, all that was required was a reference somewhere in the game - perhaps a family tree of the English monarchy.

It was actually the point where I jumped off and quit. That was due mostly to not finding the plot particularly intriguing but this puzzle was definitely the straw that broke the camel's back.