We're still coming to grips with the (good) news that Bethesda, Lucasfilm Games, and MachineGames are making a new Indiana Jones video game title. It's a lot to take in. Luckily, we have plenty of time to process it since the game itself is probably years out from release. However, there's a good chance that at least the main story, timeline, setting, and characters have been locked down, because the teaser trailer actually holds a number of clues about the game itself. It's clear that EP Todd Howard has known what he wants to do with this game for some time.

Pete Hines, SVP of Global Marketing, said of Howard's passion for the new Indiana Jones game: “Todd is a lifelong Indy fan, and has been trying for over a decade to make this game. He’s beyond excited to work with the award-winning MachineGames team, a perfect fit for Indy.”

If only we'd been paying closer attention, we would have picked up on Howard's signs earlier, noting the golden idol and the ark in this Zoom screenshot:

No word on when Howard will be making Notre Dame: The Game.

But while we wait on that, lets take a closer look at the brief teaser that was shared earlier today for the untitled Indiana Jones game:

"Forbidden Stones" - Much like the rest of this teaser trailer, which is comprised of made-from-scratch elements and iconic hallmarks from the Indiana Jones franchise, this book appears to be more of a generic title referencing the Sankara Stones from Temple of Doom than anything from the real-real world.

"Myths That Made [Us]" - Looks like another pseudo-resource here, nodding to the Jones family's research into all things historical, archeological, and even mythological.

"Ancient Circle: Jubilee" - Another pseudo-tome, but this one's a tad more interesting. While ancient circles certainly have had their heyday with everything from Stonehenge to crop circles often popping up in modern media, rarely is the Jewish Jubilee year talked about at all. Keeping it succinct, Jubilee is the 50th year in the Sabbatical calendar, taking place after a 7 x 7-year cycle. How it factors into the new game, if at all, is anyone's guess. Maybe the book's "author" Todd Howard can shed some more light on this one.

Update: Twitter user @indianajonesbr has some solid insight here; be sure to check out the full thread, which suggests the no-good Nazis might be after the legendary Shofar of Joshua:

"R. Hagfeldt" and "Sir Francis L. Livingston" - Closing out this first look at the trailer, we have two untitled books by the above-mentioned authors. My Google Fu is not strong for Hagfeldt, and I have the exact opposite problem for Sir Francis Blank. Could be Drake, which the Uncharted series has exhausted rather well, or Bacon, Lovell, Bryan, etc., etc. Turns out, in a related blog post, the author in question is Sir Francis L. Livingston, who doesn't, I presume, exist in the real-real.

Marshall College mug - The mug of tea (or is it coffee, Dr. Jones?) looks to bear the fictional crest of equally fictional Marshall College, where Henry Jones, Jr. himself teaches.

Chachapoyan Fertility Idol, a.k.a. Golden Idol - A sketch of the very first archeological artifact we see Indiana Jones take into his possession (even if it belongs in a museum) in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

"Ziggurat clue?" - While the very fact that the words "Ziggurat clue?" could be a clue in and of themselves for this new game, one wonders if it's a reference to the unearthed temple in Raiders of the Lost Ark or some other ancient Mespotamian building that we've yet to explore. It could be a nod to the ziggurats in the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, which previously mentioned in Indy lore. Update: And perhaps it's a reference to Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine after all:

The Grail Diary - Sure looks like the same or very similar diary written and compiled by Henry Jones, Sr., does it not? Unfortunately, I can't quite make out the handwriting on the notes sticking out of the diary.

Passport - Stamped by Bethesda, this passport looks to belong to Henry Jones, for the purposes of Research & Education in the field of Archeology, confirmed by the inclusion of his birthdate, July 1, 1899.

Rome - The most obvious clue to a potential trip to Rome in the new game is the ticket for overnight air transportation to Rome on October 21, 1937. Unless that's a years-old memento that Jones dug out for some reason, we can guess that the timeline of the game will take place between Temple of Doom and The Last Crusade. (For those keeping score, "Mutt" Williams isn't born yet; that'll happen almost exactly nine months later. Interestingly enough though, 1937 is the year that Henry Jones, Jr. and Marion Ravenwood were supposed to wed, but Jones inexplicably left beforehand, neither of them knowing that she was pregnant.)

The Apostolic Palace - Front and center is a basic map of the grounds of the pope's official residence in Rome's Vatican City. You'll note that the palace itself is marked with a "?" while an X marks the Belvedere Courtyard.

MachineGames - The studio most recently known for their Wolfenstein titles is featured here as the name brand of a typewriter. Jones seems to be typing a letter to a Father B[...] and mentions being in Rome, but that's about all I can decipher at the moment. But if we're going to be fighting Nazis again, this studio is well-versed in that regard.

Lucasfilm Games - The studio and rightsholder to Indiana Jones gets a clever namedrop via a vintage camera and rolls of film; find a nearby Boomer if you need further explanation of how they work together.

Recon Photographs - I'd love to know what these are, when they were taken, and where they're from; perhaps we'll find out in the game itself?

Top. Secret. - Redacted papers reading only "Top Secret" can be seen in this frame.

That Whip! - While you might get excited at seeing Indy's signature whip in this teaser, that fact is not making other whip-enthusiasts all that happy. (Hey, Indy's always got his trusty revolver there for back-up.)

Did we miss any clues? Be sure to let us know!