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In Professor Layton and the Curious Village, you’ll tackle over 130 puzzles as you unravel the mysteries of the village. Puzzles range from mazes and riddles to logic and sliding puzzles. Touch Screen controls make working through puzzles fun for players of all skill levels, and new puzzles are available weekly for download via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Fully voiced animated scenes bring the story to life, while the eccentric villagers and the hand-drawn art provide a charm that appeals to gamers and non-gamers alike. Only playable on Nintendo DS systems.

User Reviews about Professor Layton and the Curious Village

Professor Layton and the Curious Village combines two very different game genres. Puzzle games and adventure games. It may seem like an odd combonation, but it surprisingly works well. The game starts off with Professor Hershel Layton and his young assistant Luke driving to the town of St. Mystere, summoned by a letter from Lady Dahlia, widow of the late Baron Augustus Reinhold. The Baron's will tells of a treasure called the Golden Apple and whoever can find this treasure will inherit his fourtune. Many have gone after the treasure, but all came back empty handed. It's up to the Professor and Luke to solve this puzzle by finding this treasure. As soon as the duo arrive at the village, they immeditely realize that the town's residents are obsessived over puzzles and brain teasers. This is where the puzzle solving comes in. Players roam around the village through a point and click interface similar to old PC games of the late 80s and early 90s. Almost every conversation with the villagers involve some kind of puzzle. These puzzles range from brain teasers, sliding puzzles, logic puzzles, and others. Correctly soliving the puzzles will award the player points or "picrats" that can be used to unlock bonuses. Incorrectly soliving the puzzles will cause the value of picrats to decrease. If players need help solving the puzzles, then they can unlock hints by using hint coins. These coins can be found througout the village by tapping on certain objects with the stylus. Accompianing the story are hand-drawn, animated cutscenes. These cutscenes have an old-fashioned art style that really helps tell the story. These cutscenes also have amazing voice acting with them as well. I can certainly see why a movie based on the series was created. The accordian-based music found in the game is also good, but it can be slightly repetitive at times. The game also offers Wi-Fi connectivity in which players can download weekly puzzles, but to my knowledge this service ended last year. The only downside to this game is that after completing the main story (which lasts about 10 hours), there is little replay value other then soliving any puzzles the you have missed. Overall, I believe that Professor Layton and the Curious Village is one of the best puzzle games on the DS. A sequel, Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box was released last year, and the third game, Professor Layton and the Unwound Future will be released this fall. Japan also has a fourth game, Professor Layton and the Specter's Flute and movie as well. I only hope that these games (and the movie) will be localized soon. Anyways, I recommend buying this game and recommend checking the sequels out as well.

Story: 8/10
Gameplay: 8/10
Presentation: 9/10
Lasting Appeal: 7/10 -- A true gentleman leaves no puzzle unsolved.

Had a wonderful time and needed to do it twice to bang up the points. Wonderful for all ages and skills. Just wandering around is fun. Good family game where both children and adults can do together. -- Professor Layton's Curoius Village

This game provided hours of fun for myself as well as my grandchildren....a great way to keep the mind active! A game for all ages! -- Prof. Layton and the Curious Village

My husband and I purchased this game as a birthday gift for our oldest niece, who was turning 10 at the time. We don't have children ourselves, but we read through the reviews here, and we thought that this game would be appropriate for our niece, who is very bright, inquisitive, and disciplined (she earned her junior black belt in karate about a month later). Well, we obviously made a good choice, as her mother later reported back to us that our niece loved this game--she stated that it provided many hours of entertainment, although apparently, our niece eventually was able to proceed through all of the levels. So for reference, if you are buying this game for a smart, curious girl around the age of 10, she is bound to enjoy it! -- Fun for a 10-year old girl!