Professor Layton and the Curious Village

***Professor Layton and the Curious Village*** (レイトン教授と不思議な町 *Reiton-kyōju to Fushigi na Machi*?) is

   a puzzle adventurevideo game for the Nintendo DS system. It was developed by Level-5, and published by Level-5 within Japan and Nintendointernationally. It was released in Japan during 2007, and in PAL regions and North America a year later in 2008. *Curious Village* is the first title in the *Professor Layton* series, directly followed by *Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box*.

The game centers on Professor Hershel Layton, and his self-styled apprentice, Luke Triton, investigating the fictional village of St. Mystere about an artifact known as the Golden Apple, an heirloom that the late Baron had left as a test to determine who would receive his fortune after his death. The residents of St. Mystere particularly enjoy brain teasers, and will often ask the player to help solve them by using the system's touchscreen to submit answers, in exchange for their cooperation in the search.

*Professor Layton and the Curious Village* was met with generally positive reviews, praising both its approach to combining the adventure and puzzle genres, as well as for its presentation and animated cutscenes. It would go on to sell over a million copies in Japan alone, in addition to 3.17 million copies sold overseas.

## Plot

Specific order of events in the game will vary depending on choices that the player has made during the game, but the overall plot remains unchanged.

The game opens 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 Baron Augustus Reinhold. The Baron stated in his last will and testament that whoever solves the mystery of the Golden Apple will inherit his fortune, and several people have attempted and failed. The two enter the town and find that most of the population is fond of puzzles and brain teasers, which both Layton and Luke are adept at solving. They see a large, haphazard tower that occupies one side of town that no one can get to; people hear strange noises emanating from it at night. Layton and Luke meet Lady Dahlia and other family members, including Simon, Gordon, and the family servants. Before they can discuss the mystery further, a loud exploding sound is heard and Dahlia's cat flees out of the door. Layton and Luke retrieve the cat and, upon returning to the mansion, discover that Simon has been murdered and the case is already under investigation by Inspector Chelmey, a renowned detective. Chelmey initially suspects the two, but then tells them to stay out of the investigation. However, Matthew, the butler of the Baron's mansion, tells Layton about a small gearwheel that he found in the room near Simon's body.

As Layton and Luke continue their search for the Golden Apple, they witness the kidnapping of one of Dahlia's servants, Ramon. A strange man stuffs Ramon into a bag; they give chase but are unable to catch him, though they do find another gearwheel similar to the one before. However, they are befuddled as Ramon is back the next day as if nothing had happened. They continue to explore the town, and check the looming tower that everyone had been telling them to stay away from but are eventually led to the town's abandoned amusement park by a young girl. As they explore the Ferris wheel, the sinister figure from earlier uses a remote to tear the wheel from its moorings, sending it rolling after Layton and Luke. They barely escape as the wheel smashes through a locked building. Exploring the wreckage, they find a key shaped similarly to the tower, and Layton gets an idea of what's going on in the village. The two return to face Chelmey, who Layton realizes is an impostor. The man reveals himself as Layton's self-proclaimed arch-enemy, Don Paolo, who is seeking the Golden Apple for himself and who tried to use the Ferris wheel to knock Layton out of the picture. Paolo escapes before Layton can capture him. Luke asks the professor who Don Paolo is and why he wants revenge. Layton knows Don Paolo's reputation as an evil scientific genius but has no idea why Don Paolo hates him, implying that the two have never met before.

With Luke in tow, Layton heads for the tower, using the key to unlock a secret wall in a dead end. Inside, they discover the man that previously had kidnapped Ramon, who is named Bruno. With Bruno's help, Layton discovers the truth: all the residents of St. Mystere are robots, created by the Baron and Bruno to challenge the wits of anyone seeking the Golden Apple, hence their shared obsession with puzzles. Simon has not died, only malfunctioned; similarly, Bruno collected Ramon in order to perform repairs. Having solved the puzzle of St. Mystere, Layton and Luke climb the tower, solving more puzzles and meeting minor characters along the way. Eventually, the pair reaches the top of the tower, and much to their surprise, find a beautifully kept cottage there. Inside, the young girl from before awaits. She reveals herself as Flora Reinhold, the only daughter of the Baron. The Baron actually died years ago (not two months ago as Layton and Luke were initially told), leaving Flora an orphan. She is the "Golden Apple" that the robots were protecting until she became an adult.

Layton's triumph is short-lived as Don Paolo returns in a flying machine and starts demolishing the tower. Luke escapes down the stairs, but Layton is forced to improvise a glider to take Flora and himself to safety as the tower collapses. Don Paolo, with his machine malfunctioning, drops a bag containing the stolen Simon. The villain swears revenge and leaves, and the three reach the town safely. As Flora hugs the Professor and laughs, an apple-like birthmark can be seen on her shoulder. As they regroup at the Reinhold manor, Layton realizes that there is more to the treasure than just Flora, as the birthmark points to the Baron's riches. Luke finds a switch on the portrait of Flora in the same location as her birthmark which leads to a secret room filled with gold.

A voice recording from the Baron, intended for those who solved the mystery, congratulates Layton. The voice tells Flora to take the treasure, explaining that if it is taken, all the robots will stop functioning. Flora opts to leave it as a way to repay the robots for their services in protecting her and her new friends. As the game ends, Layton, Luke, and Flora leave St. Mystere without the treasure, allowing the residents to continue on with their lives. The three (and other characters) are shown laughing and living together during the game credits.

As the first part of a trilogy, the main story ends with a "to be continued" message with a picture of Luke and Layton at a train station. They are about to take the Molentary Express in *Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box*.

## Game Play

*The Curious Village* is an adventure/puzzle game. The player controls the movements of Professor Layton (voiced by Christopher Miller) and his young assistant Luke (voiced by Lani Minella in US English and Maria Darling in UK English) around the village of St. Mystere to locate the "Golden Apple" and solve other mysteries that arise during their search. St. Mystere is divided into several sections, some of which are inaccessible until the story has advanced to a certain point or the player solves a certain number of puzzles. The player can talk to characters or investigate objects on screen by tapping them. In many cases, the characters will ask Layton and Luke to try to solve a puzzle; there are also hidden puzzles that can be found by investigating certain objects. As the story progresses, if an unsolved puzzle can no longer be accessed (for example, if the person offering it has departed), it will reappear at Granny Riddleton's Puzzle Shack at the plaza, midway through the game.

Puzzles include brain teasers, sliding puzzles, logic puzzles, and others. The player is presented with each puzzle and its value in "picarats", and is given an unlimited amount of time to solve it. Each puzzle has three hints available for it, but the player must spend one "hint coin" to see each hint. Hint coins are limited; the player starts with ten, and more can be found by examining suspicious objects around the village. Once the player feels they have the answer to a puzzle, depending on the puzzle, they might enter it by selecting an answer, drawing a circle around a specific area, or entering the answer by inputting letters or numbers into the DS's touchscreen. If the player is correct, the picarats are added to his total score, and he is sometimes rewarded with an item. If the player is incorrect, he can retry the puzzle indefinitely, though the first two times he is wrong, the value of the puzzle will decrease by approximately ten percent each time (or more, in the case of multiple-choice puzzles). There are also puzzles in which the player must make a sequence of moves in order to reach some final state, and cannot submit an incorrect answer. Optionally, a player can quit a puzzle at no cost and try another, though certain puzzles are mandatory to progress. Once a puzzle is completed, the player may retry it at any time via the game's menu.

As a reward for completing a puzzle, the player may earn one of three rewards: machine parts known as "gizmos", furniture, or portrait pieces, to be used in their respective minigames accessible through the professor's trunk. Gizmos can be attached to assemble a robotic dog with the ability to sniff out hidden hint coins and puzzles. Pieces of furniture can be placed within Layton's and Luke's rooms at the local inn, arranging them in such a way as to make both of them completely happy with their rooms. Pieces of a portrait are assembled like a jigsaw puzzle, revealing a picture once fully assembled. By completing all 120 puzzles in the main game and each of these three minigames, the player can access up to 15 bonus puzzles from the main menu. The game is also compatible with Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, which allows players to connect to the internet and unlock over 25 new puzzles in the game. The first unlockable puzzle was made available on the day of the game's release, and new puzzles were released weekly for half a year, every Sunday. After 20 May 2014, it will not possible to download the additional content, as the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service will be terminated on that date.

Also found within the bonus features is a "Hidden Door", which can be opened by inputting a code found in a similar menu within the sequel, *Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box*. After opening, the door can be clicked to reveal concept art of various characters within the game.

A playable demo of *The Curious Village* is available on its official website.

## Development

Chiba University Professor Akira Tago supervised direction on the game's development, with Level-5 President and CEO Akihiro Hino serving as producer. The game features animated cutscenes produced by P.A. Works.

*Layton's* creation was a direct result of Hino's childhood love of Tago's *Head Gymnastics* series of puzzle books, which have sold more than 12 million copies to date in Japan. The game makes use of many puzzles from Tago's books, all of which have been modified to support the DS stylus and touchscreen. Tago also contributed 30 brand new puzzles to the game, developed specifically with the unique capabilities of the Nintendo DS in mind.