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Professor Layton and the Curious Village
(by Caleb Rumley - August 27, 2008)
Imagine a digital clock – your standard, four-digit clock. How many times will the clock display three or more of the same number in a row (i.e. 3:33 PM) over the course of one day? In case you were wondering, the clock in this puzzle displays time on a 12-hour scale, not on military time.
Don’t worry, you’re still on the Editorials page and not in the Puzzle section. Professor Layton and the Curious Village presents you with tons of brain-bending puzzles like the one above, Digital Digits. Get out a pencil and paper and try it (I’m including the answer at the end of the column).
Professor and his sidekick, Luke, are heading to a curious village to try and uncover some mysteries about its heritage. But after just one day in the village, a man mysteriously disappears – murdered! It’s up to them to crack the case (and solve over 100 puzzles along the way).
The game is played entirely through the touch screen and stylus. It’s similar to old-school adventure games like Museum Madness and Grim Fandango. The point and click nature of the game works perfectly on the DS, and talking to people usually opens up a new puzzle to solve.
Like the time digit puzzle, many require intense logical thinking and even some math skills. Solving puzzles earns you unlockables, which often have to be put together or manipulated in yet another puzzle. Obviously, if you’re seeking a high-intensity thrill ride of a video game, Professor Layton is not for you. But if you turn to the Crossword every week, then you would probably enjoy Professor Layton’s laid back gameplay and excellent brain twisters.
Professor Layton lets you get hints on the tougher puzzles, but you have to give up Puzzle Tokens for every hint. Because you can only use so many hints before you run out of Tokens, you’re encouraged to struggle through some of the puzzles and solve them without hints. While the puzzles often seem impossible, there’s always a solution if you work hard enough. For the digital clock puzzle, it took me over 20 minutes, pencil and paper, and a will of steel to finally submit the right answer.
Have you figured out Digital Digits yet? Here’s a quick hint: you have to double your answers to account for A.M. and P.M. Keep at it in the margins of the newspaper, and make sure not to overlook any combinations of three numbers in a row (have you written down 11:12?)
Professor Layton is a pretty simple game – you explore a weird village, talk to people, and solve brain teasers and complete puzzles. The puzzles range from simple to difficult and a game like Layton is perfect for family play. It’s an enjoyable experience, and is easily missed by “hardcore” DS fans. Give it a shot, because you just might like it.
Professor Layton and the Curious Village gets a 7.5 out of 10. Did you complete Digital Digits yet? Believe it or not, there are 34 different times in the day when the same three digits are displayed consecutively.
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