Professor Layton

Professor Layton is a puzzle video game series for the Nintendo DS developed by Nintendo and Level-5.Each title is based in a series of puzzles and mysteries given by the citizens of towns that the main characters visit. It is not necessary to solve all the puzzles to progress, but some are mandatory and at certain points in the game a minimum number of puzzles must be solved

before the story will continue.

Gameplay

The puzzles take the form of brain teasers and are only loosely tied to the plot. All puzzles were created for this series by Akira Tago, who is famous for his best-selling Mental Gymnastics series. They take the forms of math problems, logic puzzles, mazes, sliding-block puzzles, and brain teasers. The games give the player the opportunity to bring up a translucent memo screen they can write on using the stylus to work out their answer before submission. If the player is stuck, they

may spend one hint coin to receive a hint. Each puzzle has three hints available, and within The Unwound Future, the game introduces

"super hints" that nearly solve the puzzle for the player but which can only be bought with two hint coins and after the three other hints have been revealed. The puzzles are not timed, though for puzzles such as mazes or sliding blocks, the player may be challenged to complete the

puzzle in a limited number of moves.

GUI or not GUI

I have broken down some example puzzles and categorised them as requiring a GUI or not. The ones without a GUI would just require content creation (artwork and sound) and could use a

generic interface for display and answer retrieval. Some of the more complex puzzles

would require a complex GUI for player interaction.

Connect A Path – The player needs to draw a path – GUI

Pattern Matching – Some GUI

Illusion – No GUI

Setup a scenario – No GUI

Repetition and Maths – No GUI

Permutations – GUI

Spatial – Some GUI

Equations – No GUI

Trig – No GUI

General Knowledge – No GUI

Puzzle Manipulation - GUI