Professor Layton And The Curious Village

Ive had this from usa for months now and its the best puzzle game available.
You play as a detective and his apprentice that get summoned to a strange village to solve a murder and find a hidden treasure. The puzzles are varied, you do get a couple of puzzles that have level 1 to 4 but there are well over a hundred different kinds. They range from finding the quickest way someones house avoiding certain places to using logic to find which one of 4 statements is false.
There are also sub games/themes like collecting clues that help to solve the mystery.
There is no other game like this on the market, its completely different to all other puzzles games out. Its NOT for kids though, some of the puzzles will drive you mad and the difficulty of them wont keep a childs attention.
To help with the puzzle solving you can collect help coins that are hidden in the games background around town. If you get stuck use a coin and the game gives you a tip, up to 3 then after that… more »

Ive had this from usa for months now and its the best puzzle game available.
You play as a detective and his apprentice that get summoned to a strange village to solve a murder and find a hidden treasure. The puzzles are varied, you do get a couple of puzzles that have level 1 to 4 but there are well over a hundred different kinds. They range from finding the quickest way someones house avoiding certain places to using logic to find which one of 4 statements is false.
There are also sub games/themes like collecting clues that help to solve the mystery.
There is no other game like this on the market, its completely different to all other puzzles games out. Its NOT for kids though, some of the puzzles will drive you mad and the difficulty of them wont keep a childs attention.
To help with the puzzle solving you can collect help coins that are hidden in the games background around town. If you get stuck use a coin and the game gives you a tip, up to 3 then after that you have to figure it out for yourself! If you run short of coins you can cheat by using all your coins on a hard puzzle, solve it, DONT save the game then go straight back the puzzle you know the answer to but dont use any coins!
If you like puzzle games you'll love this!

Professor layton & the curious village is the most fab game ever! I didn't pre-order one - foolishly - so i eventually ordered my copy from the us (as it was either sold out everywhere, or rediculously over-priced), and i eagerly awaited it's arrival. It came yesterday and i excitedly took it out of it's packaging and got playing.... Two hours later i was still playing on it and i was hooked!! It's a quirky little game with an on-going storyline that leads you into the game really well. I soon discovered that clicking on everything helps to find you many bonus items, such as extra coins you can buy hints for the puzzles with. The puzzles themselves are excellent, and some are very hard to do. There was one that was really hard, but it had to be completed before you could go on to the next area of the village, so it took me ages to do it. All the puzzles really make you think - it's better than any other "brain training" type game i've played. I can't wait to pick up my ds again… more »

Professor layton & the curious village is the most fab game ever! I didn't pre-order one - foolishly - so i eventually ordered my copy from the us (as it was either sold out everywhere, or rediculously over-priced), and i eagerly awaited it's arrival. It came yesterday and i excitedly took it out of it's packaging and got playing.... Two hours later i was still playing on it and i was hooked!! It's a quirky little game with an on-going storyline that leads you into the game really well. I soon discovered that clicking on everything helps to find you many bonus items, such as extra coins you can buy hints for the puzzles with. The puzzles themselves are excellent, and some are very hard to do. There was one that was really hard, but it had to be completed before you could go on to the next area of the village, so it took me ages to do it. All the puzzles really make you think - it's better than any other "brain training" type game i've played. I can't wait to pick up my ds again tonight and transport myself back inside the curious village for a few more hours! This game is a must have, and was well worth waiting for!!!!! *****

Okay, if you are like me and you have Dr. Kawashima and have had a brain age of twenty for the past six months. No matter what the doc throws at you know exactly what to do hence why your brain age still doesn't budge. Your brain still remains as sharp as Bowser's spikes & you have long tired of shouting words (sometimes rude) at Dr. Kawashima's head & getting a reaction, if so, then you too will find this little gem of a game very exciting indeed!! I found the Dr. Kawashima games to look a little too sterile, and look more like an extra dose of homework rather than a game; if you too felt like this then I recommend giving this a try.

Enter the wondrous mystery of Professor Layton And The Curious Village, a series of mind-bending logic puzzles wrapped up in a surprisingly & beautifully presented story that is full of memorable characters, twists & turns & sprinkled with a healthy dose of gorgeous charm & wit! As Hershel Layton arrives in the mere little hamlet of St. Mystere… more »

Okay, if you are like me and you have Dr. Kawashima and have had a brain age of twenty for the past six months. No matter what the doc throws at you know exactly what to do hence why your brain age still doesn't budge. Your brain still remains as sharp as Bowser's spikes & you have long tired of shouting words (sometimes rude) at Dr. Kawashima's head & getting a reaction, if so, then you too will find this little gem of a game very exciting indeed!! I found the Dr. Kawashima games to look a little too sterile, and look more like an extra dose of homework rather than a game; if you too felt like this then I recommend giving this a try.

Enter the wondrous mystery of Professor Layton And The Curious Village, a series of mind-bending logic puzzles wrapped up in a surprisingly & beautifully presented story that is full of memorable characters, twists & turns & sprinkled with a healthy dose of gorgeous charm & wit! As Hershel Layton arrives in the mere little hamlet of St. Mystere (with his young apprentice, Luke), the first thing you'll notice is the games unique look.

The story begins with Hershel determined to solve the mystery of a local inheritance dispute. The baron of the village, on Augustus Reinhold has passed away and has left his whole estate to whoever can find his hidden family treasure, the Golden Apple. As you might have guessed this task turns out to be far from straightforward, and the professor and his curiously accented sidekick have to solve a series of brainteasers barked out by the strange villagers encounter while you try and solve this equally unusual mystery...

In the beginning the puzzles don't seem to have any correlation with the story whatsoever & this is really annoying, but (trust me) the game is one step ahead of you. Firstly, it brushes aside such criticism by mocking itself for the way the riddles seem out of place. Secondly when you reach the end of the game, you'll realise that this isn't actually the case. A genuinely breath-snatching twist revels that the entire thing made sense all along. I am not lying when I say that it is up there with the all-time great surprises, and the game is almost worth playing for that jaw-dropping moment alone!

Yet the bulk of the game is in the logic problems, there are well over a hundred to solve (or attempt to solve, like me in the beginning). Most of these require lateral thinking rather than needing any mathematical knowledge- there are some that appear to involve trigonometry, however after a good look they are far simpler then they first appear. The key (believe it or not) is the clever wording of the question- you'll often find yourself missing a vital word in the text, which gives you a major clue! In short if you find yourself aimed at a sea of calculations, you've gone wrong! Most puzzles offer hints, the first a little nudge in the correct direction.

Overall I love & it is a surprise smash hit. This game is one of the best the Ds has to offer! Although some puzzles repeat each other it is the way the game mixes them up by throwing in visual mind-benders & then introducing screen-based challenges, where you have to manipulate shapes, or shift blocks to move a trapped ball to an exit, the list goes on, & so could I. I highly recommend it; it beats the two Dr. Kawashima's by a country mile!

Pros:
+ Satisfying, yet tough puzzles *(Many are too difficult for a child)*.
+ Gorgeous art style.
+ Plenty of content.
+ Dazzling storyline.

Cons:
- "7+" is a too low for the recommended age (Some puzzles would be just too challenging for anyone under 12)

Overall: 10/10
Graphics: 10/10
Puzzles: 10/10 (Brilliantly thought out)
Storyline: 10/10 (Keep playing until the end)