PROFESSOR Layton and the Curious Village features a great mix of puzzles and adventure, and is exactly the type of game the Nintendo DS was made for.

The player controls the titular Prof. Layton and his side-kick Luke as they travel around the village of St Mystere on the hunt for treasure, becoming embroiled in other mysteries along the way.

The main element of the game is its puzzles and there are brain-teasers to suit every mind, from mathematical formulas and shapes to riddles and lateral thinking.

The puzzles are of a similar mould to those found in other 'brain training' games on the DS, and their great variety really helps things remain interesting and fresh- you never know what is coming up next.

For example, one minute you might be trying to get a group of wolves and chickens safely across a river, whilst the next trying to spot how many hidden traingles there are in a picture, and after that faced with an equation to work out how many sweets a little boy has.

And whilst they can sometimes be very tricky the puzzles always seem fair, although the hint system (for which the player has to pay coins found throughout the village to access) could have been more helpful.

The great thing about the game is the way story and exploration elements really help keep the puzzles interesting, as apart from the immense satisfaction of cracking them, you get the reward of driving the tale forward and accessing new areas of the village.

This, combined with beautiful graphics and animations, makes Professor Layton and the Curious Village a game worthy of any collection, and with around 120 puzzles included in its story mode, makes it good value for money too.


bucksherald.co.uk rating: 8/10

availability: out now.

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