1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.