Brain Track: Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box

A follow-up to the previous post: As part of my preparation for a three workshop on "Thinking Clearly and Analytically" I pushed to work through both of the "Professor Layton" games for the Nintendo DS system. They are very similar, ten mysteries that the "Professor" and his assistant Luke solve as part of a larger "story." As noted in the previous post, the games in this series can provide over 20 hours of play time -- and there are more than 100 puzzles available.

The puzzles, in their variety and wide range of difficulty, are the strength of this game. In a few cases, the same puzzle is provided two or three times in progressively more complicated versions -- very good progressive "practice" for logical thinking. Also as noted, the fact that as a player you can't easily turn to the back of the book for the answers is a good trait.

I thought the the "Diabolical Box" version of Professor Layton was a bit harder than "Curious Village," although my total play time, puzzles solved, picarets earned, etc. were very similar. But because of the multiple locations of the "Diabolical Box" mystery, compared to the single location of the "Village" I found myself just wondering around at times. On the other hand, the first half of "Diabolical Box" takes place on a luxurious train which was certainly delightful for me.