Professor Layton and the Curious Village is the first in a story-driven series of puzzle games. Containing puzzles that are similar to games like Brain Age, Professor Layton sets itself apart by progressing an interesting story every time you complete a puzzle. In between solving interesting and generally entertaining puzzles, Professor Layton contains an adventure game element that reminds me of the old movie Clue; plenty of suspicious characters, a dead man with lots of money, and an inheritance at stake. The result is compelling, and a worthy title that I would personally take over other big names like Brain Age or Big Brain Academy. While these titles boil the puzzle game down to its essence - puzzles - and nothing else, Professor Layton mixes that purity with a plot and presentation that is genuinely interesting, and simply leaves the others behind.