Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy is the sixth main title in the Layton series, and the gameplay in the series has not changed all that much. There is an overall story to each game, with the main goal to explore the surroundings and solve various puzzles that are presented to the player.
Exploration
Professor Layton and his apprentice, Luke Triton, go from area to area (and to different places in this game) to search for clues pertaining to the storyline. While exploring, which is done using the touchscreen, the player can talk to other characters and search the environments for more puzzles, as well as find Hint Coins for puzzles.
Puzzles
The main draw of the game is the various puzzles the player encounters while exploring. By talking to NPCs and investigating objects in the game's world, the player will trigger the start of numerous puzzles (there are at least 150 in the main game).
When players are presented with a puzzle, they will be shown the number of Picarats they will be rewarded for solving it. This is the game's currency and the number shown is the maximum one can get for each puzzle, which is lowered for each time the player fails at solving the puzzle (there is a minimum amount it won't go lower than).
To progress further into the game, the player will need to either solve specific puzzles, solve a minimum number of them or win a minimum number of Picarats from solved puzzles. Sometimes, the player is unable to solve a puzzle or will miss one, progressing past the point where they can access them. If this happens, the unsolved/unfounded puzzles will be placed in Granny Riddleton's shack, where the player can access them at any time.
Hint Coins
Puzzles within the game are not timed, but the player can use Hint Coins that can be found during the adventure portion of the game to provide hints on how to solve a particular puzzle (they start with 10 for the entirety of the game). Note that the player can only use up to three hints per puzzle, requiring one Hint Coin each, as well as a super hint that requires the other three hints to be revealed and requires two Hint Coins.
Online Features
As with previous games in the series, Azran Legacy offers downloadable quests via the game's SpotPass feature. This adds another 365 puzzles to the game, accessible as Daily Quests that will continually be added over the course of a year after the game's release.
Another online feature comes in the form of items you can find throughout your adventure. Once you find three, you will be able to create a Treasure Hunt challenge. This challenge can be sent to other players via StreetPass.
