Picarats are a built-in scoring system in all games of the Professor Layton series. They are acquired by solving puzzles, with harder puzzles generally rewarding a larger amount of picarats. Downloadable puzzles do not reward the player with any picarats. If you enter the wrong answer on a puzzle, the amount of picarats you can get decreases by at least 10%. For example: if the puzzle is worth 30 picarats, you will lose at least 3 picarats for a wrong answer. On multiple-choice puzzles with only 2 or 3 answers, however, they could possibly decrease by up to 80%, so it is best not to guess the answer. The decrease will only happen the first 2 times (or 4 times in Millionaires' Conspiracy), meaning the player will always be rewarded some amount for solving a puzzle that awards them.
In Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, picarats are also awarded at the end of each trial. The amount depends on how many penalties you received during the trial.
Picarats, despite seeming trivial and unimportant, are actually necessary to unlock content in the Top Secret section of the Bonuses feature of the game, such as character profiles and game music. This encourages the player to try and solve as many puzzles as they can, and are encouraged to really think them through and get the answer right on the first try. In most games, however, it is not required to get the maximum amount of picarats to unlock all bonus content.
Picarat Totals[]
The total amount of picarats that can be acquired in each game is as follows:
Game | Max. Picarats | Min. Needed* |
---|---|---|
Professor Layton and the Curious Village | 5312 (US) 5302 (UK) |
3500 |
Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box | 5500 | 4500 |
Professor Layton and the Unwound Future | 6000 | 5200 |
Professor Layton and the Last Specter | 7000 | 5500 |
Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask | 6000 | 5500 |
Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy | 6000 | 5000 |
Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney | 5000 | |
Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaires' Conspiracy | 7770 |
Game Manual[]
Professor Layton and the Curious Village[]
"Picarats are a unit of value that indicate the difficulty of a puzzle. Collect enough picarats, and I do believe you might be rewarded for your efforts!"
Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box[]
"Picarats, dear reader, are a unit of value that shows the difficulty of a puzzle. When you collect enough picarats, I’ve heard delightful things can happen."
Professor Layton and the Unwound Future[]
"Well, you see, picarats are units that measure the difficulty of a puzzle. Rumor has it wonderful things can happen when you collect enough picarats."
Professor Layton and the Last Specter[]
"Picarats are units that tell you how difficult a puzzle is. When you solve a puzzle, you will collect the picarat value of that puzzle. Collect as many picarats as you can to unlock extra content in the Top Secret section in Bonuses."
Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask []
"Picarats are units that tell you how difficult a puzzle is. When you solve a puzzle, you receive the number of picarats that was displayed on the introductory screen. Collect as many picarats as you can to boost your total and unlock extra content in the Top Secret section in Bonuses"