A new video game released on the Nintendo DS game system called "Professor Layton and the Curious Village" is both entertaining and promotes Critical thinking and logic. The game's plot revolves around Professor Layton and his young apprentice who are hired by a rich widow to solve a mystery left in the will of her late husband.

The Game focuses on solving a series of word, logic and math puzzles while you wander around a small fictional village called St-Mystere. The various puzzles will test your attention to detail, analytical thinking and spatial reasoning. What I found particularly interesting about this game is that after you solve puzzles Professor Layton will commend you, critiques your technique and offer up advice on easier ways to solve the puzzle.

I don't want to turn this into a game review but thought that this effort to make an entertaining and informative game should be recognized. I know that there have been games that have been challenging and thought provoking but none have been as in your face about critical thinking as this game. For example, the lead characters catch phrase is "Critical thinking is the key to success!" I agree.