The Professor is accompanied by his apprentice, Luke Triton, a cheerful and curious boy who brings a touch of humor to the story of Layton.

Both Curious Village and Diabolical Box were afforded a "Friendly Version", in which all weekly puzzles were unlocked and furigana, absent in the first two instalments, added.

A release of Curious Village was produced for feature phones, while Diabolical Box was also included in the "Level-5 Premium Silver" and "Gold" collections on Nintendo DS alongside another Level-5 game, Inazuma Eleven.

Miracle Mask later received a "Plus" edition, featuring exclusive puzzles, game events and cutscenes in addition to mechanical improvements already seen in the international releases.

[18] Internationally, Millionaires' Conspiracy was rereleased as an enhanced Nintendo Switch port boasting new puzzles, exclusive costumes, and all previous DLC.

Several mobile games were made available in Japan,[21] including a crossover with Kaitō Royale, but have since become unavailable after their distribution services were closed.

Hino confirmed plans for another entry under the Mystery Journey banner prior to the release of Millionaires' Conspiracy,[22] later suggesting that a game starring the Professor and based on his arc in the anime series would be the franchise's next installment.

[23] In February 2023, a Switch-bound game titled Professor Layton and The New World of Steam was announced in a Nintendo Direct presentation.

[24] The games employ an integrated structure of adventure-style exploration, dialogue sequences, and regular story-prompted puzzle solving.

Often, when interacting with a person or object, the player will be presented with a puzzle, valued at a certain number of "picarats", a type of point system within the game.

The puzzles take the form of brain teasers, most of which are only loosely tied to the plot, developed for the first six games under the oversight of Akira Tago, famous for his best-selling Mental Gymnastics series.

The series and its protagonists are based in and around an anachronistic contemporary London inspired by the 1960s, where antiquated technologies and vintage designs are still dominant.

As part of the "second series" of the franchise, a feature-length anime film directed by Masakazu Hashimoto, titled Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva, was released in Japanese theaters on December 19, 2009.

Manga Entertainment released a full English dub of the film on home video in the United Kingdom on October 18, 2010, which Viz Media republished in North America on November 8, 2011.

[43] Humour manga intended for child audiences was serialized beginning in February 2008 in the special edition of Bessatsu CoroCoro Comic.

The Layton series has been the subject of several playable experiences and live events, featuring standalone scenarios involving characters such as the Professor and Katrielle.

[62] Nintendo Power listed series mascot Professor Layton as their 10th favorite hero, citing his use of brains over brawn.

[63] The series went on to become one of the most successful Nintendo DS exclusive series, with the lifetime cumulative sales of the first four Professor Layton games standing at 10 million units sold in October 2010,[64] and 11.47 million unit sales worldwide for the franchise ahead of the release of Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask in February 2011.