Puzzle 005 is Robot Factory, the toy-robot puzzle at Guy's stall in Knickknack Alley. It's a 35-picarat Arrange puzzle in Chapter 1, and it's part of the story: Guy stops Emmy and the Professor as they try to walk past his toy shop. A toy robot comes in four parts (head, body, arms and legs), and there are four yellow boxes. You drop one part into each box, turning parts if you like, then touch Submit and a machine builds the robot. The catch is that the game doesn't tell you in what order the boxes are used or what happens to each part on the way. The hints below open one at a time, and the answer stays hidden until you choose to show it.
This page covers story Puzzle 005 in Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask on Nintendo 3DS, using the North American text, with pictures rebuilt from the game's own art. The UK English version has the same puzzle and the same answer, with a different name for the toy seller and slightly different wording. If you're after Daily Puzzle 005 or Puzzle 5 from another Layton game, see Wrong Puzzle 005? below.
What Puzzle 005 is
| Name | Robot Factory (the same in the US and UK English versions) |
|---|---|
| Type | Arrange |
| Picarats | 35 |
| Location | Knickknack Alley (Knick-Knack Alley in the UK), Monte d'Or |
| Chapter | Chapter 1 |
| Given by | Guy, the toy seller (Jean-Paul in the UK version) |
| Solved by | Emmy |
| Is it mandatory? | Yes. It's part of the Chapter 1 story |
| Reward | The toy robot, which opens the Toy Robot minigame in the Professor's trunk |
| Hints | Three hints and a Super Hint |
| Previous / next puzzle | 004 Bumper Perspective (also in Knickknack Alley) / 006 Bunny-Hop Swap (Ledore Parlor) |
The puzzle's own text sets it up as a factory machine: each part goes into one of the four yellow boxes, and when you touch Submit the machinery puts the robot together. You can move the parts and rotate them. What you can't see is how the machine uses the boxes, and that's the whole puzzle. The game's first hint tells you to find out by experimenting, and a wrong build doesn't seem to cost you anything.
Robot Factory in other languages
The US and UK English versions both call it Robot Factory. The UK English text differs in places, though: the toy seller is Jean-Paul instead of Guy, and some lines are worded differently, for example the third hint talks about the robot's body where the North American text says chest. The answer is the same in the US and UK English versions.
| Version | Puzzle name |
|---|---|
| English (US and UK) | Robot Factory |
| German | Robo-Baukasten |
| French | Robomathon |
| Italian | La fabbrica dei robot |
| Japanese | ロボット工場 (Robotto Kōjō, "robot factory") |
Wrong Puzzle 005?
- Daily Puzzle 005 in Miracle Mask is a separate puzzle: it belongs to the Pen Pals / Zoo set and is unrelated to Robot Factory.
- The robot courses you play later in the Professor's trunk, starting with the Abandoned Lab, are a minigame, not Puzzle 005. This puzzle is what unlocks them.
- Puzzle 5 in another Layton game is a different puzzle. If yours has no toy robot and no yellow boxes, you're in the wrong game.
Where you get it
Puzzle 005 is in Knickknack Alley, the street of market stalls in Monte d'Or, early in Chapter 1. As Emmy and the Professor head down the alley, Guy calls out to stop them: "You think you can just waltz right past my toy shop?!" He's been saving a puzzle for "a woman with chestnut hair", so Emmy takes it on.
It's a mandatory story puzzle. If you quit, Guy says he can't blame you for refusing "a puzzle from a humble toy seller", but when you talk to him again he begs you to stay and try again. The puzzle stays waiting for you until it's solved, and you need to solve it to get the robot.
The other puzzle in this street, 004 Bumper Perspective, is a hidden puzzle, and Knickknack Alley also has six hint coins to find. Guy comes back with more puzzles later in the story: 033 Chained Circle in Chapter 3 and 109 Fishy Triangle in Chapter 7.
Box numbers used on this page
The hints and the answer count the yellow boxes from the left: box 1 is the leftmost and box 4 is the rightmost. The parts are the head, body, arms and legs, sitting on the shelf in that order. "The right way up" means each part as it looks on the shelf at the start.
Hints, one at a time
These follow the game's own hints, in the same order, with a little more explanation. Open only the next one you need. In the game, Hints 1 to 3 cost one hint coin each and the Super Hint costs two.
Hint 1: try it first
You don't need to think hard here: trial and error works. Put the parts into any boxes, touch Submit, and watch the parts fall into the machine one at a time.
Keep an eye on two things. Which box's part comes down first, second, third and last? And does a part land the same way up as it was in its box, or does the box turn it?
Hint 2: the building order
After a test run or two you should know the order in which the machine empties the boxes. It's always the same.
A robot has to be built from the bottom up: legs first, then the body, then the arms, then the head. So put each part into the box that drops at the right moment for it. Don't worry about turning anything yet.
Hint 3: one part placed
Here's part of the solution: the body goes in the rightmost box, box 4, turned upside down.
Why upside down? Think about what box 4 did to its part during your test run.
Super Hint: three parts placed
From left to right, the boxes hold the arms, the legs, the head and the body.
The legs don't need turning: they go in the right way up. Now work out which way to turn the arms and the head. Boxes 1, 3 and 4 turn their part on the way down (box 2 doesn't), so turn each of those parts the opposite way first.
Answer and full solution
The answer below covers every box, with pictures of the machine and of the finished robot. Open it when you're ready.
Show the answer
The answer, from left to right, is arms, legs, head, body. Turn the arms a quarter turn clockwise, leave the legs as they are, turn the head a quarter turn counterclockwise and turn the body upside down, then touch Submit.
| Box | Part | How to put it in | When it drops |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (left) | Arms | Quarter turn clockwise: the rod that joins the arms is on the right, the red hands point left | 3rd |
| 2 | Legs | The right way up, feet at the bottom | 1st |
| 3 | Head | Quarter turn counterclockwise: the striped vents are on the left, the two eyes one above the other | 4th |
| 4 (right) | Body | Upside down: the gauge at the bottom | 2nd |
How the machine works. The boxes always empty in the same order: box 2 first, then box 4, then box 1, and box 3 last. Three of the boxes also turn their part as it falls. Box 2 doesn't turn anything, box 4 flips its part over, box 1 gives its part a quarter turn counterclockwise and box 3 gives its part a quarter turn clockwise. To get an upright robot, the parts in boxes 1, 3 and 4 have to go in turned the opposite way.
Step by step:
- Legs into box 2, the right way up. Box 2 drops first and doesn't turn its part, so the legs land as the base.
- Body into box 4, upside down, with the gauge at the bottom. Box 4 drops second and flips the body back over onto the legs.
- Arms into box 1, turned a quarter turn clockwise, so the joining rod is on the right and the hands point left. Box 1 drops third and turns the arms back, so they land on the shoulders.
- Head into box 3, turned a quarter turn counterclockwise, so the vents are on the left and the eyes are stacked. Box 3 drops last and turns the head upright on top.
- Touch Submit. The shutter comes down, the parts drop in the order legs, body, arms, head, and the robot stands up in one piece.
If your robot keeps coming out wrong:
- You read the drop order as left to right. The numbers 2, 4, 1, 3 are the order the boxes empty, not the order of parts on screen. On screen, the parts go arms, legs, head, body.
- You swapped the arms and the head. That means the head in box 1 and the arms in box 3. The game's Super Hint puts the arms first from the left and the head third, and that's the layout that works.
- You turned the arms or the head the wrong way. Check the result, not the direction: the arms' rod should be on the right and the head's vents on the left before you submit.
- The body is the right way up. It has to go in upside down, gauge at the bottom, because box 4 flips it.
Picarats, hints and hint coins
Robot Factory is worth 35 picarats. Hints cost hint coins, not picarats: each of the first three hints costs one coin and the Super Hint costs two, so opening all four costs five coins.
A wrong build also doesn't seem to count as a normal wrong answer: the parts fall back out of the machine and the boxes open again so you can have another go. That makes the test run from Hint 1 a safe way to learn how the machine works. If you're out of coins, the hints on this page are free.
What you get: the Toy Robot minigame
After the puzzle Guy hands over the toy robot, and the game adds it to the Professor's trunk. In each course you guide the robot to the goal; it moves three steps at a time, and you have to land it exactly on the goal. The first course is the Abandoned Lab.
More courses come from later story puzzles. Courses 2 to 9 unlock after Puzzles 015, 029, 058, 067, 075, 082, 108 and 130.
Versions and systems
- Nintendo 3DS, 3DS XL, 2DS and New 3DS: the puzzle's solution is the same on every 3DS model. It uses the touch screen, with no motion controls.
- US and UK English versions: same machine, same parts, same answer. The toy seller is Guy in the US version and Jean-Paul in the UK version, and some of the puzzle text is worded differently.
- Japanese Miracle Mask Plus: this puzzle appears to be unchanged.
- Other systems: Miracle Mask is a 3DS game. As of October 2026 there's no Switch, mobile or PC version of it.
Guy and the toy stall (story spoiler)
Spoiler warning: this section covers the scene around the puzzle. Guy runs a toy stall in Knickknack Alley and likes to talk about himself in the third person: "You want it? Guy's got it!" He stops the Professor's group, says he has a puzzle set aside for a woman with chestnut hair, and Emmy takes it on. Once she builds the robot, he gives it to her. The Professor's journal files the scene under "Guy and the Con Artists", and Guy turns up at his stall again later in the story with new puzzles. Talk to him after the puzzle and he's still smitten with Emmy: "Ah, my sweet goddess! Just seeing you fills my body with a dance!"
FAQ
Where is the answer to Puzzle 005?
It's in the Answer and full solution section above, hidden until you open it. If you only want a push, open the hints one at a time first.
What is Puzzle 005 called?
Robot Factory, in both the US and UK English versions. In Japanese it's ロボット工場.
Who gives you Puzzle 005, Guy or Jean-Paul?
The same toy seller. He's Guy in the US version and Jean-Paul in the UK English version.
Can you skip Puzzle 005?
It doesn't look like it. It's a mandatory part of the Chapter 1 story. If you back out, Guy asks you to try again the next time you talk to him, so it stays waiting until it's solved.
Why does my robot come out in a jumble?
The machine doesn't use the boxes from left to right, and it turns the parts as they fall. Hint 1 explains how to find out what each box does with one test run.
How many picarats is Puzzle 005 worth?
Worth 35 picarats.
What does Puzzle 005 unlock?
The toy robot. It opens the Toy Robot minigame in the Professor's trunk, starting with the Abandoned Lab course.
Is Daily Puzzle 005 the same as Puzzle 005?
No. Daily Puzzle 005 belongs to the Pen Pals / Zoo set and is unrelated to Robot Factory.
More Miracle Mask puzzles
- Puzzle 001: Stumble's Balloons
- Puzzle 002: Where's Mother?
- Puzzle 003: Stumble's Banners
- Puzzle 004: Bumper Perspective
- Puzzle 60: Dangerous Holes
- Puzzle 100: Gate to the Ruins!
- Puzzle 113: Chip Champions
- Puzzle 118: Evenly Matched 3
- Puzzle 122: Kitty Solitaire 3
For the rest of the game's puzzles, see the Miracle Mask puzzle index.