Puzzle 028 is Bunny-Hop Swap 2, a 30-picarat hidden puzzle in Layton's hotel room in Monte d'Or, in Chapter 3. Eight white toy rabbits sit on a four-by-four board. A rabbit moves by jumping over other rabbits, and every rabbit it jumps over changes color. Your job is to turn all eight brown. When you finish, the game tells you it can be done in six moves.
This page covers story Puzzle 028 in Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask on Nintendo 3DS, in the US and UK English versions. If you're after Daily Puzzle 028, the first or third Bunny-Hop Swap, or Puzzle 028 from another Layton game, see Wrong Puzzle 028? below.
What Puzzle 028 is
| Name | Bunny-Hop Swap 2 |
|---|---|
| Type | Solitaire |
| Picarats | 30 |
| Location | Layton's Room, the hotel in Monte d'Or |
| Chapter | Chapter 3 |
| How you start it | Hidden: tap the rightmost pillow |
| Required? | No, it's an optional hidden puzzle |
| Comes after | Puzzle 027, That Rings a Bell |
| Comes before | Puzzle 029, Tenth-Round Ace |
The puzzle opens with "Those rabbit toys are raring to go again!" and gives three rules: "1. The rabbits can only move by jumping horizontally, diagonally, or vertically over other rabbits. 2. They can jump over any number of rabbits at once. 3. A white rabbit will turn brown when jumped over, and vice versa." Then it asks, "Can you make all the rabbits here turn brown, following the rules given above?" The objective bar says "Turn all the rabbits brown!"
At the start, all eight rabbits are white. They fill squares 1, 2, 5, 7, 10, 12, 15 and 16 on the grid below, and the other eight squares are empty. A jump always lands on the first empty square past the rabbits it goes over, and it must go over at least one rabbit. The rabbit that jumps keeps its own color. Only the rabbits it jumps over change.
This page numbers the squares 1 to 16, reading left to right along each row, starting at the top left. To move a rabbit, the game says to "Touch and hold a rabbit on the Touch Screen to highlight all the squares it can hop to," then slide it to a green square. A counter on the signboard on the top screen counts your jumps, and you can undo a jump or start the board over at any time.
Puzzle names
The puzzle is called Bunny-Hop Swap 2 in the North American version. The board and the answer are the same in the US and UK English versions. One wording difference: the UK message at the end says "6 moves" in figures.
| Version | Puzzle name |
|---|---|
| North America | Bunny-Hop Swap 2 |
| Japanese | 白黒ウサギ2 (Shirokuro Usagi 2, "black and white rabbits 2") |
The Japanese title is 白黒ウサギ2. The North American version carries a different Japanese label for it, 猫のオセロ２.
Wrong Puzzle 028?
- Daily Puzzle 028 in Miracle Mask is a different puzzle: Food Chain 03. There's no rabbit board in it.
- Puzzle 006, Bunny-Hop Swap, is the first puzzle in this set: twelve rabbits, hidden in Ledore Parlor in Chapter 1, 20 picarats. See Puzzle 006.
- Puzzle 074, Bunny-Hop Swap 3, is the third, hidden at the Racetrack and worth 40 picarats. The starting board is different, so this page's jumps won't work there.
- Puzzle 028 in another Layton game is a different puzzle. If yours doesn't show eight toy rabbits on a four-by-four board, you're in the wrong game.
Where you get it
Bunny-Hop Swap 2 is a hidden puzzle. Nobody hands it to you, and you won't see it unless you tap the right spot. It's in Layton's Room, the room at the hotel in Monte d'Or, in Chapter 3. It's there on the morning Chapter 3 opens, when you're back in the room: tap the rightmost pillow. This isn't Hershel's Room from the flashback chapters. It's the hotel room.
When you find it, Layton says, "This is a pleasant surprise. A hidden puzzle!" If you quit, he says, "I can always come back to it later."
You don't have to solve it. It isn't needed to move the story on, and it probably gives no separate item or minigame reward.
Layton's Room has three hint coins: on the lamp at the back, on the book on the desk and on the round picture. Three coins pay for the first three hints but not the Super Hint, which costs two.
Why "six moves" and the game's hints disagree
When you solve it, the game says, "Correct! You can solve this puzzle in six moves. How many moves did you use?" But the route in the game's own hints isn't six moves. Hints 2 and 3 and the Super Hint add up to a ten-jump line. Both routes are correct, and any number of jumps solves the puzzle. Six is just the shortest.
The hints on this page follow the game's hints at the start, then steer toward the six-jump route. The answer shows the six jumps, and the ten-jump route from the game's hints as well, in case you've already started down that line.
When the rabbits won't all turn brown
- You keep jumping brown rabbits. A brown rabbit you jump over turns white again. Every wasted jump over a brown rabbit costs you an extra jump later.
- You only jump one rabbit at a time. Rule 2 is the shortcut: a jump over two rabbits in a row turns both of them. Six jumps isn't possible without it.
- The rabbit you moved is still white. The jumping rabbit doesn't change color. Some other rabbit has to jump over it later.
- You're stuck mid-board. Undo the last jump instead of restarting, and check which squares turn green when you hold a rabbit.
Hints, one at a time
Hint 1 and Hint 2 follow the game's own hints. Hint 3 and the Super Hint go a different way from the game's, toward the six-jump answer. 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: Leave brown rabbits alone
Try not to jump over a rabbit that's already brown, because it turns white again. Look for jumps that go over white rabbits only, and best of all, jumps that go over two white rabbits at once.
Hint 2: The first two jumps
Start the way the game's Hint 2 does. Move the rabbit in the top-left corner (square 1) to the right: it jumps over square 2 and lands on square 3. Then move the same rabbit straight down: it jumps over square 7 and lands on square 11. Two rabbits are brown now.
Hint 3: Jump two at once
Now look at the third row. Squares 10 and 11 hold two white rabbits side by side, and square 9 is empty. The rabbit on square 12 can jump left over both of them at once. After that, work on the bottom row.
Super Hint: The bottom row and the last jump
After the jump in Hint 3, move the bottom-right rabbit (square 16) one jump to the left. Next, the rabbit on square 15 jumps left into the bottom-left corner. The last jump goes straight up the left column, over two rabbits, back to square 1.
Answer and full solution
The answer below covers every jump, with pictures of each step and of the solved board. Open it when you're ready.
Show the answer
The answer, in six jumps: 1 to 3, 3 to 11, 12 to 9, 16 to 14, 15 to 13, 13 to 1. The square numbers run 1 to 16, left to right and top to bottom. After the sixth jump all eight rabbits are brown.
Step by step:
- Square 1 to square 3. The top-left rabbit jumps right over square 2. Square 2 turns brown.
- Square 3 to square 11. The same rabbit jumps down over square 7. Square 7 turns brown.
- Square 12 to square 9. The rabbit at the right end of the third row jumps left over squares 11 and 10, and both turn brown. The rabbit on square 11 is the white one that made the first two jumps.
- Square 16 to square 14. The bottom-right rabbit jumps left over square 15. Square 15 turns brown.
- Square 15 to square 13. The brown rabbit on square 15 jumps left over square 14, the white rabbit that just landed there. Square 14 turns brown.
- Square 13 to square 1. The rabbit in the bottom-left corner jumps straight up the left column over squares 9 and 5, and lands back in the top-left corner. Both turn brown, and so does the whole board.
If you followed the game's hints: the game's hints describe a ten-jump route. Hint 2 covers jumps 1 and 2 (the same as above), Hint 3 covers jumps 3 to 7, and the Super Hint covers jumps 8 to 10. In square numbers: 1 to 3, 3 to 11, 16 to 8, 8 to 6, 6 to 14, 14 to 16, 16 to 6, then 11 to 3, 3 to 9, 9 to 1. After jump 7 there are five brown rabbits, as Hint 3 says. Jump 4 goes over a rabbit that's already brown, so this route takes longer. It still solves the puzzle.
If it still won't come out:
- Check the third jump. The rabbit on square 12 goes over two rabbits and lands on square 9, at the left end of the row. It doesn't stop on square 10.
- Check which rabbit jumps fifth. It's the rabbit on square 15, not the one that just landed on square 14.
- Count from the top left. Square 1 is the top-left corner of the touch screen board, and square 4 is the top-right corner.
Bunny-Hop Swap 1, 2 and 3
| Puzzle | Picarats | Where it's hidden |
|---|---|---|
| 006 Bunny-Hop Swap | 20 | Ledore Parlor |
| 028 Bunny-Hop Swap 2 | 30 | Layton's Room, the hotel |
| 074 Bunny-Hop Swap 3 | 40 | Racetrack |
All three use the same rules and the same toy board, and all three are hidden puzzles. The starting rabbits are different each time, so each one has its own answer.
Picarats, hints and hint coins
Bunny-Hop Swap 2 shows 30 picarats when it starts.
Hints cost hint coins, not picarats. The costs are one coin each for the first three hints and two for the Super Hint, five in total. Layton's Room's three coins cover the first three hints. Or use the free hints on this page and save your coins.
Versions and systems
- Nintendo 3DS, 3DS XL, 2DS and New 3DS: no difference. You slide the rabbits with the stylus.
- US and UK English versions: same board, same rules, same answer.
After the puzzle
When the last rabbit turns brown, Layton says, "Very taxing, but still enjoyable." Then you're back in the hotel room.
FAQ
Where is the answer to Puzzle 028?
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 028 called?
Bunny-Hop Swap 2 in the North American version. In Japanese it's 白黒ウサギ2.
Where do I find Bunny-Hop Swap 2?
In Layton's Room at the hotel in Monte d'Or, in Chapter 3. It's hidden: tap the rightmost pillow.
Do I have to solve Puzzle 028?
No. It's an optional hidden puzzle, with no separate item or minigame reward.
Why does the Super Hint take more than six jumps?
The game's hints follow a ten-jump route. It works, but it isn't the shortest. Six jumps is the shortest, and the game's closing message only says it can be done in six.
How many picarats is Puzzle 028 worth?
It shows 30 picarats when it starts.
Is this the same as Bunny-Hop Swap?
No. Bunny-Hop Swap is Puzzle 006, with twelve rabbits and a different start. The rules are the same.
Is Daily Puzzle 028 the same as Puzzle 028?
No. Daily Puzzle 028 is Food Chain 03. Story Puzzle 028 is the rabbit-jumping board in the hotel room.
More Miracle Mask puzzles
- Puzzle 027: That Rings a Bell
- Puzzle 006: Bunny-Hop Swap
- Puzzle 026: Mangled Math
- Puzzle 60: Dangerous Holes
- Puzzle 118: Evenly Matched 3
- Puzzle 122: Kitty Solitaire 3
For the rest of the game's puzzles, see the Miracle Mask puzzle index.