Puzzle 138 is Poke 'Em Totems 3, a 60-picarat Arrange puzzle in The Toymaker's House, one of Layton's Challenges. Fourteen stone totem blocks stand in three columns, and they have to become a five-column podium with the yellow, blue, purple, green and red heads on top. You knock blocks sideways with a mallet, and you can never hit the top block of a column.
This page covers bonus Puzzle 138 in Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask, the 3DS game (US and UK English). The blocks and the answer are the same in the US and UK English versions; quotes use the North American text. If you're after Daily Puzzle 138, the earlier Poke 'Em Totems puzzles, or Puzzle 138 from another Layton game, see Wrong Puzzle 138? below.
What Puzzle 138 is
| Name | Poke 'Em Totems 3 (Poke 'em Totems 3 in the UK English version) |
|---|---|
| Type | Arrange |
| Picarats | 60 |
| Location | Layton's Challenges, The Toymaker's House (Bonuses menu) |
| Chapter | None. It's a bonus puzzle outside the story |
| How you open it | Finish all the main Toy Robot stages |
| Required? | No, it's optional |
| Reward | None besides the picarats |
| Previous puzzle number | Puzzle 137, Cursed Case 2 (The Toymaker's House) |
| Next puzzle number | Puzzle 139, Emperor's Throne 3 (The Shopkeeper's House) |
The puzzle reads: "The pranksters are up to their old tricks again! There should be five columns, arranged as in the picture in the top right, like a podium. Each column should have a totem head on top in this order: yellow, blue, purple, green, red. Can you help one last time to re-create this ancient monument? As before, you can never hit the top block in a column, so you'll have to think about which order to hit the blocks in." The objective bar says, "Arrange the totem blocks!"
The game's control help says, "Slide the stylus on the Touch Screen to move the mallet on the top screen." The small board in the top-right corner of the top screen shows the finished podium: two blocks high at the ends, three in the second and fourth columns, and four in the middle, with the yellow, blue, purple, green and red heads on top from left to right.
How the blocks move
- A hit knocks a block one column sideways. Hit it from the left and it moves right; hit it from the right and it moves left.
- A hit can shove a whole row. If the space next to the block is taken, the block pushes the blocks beside it along that row, and the whole line moves one column. That's how a hit on the bottom row moves every bottom block at once.
- Blocks fall. The blocks above a moved block drop to fill the gap, and a block that lands over an empty space drops until it rests on something.
- You can never hit the top block of a column. The purple head starts on top of column 3, so you move it by moving what's under it.
Puzzle names
| Version | Puzzle name |
|---|---|
| North America | Poke 'Em Totems 3 |
| UK English | Poke 'em Totems 3 |
| Japanese | 古代の石像3 (Kodai no Sekizō 3, "ancient statues 3") |
| German | Totemtürme 3 |
| French | Dilemme de totems 3 |
| Spanish | Tótems a mazazos 3 |
| Italian | Teste di totem 3 |
| Dutch | Stoot de totems! 3 |
The UK question opens with "The totem pranksters are up to their usual tricks!" and the UK correct message reads "If the totems stay happy even after such an elaborate prank…" where the US text says "stay this happy." In Japanese it's 古代の石像3.
Wrong Puzzle 138?
- Daily Puzzle 138 is Police 07, from The Barking Beat set.
- Puzzle 022, Poke 'Em Totems, is the first one, hidden in Hershel's Room in Chapter 2. Its heads end up in a row.
- Puzzle 053, Poke 'Em Totems 2, is hidden in Randall's Room. Its heads end up as a staircase of four columns.
- Puzzle 091, Totem Tumbler, uses the same mallet on Ruins B2 in Chapter 6, but you only get one hit.
- Puzzle 136, A Pattern of Tiles, and Puzzle 137, Cursed Case 2, are the other two puzzles in The Toymaker's House.
- Puzzle 138 in another Layton game is a different puzzle. If yours doesn't show totem blocks and a mallet, you're in the wrong game.
Where you find it
Puzzle 138 is one of the fifteen bonus puzzles in Layton's Challenges, which you open from the Bonuses section. The challenges are split into five houses of three puzzles each, and The Toymaker's House holds Puzzles 136, 137 and 138. Poke 'Em Totems 3 is the third puzzle in that house.
The Toymaker's House opens when you finish the Toy Robot, the wind-up robot minigame in the Professor's trunk. Clear its main stages and the game says, "Congratulations! You've mastered all of the main stages available for your toy robot!" and adds the house to Layton's Challenges. The Miracle Mask minigames page has help with the robot's stages.
When you pick the puzzle, Layton says, "See if you can manage this puzzle."
When the podium won't come together
- A head dropped too low. Blocks never move up, so a head that falls below its spot can't get back. Touch Restart and try again.
- A hit moved more than one block. When the space beside a block is taken, the hit pushes the whole line of blocks in that row. Hint 2 uses this on purpose.
- "From the left" sends the block the wrong way. "From the left" means the mallet strikes the left side of the block, so the block moves to the right.
- "Too bad." That's the game's whole message for a wrong answer. Try again with the hints below.
Hints, one at a time
These are the game's own hints, word for word from the North American version and in the same order. 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: The leftmost column
Begin with the leftmost column and hit the second and third blocks down. That should get you started!
Hint 2: The bottom row
Next, hit the very bottom row of blocks from the left.
Doesn't that make things look a bit easier?
Hint 3: The blue head
Continuing from Hint 2, hit the sad-looking blue totem head from the right.
How is it looking now?
Super Hint: The green head
Next, hit the green head from the left.
Hmm? Looks as though there's only one place left to hit now. Give it your all!
Answer and full solution
The answer below lists the hits in order, with a picture of each one and of the finished podium. Open it when you're ready.
Show the answer
The answer, in seven hits, counting columns 1 to 5 from the left and blocks up from the bottom: in column 1, hit the fourth block from the left, then the third block from the left, then the bottom block from the left. Then hit the blue head from the right, the green head from the left, the plain block under the green head from the right, and finally the second block of column 1 from the left.
Step by step:
- Column 1, fourth block up, from the left. It moves into the empty column 2 and drops to the bottom. Column 1 is now four blocks high.
- Column 1, third block up, from the left. It moves into column 2 and lands on the first one. That's Hint 1 done: column 1 has three blocks and column 2 has two.
- Column 1, bottom block, from the left. The whole bottom row shifts one column to the right, and the plain block at the end lands in the empty column 5. Column 1 drops to two blocks.
- The blue head, from the right. It's the third block up in column 4. It pushes the yellow head beside it, so the blue head moves into column 3 and the yellow head moves onto column 2. The plain block that was on top of column 4 drops one step.
- The green head, from the left. It's the fourth block up in column 3. It moves onto column 4, and the purple head drops into its place.
- Column 4, third block up, from the right. That's the plain block under the green head. It pushes the blue and yellow heads along the row, so the yellow head lands on column 1 and the blue head on column 2. The green head drops one step, and columns 2 and 3 are done.
- Column 1, second block up, from the left. The whole second row shifts right, and the red head at the end moves onto the plain block in column 5. The yellow head drops onto column 1, and the podium is finished.
The game says, "Well done! If the totems stay this happy even after such an elaborate prank, there shouldn't be anything to worry about!"
Seven hits is the fewest that works. Other orders of the same kind of hits get there too, but the order above follows the game's hints.
Picarats, hints and hint coins
Poke 'Em Totems 3 shows 60 picarats when it starts.
Hints cost hint coins, not picarats. Hints 1 to 3 cost one hint coin each and the Super Hint costs two, five in total. Or use the free hints on this page and save your coins.
Does it unlock anything?
No. It doesn't give you an item. You get the picarats, and it counts toward the fifteen Layton's Challenges. Solve all fifteen and the game congratulates you: "Congratulations! You solved all 15 of Layton's Challenges!"
Versions
- Nintendo 3DS family: this page covers the 3DS game. You move the mallet with the stylus on the touch screen, and the blocks are on the top screen.
- US and UK English versions: same blocks, same hits. The UK text words the question and the correct message a little differently and writes the name Poke 'em Totems 3.
Layton's lines
Layton hosts every puzzle in Layton's Challenges. When you start this one, he says, "See if you can manage this puzzle." If you quit, he asks, "Having a hard time of it?" and when you come back to try again, he says, "You're bound to find the answer this time."
When it's solved, he says, "If you persevere, the answer will find you!" Pick it again later and he says, "The best puzzles are the ones you can keep coming back to!"
FAQ
Where is the answer to Puzzle 138?
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 138 called?
Poke 'Em Totems 3 in the North American version and Poke 'em Totems 3 in the UK version. In Japanese it's 古代の石像3.
Where is Puzzle 138?
In Layton's Challenges, in the Bonuses section. It's the third puzzle in The Toymaker's House, which opens once you've finished the main Toy Robot stages.
Do I have to solve Puzzle 138?
No. It's a bonus puzzle, so it has nothing to do with finishing the story.
Do the Puzzle 022 and 053 answers work here?
No. The mallet rules are the same, but the blocks start in different places and this goal has five columns, so it needs its own seven hits.
How many picarats is Puzzle 138 worth?
Worth 60 picarats.
Is Daily Puzzle 138 the same as Puzzle 138?
No. Daily Puzzle 138 is Police 07, from The Barking Beat set. Bonus Puzzle 138 is the totem podium in The Toymaker's House.
More Miracle Mask puzzles
- Puzzle 137: Cursed Case 2
- Puzzle 136: A Pattern of Tiles
- Puzzle 139: Emperor's Throne 3
- Puzzle 053: Poke 'Em Totems 2
- Puzzle 022: Poke 'Em Totems
- Miracle Mask minigames
For the rest of the game's puzzles, see the Miracle Mask puzzle index.