I understand the frustration of a tough puzzle, for the Curious Village one tell him there’s no shame in using a walkthrough once in a while. (Fun Fact: chicks and wolves are Hino’s favorite puzzles)

If you want to introduce him Ace Attorney I recommend The HD Trilogy on the iPhone (don’t remember if its freemium, or pay the app then pay for more trials) the first ever trail is the shortest ever and does a good job at teaching the basics and I wish first trials of the game goes back to that length.

As for the crossover game although beloved by some, In my opinion it’s my least liked Professor Layton game and the reasons why are to long to list so here’s my review (here)

Personally if you want a Professor Layton game I recommend Layton’s Mystery Journey Starter Kit cause the first case is free, it controls well and the puzzles are easy enough for people who are not good at this stuff, and if he likes it he can purchase the rest of the kits or buy the fifteen dollar app (I would recommend mystery room but ever since the music glitch it just crashes)

Hope this is good advice and if your friend didn’t click with either franchise then that’s ok, well at least he tried ;)