Summary
A long-forgottenProfessor Laytongame has been recovered from an old feature phone that appears to have survived a fire. CalledProfessor Layton and the Mansion of the Deathly Mirror, themobilegame rose from the ashes just ahead of its 16th anniversary.
Although Level-5 ported someProfessor Laytongamesto mobile devices over the years,Mansion of the Deathly Mirroris distinct in that it is a completely original experience made exclusively for feature phones. It was released in an episodic format, with its first episode debuting on June 13, 2025.Professor Laytonand the Mansion of the Deathly Mirrornever made its way outside of Japan, and hasn’t been available for purchase since 2014.
Professor Layton and the Mansion of the Deathly Mirror Recovered After 16 Years
Nearly 16 years following its original debut, the long-lostadventure gamehas been fully recovered by a group of dedicated fans. As reported by Twitter user RockmanCosmo, game preservationist Yuvi managed to save the game’s final three chapters, recovering them from a working unit of the Fujitsu F906i, a Japan-only feature phone from 2008. The first three chapters ofProfessor Laytonand the Mansion of the Deathly Mirrorwere already recovered back in February 2024.
The Phone With the Lost Professor Layton Game Might Have Survived a Fire
RockmanCosmo said that the group behind this preservation effort plans to translateMansion of the Deathly Mirrorinto English, albeit without committing to a concrete time frame for the initiative. The game preservationist also shared some photos of the 2008flip phoneon which the mobile adventure was discovered, which suggest that the device might have survived a fire, as indicated by the ash traces all over its body. Apart from the oldProfessor Laytongame, Yuvi also managed to recoverMr. Driller Aquafrom the device. This 2006Mr. Drillerspin-off is another feature phone-only game that has long been considered lost.
Professor Layton and the Mansion of the Deathly Mirrorwas originally offered as a MobageTown (nowadays called Mobage) service exclusive in 2008 before receiving a re-release subtitled-REMIX-a year later. The 2009 version of the game contained different puzzles but otherwise followed the same story, which was set between the events ofProfessor Layton and the Diabolical BoxandUnwound Future. The images shared by RockmanCosmo indicate that Yuvi recovered the 2008 original.
Aside from fan initiatives of this sort, some feature phone game preservation efforts are also currently being pursued for commercial purposes, especially in Japan. In one of the most recent examples of this trend, publisher G-MODEre-releasedPersona 3 Aigis: The First Mission, a 2006 feature phone game, for PC and the Nintendo Switch in June 2024.
