Playing to Win

Yeah, I kinda like the Nintendo DSi, especially since I figured out how to use it and have my Brain Age in both #1 and #2 down into the 20s, instead of the 90s, where I began. It's been good for doing math computations in my head, finally forcing me to relearn the ones I always miss: the 7-8-9 combos. I'm rocking the 20-list, as well as the 100-computations list, seldom making a mistake; however, I have not taken the leap to the "hard" level ... yet.

What has me stuck is Professor Layton's Curious Village. After going on-line for the correct sequence for the wolves and bunnies, I am stuck upstairs, tasked with finding the cat that ran away, but not knowing how to accomplish that challenge. The directional arrows take me up the stairs, down the stairs, and back to the river crossing, but I can't find a way to actually leave the upstairs and/or the mansion to seek the cat. I've tapped on everything I can think of to tap, gathered quite a collection of gold coins, but am still going up the stairs/down the stairs.

Perhaps because this is supposedly an easy challenge, I can't find help. I've contacted both dotter and g'son, but they laugh at me: part of the game, it seems, is figuring it out, which is why I don't like to play games. If I get stuck, I need help so I can move on! I don't need to stay in one place, becoming more and more frustrated, repeating the same moves over and over in an endless loop! It's a game; it's supposed to be fun; if it isn't fun, I quit. I do not have the killer attitude that I have to win the game or suffer dire consequences from the failure to do so.

I'm appealing to the public for help. Just tell me what I'm missing so I can begin the search for the cat. How do I get out of the upstairs room and/or out of the downstairs room? You don't have to tell me how to find the cat: I just need to know how to stop going up and down the damned stairs!