Carmen Sandiego (video game series) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Carmen Sandiego
The box sets of the first six Carmen Sandiego titles during the Broderbund era in chronological order of release: Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? (1985) Where in the U.S.A. Is Carmen Sandiego? (1986) Where in Europe Is Carmen Sandiego? (1988) Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego? (1989) Where in America's Past Is Carmen Sandiego? (1991) Where in Space Is Carmen Sandiego? (1993)
Genres	Edutainment
Developers	Broderbund The Learning Company
Publishers	Broderbund Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Creators	Gene Portwood Mark Iscaro Dane Bigham Lauren Elliott
Platforms	Apple II, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, Microsoft Windows, Macintosh OS, Xbox, PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo DS, Wii, Facebook, iOS
First release	Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? 1985
Latest release	Where on Google Earth is Carmen Sandiego? 2019

The Carmen Sandiego series is a collection of American mystery video games. These games are designed to be both fun and educational. The first game, Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?, came out in 1985. It started the whole Carmen Sandiego world, which includes many games and even TV shows.

In each game, players use their knowledge to track down Carmen Sandiego or her many helpers. Carmen Sandiego is a master thief who steals famous landmarks and treasures. The games were first made by Broderbund. Now, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt owns the series. Over the years, the Carmen Sandiego games have won more than 125 awards!

How the Games Were Made

The Idea Behind Carmen

In 1983, the people who started Broderbund Software wanted to create games that were both fun and educational. They called this "edutainment." The character of Carmen Sandiego was created by David Siefkin in 1984. He got her name by combining parts of the Brazilian singer Carmen Miranda and the city of San Diego, California.

Carmen was just one of many bad guys in the first story idea. But the project manager, Katherine Bird, chose Carmen for the main role. She thought Carmen's name sounded mysterious, exciting, and even a little funny.

How to Play the Games

The first game, Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?, came out in 1985. It was designed by Gene Portwood and Lauren Elliott. This game set up the basic way all Carmen Sandiego games would work.

Here's how it usually goes:

• You are a detective trying to catch Carmen's helpers.
• Each case starts with a big theft.
• You go to the crime scene and find clues.
• These clues help you figure out where the thief went next.
• You also collect information to create an arrest warrant for the thief.
• The thief travels to many places around the world to try and escape.
• You follow the clues, tracking the thief from one location to another.
• When you finally catch the thief, you arrest them. If your warrant is correct, they go to ACME prison.
• As you catch more thieves, you become a higher-ranked detective.
• The cases get harder as you go.
• In the final case, you get to chase Carmen Sandiego herself! When you catch her, you become famous in the ACME Hall of Fame.

Later games, like Word Detective and Math Detective, changed the formula a bit. They still involved traveling the world. But Great Chase Through Time was different. In that game, you stayed in one time period per mission. Your goal was to fix historical problems caused by the theft and find the thief Carmen had dropped off.

Funny Side of the Games

The games made by Broderbund were known for their silly humor. They often used clever wordplay, like puns, rhymes, and alliteration. This funny style was also in the Carmen Sandiego TV shows.

• Funny Names: Many characters had funny names, like "Hardley Worthit" or "M. T. Pockets." Carmen herself seemed to be the only one without a silly name!
• Clever Clues: Clues about where the thief went next often used puns. For example, a clue might say, "I pumped her for information, but her unrefined answer only suggested a crude plan to visit oil wells near Ahvaz."
• Silly Thefts: Carmen's gang, V.I.L.E., would steal huge things. They might steal famous landmarks, entire cities, or even national parks! Sometimes, they would steal things that weren't even real, like the Mason–Dixon line. Other times, the "thefts" were just funny word jokes, like "robbing the banks of the Nile."

Broderbund Video Games

Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? (1985, 1996)

The first World game came out in 1985. Your goal was to track Carmen's villains around the globe and arrest them. Eventually, you would arrest Carmen. To make an arrest, you needed the correct warrant for the villain. You started at the crime scene, got hints from people, and then chased the thief worldwide. Along the way, you gathered clues to figure out who the thief was.

A special "deluxe" version was released in 1992. It had more animations and a new look. Later, in 1996, a "reboot" version came out. This one had a new way to play and animated characters. It even featured Lynne Thigpen as "The Chief," just like in the TV show!

Where in the U.S.A. Is Carmen Sandiego? (1986, 1996)

This game came out in 1986. It was like the World game, but you tracked Carmen's villains across the United States. You still needed a correct warrant to make an arrest. You got clues from people about where the thief went and what they looked like. You had to catch them before they passed stolen goods to Carmen.

Where in Europe Is Carmen Sandiego? (1988)

This game focused on European history and geography. The gameplay was very similar to Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?. You traveled to different places, found clues, and built a warrant. This game was the first to have a special "crime computer" database. You could use it to narrow down your next stop by looking up things like flag colors, money used, and languages. This game stopped being made in 1990 because many countries in Europe changed their borders and governments.

Where in North Dakota Is Carmen Sandiego?

Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego? (1989, 1997)

The first Time game came out in 1989. Your goal was to track Carmen's villains through different periods in history. You would arrest them and eventually capture Carmen herself.

The updated version came out in 1997 and was later called Carmen Sandiego's Great Chase Through Time. This game was inspired by the PBS game show and featured villains from it.

Carmen Sandiego in Japan

Where in America's Past Is Carmen Sandiego? (1991)

Many people think this is the most educational game in the series. It's very similar to the other games. Your goal is to catch Carmen's gang members one by one. You do this by finding clues, following them, identifying them, and then arresting them. After you catch all the helpers, you go after Carmen. One difference in this game is that you can get help during the game.

Where in Space Is Carmen Sandiego? (1993)

This game was made to teach about astronomy. You fly a rocket ship through the solar system. You talk to different aliens to solve thefts of important parts of the solar system, like Saturn's rings. You had limited fuel, so you had to ask the right questions and follow the right clues. If you didn't, the criminal would get away, and you'd have to start a new crime.

Junior Detective Edition (1995)

This game came out in 1995. It featured characters from the Earth animated TV show. It had a simpler way to play, designed for younger kids.

Carmen Sandiego Word Detective (1997)

This game was released in 1997. It was made to teach language arts to kids aged 9-12. The game features a character named Chase Devineaux.

In the game, Carmen Sandiego invents a machine called the Babble-On Machine. You play as Agent 13 and must stop her plans. You also need to free other agents Carmen has captured. This game is very similar to Carmen Sandiego Math Detective.

Carmen Sandiego Math Detective (1998)

This game came out in 1998. It was made to teach math to kids aged 9-12. It also features Chase Devineaux.

In this game, Carmen Sandiego invents a machine called the Quantum Crystallizer. You play as Agent 9 and must stop her plans. You also need to bring back 12 landmarks that Carmen has shrunk with her machine. This game is very similar to Carmen Sandiego Word Detective.

The Learning Company Video Games

Carmen Sandiego's ThinkQuick Challenge

This game teaches many subjects to kids aged 9–12. It was the first Carmen Sandiego game released by The Learning Company. Chase Devineaux is in this game too.

In the game, Carmen Sandiego creates "KnowBots" to steal knowledge. Players must try to stop her plans. This game is set up like the Carmen Sandiego game shows on PBS. It's also the only game in the series that lets multiple players play together.

Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? Treasures of Knowledge

This game was released in 2001.

Carmen Sandiego: The Secret of the Stolen Drums

This game came out in 2004. It was the first game in the series where you could fully control a character in a 3D world. You play as Cole and move through places like a museum in New York City, beaches in New Zealand, and Machu Picchu. You fight Carmen's robots and spirits to stop her from stealing a special diamond. This diamond holds all the knowledge of the nations.

Mais où se Cache Carmen Sandiego? Mystère au Bout du Monde

This is a Carmen Sandiego game released in French in 2009.

Carmen Sandiego Adventures in Math

This is a series of math games released in 2011 and 2012 for the Wii console.

• The Lady Liberty Larceny (Dec 15, 2011)
• The Big Ben Burglary (Dec 29, 2011)
• The Case of the Crumbling Cathedral (Jan 12, 2012)
• The Great Gateway Grab (Feb 2, 2012)
• The Island of Diamonds (Mar 22, 2012)

Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego's Luggage

This game was used to train customer service staff at Scandinavian Airways Systems (SAS). It was based on the game shows and video games. The exact release date is not known.

Carmen Sandiego Returns

This game was released in 2015 for iOS devices and Windows computers.

Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? The Trivia Game

In 2019, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt allowed Global Eagle to create a trivia game based on Carmen Sandiego. This game was designed to be played on airplanes.

Carmen Sandiego handheld

In late 2019, Basic Fun planned to release an interactive handheld version of Carmen Sandiego.

Carmen Sandiego: To Steal Or Not To Steal

This game was released on Netflix in 2020. In the game, Carmen Sandiego has to save her friends, Ivy and Zack. They are captured by V.I.L.E. during a heist in Shanghai.

Internet Games

Where on the Web is Carmen Sandiego?

In 1999, a website was created for The Learning Company that included a "Where on the Web is Carmen Sandiego?" game. This free online game helped kids in grades 4-8. It taught reading and critical thinking skills by having them explore educational websites. Teams of students would complete one mission per week for six weeks. If a class completed four out of six missions, they could win a new computer with educational software. The game started in February 2000. Kids acted as special agents for the ACME Detective Agency. They went on missions to find Carmen Sandiego and her friends, collecting clues and learning about the world and the internet to solve the cases.

Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? (Facebook)

In 2011, a Facebook version of Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? was released.

Where on Google Earth is Carmen Sandiego?

In 2019, Google worked with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt to create a series of Carmen Sandiego adventures. These games used Google Earth as the world map. The first one came out in March 2019 and played very much like the original 1985 video game.

Unofficial Games

Where in Hell Is Carmen Santiago?

The opening screen of the game

Where in Hell Is Carmen Santiago? is a game from 1990. It was made by St. John M. Morrison. In this game, players hunt for Carmen in the afterlife. Broderbund, the original creators of Carmen Sandiego, does not consider this game part of their series. It was released as "Copyrighted FreeWare." The game's creator had never played a Carmen Sandiego game himself. However, he knew about the series from gaming magazines. He made a first-person adventure game based on the idea and copied the naming style.

The story starts like this: "You are a famous crimebuster chasing that world-renowned thief, Carmen Santiago (note: the spelling is slightly different here), and her latest gang. Rumors that she died don't stop you. You track her to the Dark Woods, where you meet scary beasts and get lost."

In Where in Hell is Carmen Santiago?, you need to use your detective skills. You also need to know facts from the first part of Dante's famous poem, Inferno. Players have 140 turns to solve the mystery. They can do actions like moving, viewing a map, checking inventory, or looking around.

Sandiego Inc.

Sandiego Inc. is a mobile app similar to the Carmen Sandiego series. Some people say it tries to use the good memories people have of the original Carmen Sandiego games.