Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? (Game)

Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?

GAME » on April 23, 1985

Amiga (Platform)Apple II (Platform)Apple IIgs (Platform)Atari ST (Platform)Commodore 64 (Platform)FM Towns (Platform)Genesis (Platform)Mac (Platform)PC (Platform)Sega Master System (Platform)Super Nintendo Entertainment System (Platform)TRS-80 CoCo (Platform)TurboGrafx-CD (Platform)

Carmen Sandiego and her thieving underlings are stealing priceless artifacts from all over the world, and it's up to you to track them down using your detective skills and knowledge of the world!

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Overview

Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? is an detective-themed edutainment adventure game developed and published by Brøderbund Software for Apple II (Platform) and IBM PCs on April 1985.

The first game in the Carmen Sandiego (Franchise) series puts players in the role of a rookie detective with the ACME Detective Agency (Location), tasked with tracking down and apprehending members of the Villains International League of Evil (V.I.L.E.), an international criminal organization headed by the mysterious Carmen Sandiego (Character).

Most of the game involves moving between cities throughout the world and investigating areas to both identify the thief and learn of the thief's current whereabouts. Presented in a menu interface, most of the game's actions take up hours of in-game time, and players have a limited amount of time to solve the case. Designed to teach world geography and social studies, players are given vague clues to locations based on their various aspects, such as their sights, history, currency, economy, and country flag, and that taking a wrong turn could eat up valuable time. Aiding them is a real copy of The World Almanac and Book of Facts included with each copy of the game, which also served as physical copy protection.

The game later received conversions in the mid-to-late '80s for the Commodore 64 (Platform), TRS-80 CoCo, Amiga (Platform), Atari ST (Platform), FM Towns (Platform), Macintosh, and DOS PCs. It also received a port for the Sega Master System (Platform) by Parker Brothers (Company) in 1988, a Japan-exclusive port for the PC Engine CD-ROM² by Pack In Video in 1990, a port for the Sega Genesis by Electronic Arts (Company) in 1992, and a port for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (Platform) by Hi Tech Expressions in 1993.

It received multiple sequels and revisions, including the early '90s "Deluxe" revision, the late '90s revision, the early 2000's "Treasures of Knowledge" sequel, a European-only late 2000's sequel, an early 2010's Facebook sequel, a 2015 mobile sequel, and an upcoming 2025 sequel. It also received numerous spin-offs, most of which focus on different topics, such as United States geography, world history, and space science. It also received an American television game show from 1991-1995 and an animated TV series in 2019-2021.

Gameplay

At the start of each case, the player begins by traveling to the scene of the crime. By questioning witnesses, clues are gathered which point towards the thief's characteristics, as well as his or her next destination. It is the player's responsibility to gather the information and interpret it correctly. Once the player has enough clues, a warrant for a suspect can be issued. After tailing the suspect from country to country, the player will eventually catch up and, if it's the correct suspect, make an arrest.

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