Undoubtedly the most successful edutainment franchises, the Where in [xxx] is Carmen Sandiego? is Brøderbund 's flagship series that has spawned numerous sequels, TV shows, and even board games. Premiered in 1985 with Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, subsequent releases have sold millions of copies collectively worldwide. But until multimedia CD-ROM versions of the game appeared in 1995, the individual Carmen Sandiego titles were not all blockbusters.
The premise behind every Carmen Sandiego game is identical: starting out as a rookie detective, your job is to track down a gang of thieves who are stealing the world's (or the galaxy's/USA's/Europe's/history's as the case may be) most precious treasures. After each assignment briefing, you are given a deadline to capture the thief. Then it's off to the travel screen, where you pick the next destination to track the thief.
At each location, you must interpret various clues from a number of sources (informants, etc.) to figure out the thief's next stop, as well as his/her identity. Your mission is a success when you track the thief to the right final hideout (plus time period, if you are playing Where in Time version) with the arrest warrant issued for the correct suspect before the deadline. Missions are progressively more difficult as you solve cases and win promotions.
Every Carmen Sandiego game contains hundreds of clues, attractive graphics and cartoons, and fun gameplay that will captivate kids and adults alike. Between the original 1985/86 CGA versions and after 1995 (where CD-ROM era began), Carmen Sandiego games can be categorized into 2 groups, each based on the underlying engine: the first group comprises "VGA enhanced versions" releases between 1989 and 1992. In this group, in the order of release, belong Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego?, Where in Europe is Carmen Sandiego?, Where in America's Past is Carmen Sandiego?, Where in The World is Carmen Sandiego? (Enhanced), and Where in The USA is Carmen Sandiego? (Enhanced).
The second group are games released between 1992 and 1994 that are based on the improved game engine that offers high-res VGA graphics, thousands of clues (as opposed to hundreds), and a more polished interface. These include Where in The World is Carmen Sandiego? Deluxe Edition, Where in Space is Carmen Sandiego?, and Where in The USA is Carmen Sandiego? Deluxe Edition.
Of all these games, Where in Europe is Carmen Sandiego? and Where in The USA is Carmen Sandiego? Deluxe Edition are the hardest to find. All 8 aforementioned releases are now available for download from this site, as a tribute to one of the best edutainment series ever made.
Whether you have a kid in your house or not, Carmen Sandiego games will glue you to the screen for hours on end if you have even a slight interest in geography, history, or trivia in general. Two thumbs up for all the games - and happy hunting! :)
Review By HOTUD
English 
French 
Japanese 
Comments and reviews
Remember playing it in real time without google to search for answers.
Still remember the loud typing sounds since there wasn't volume options back then.
Those were the good old days.
lovvvvveee this game
Favourite game as a kid... but I prefer the later version of it.
For those that don't remember the book that it came with was the 1988 Almanac of the World.
You can still play it today, just play it in windowed mode, and google is your friend.
may windows 7 supported it!
Hey, "I Feel Dumb"! If you download DOSBox, you can drag the game to the desktop icon to emulate it.
This game simply sucks..I wonder why such a high rating? Just coz itz educational ?? All you do is the same thing over and over again,except the clues vary .The clues are a lot dificult too!Despite having walkthrough guide,it needs you to Google some aliem sounding place or ruler's name to find which place to go next. How moronic.I only playef it because of good reviews. Buy they are too much for it..This is my first ever harsh review which i usually don't.... Disappointed :(
It says that my computer can not play it. What are the specifications needed to run it? Thank you!!
Wow, I remember playing this with all the encyclopedias that I had in my house, and a book with all the flags of the world.
I sure hope this works!
No comment
"i seem to remember you need the manual to progress..."
No that isn't true, it would ask you a FACT you had to lookup in a reference that came with the game.
i seem to remember you need the manual to progress...
i wanna play carmen san diego... its fun and educational..
A lot of these comments seem contrived and fake, as if the author or the site is copying and pasting fake comments. I could be wrong, but the comments all seem to be structured in the same way, as if one person is writing most of these comments. Plus, I've seen the same exact comments, verbatim, 100% the same (even when it comes to punctuation and grammatical errors) on other webpages on this website, as if they're copied and pasted. Anyways, I just wanted to point that little observation I made out to all of you people. Bye.
Wow! This is simply amazing! Am gonna visit the "past"!
gimme gimme
i like this game !
I am like "So Addicted" to where in the world is Carmen San Diego, I will
Go to ""any lengths to get it!".
No, you are; as your atrocious sentence structure and grammar suggest. Your mother's point is well taken, as it will help your brother learn to read if you play this with him.
how do you run this i'm doin it for my little bro he got a comp and my mom said to play it even though he cant even read my parents are stupid
http://www.glennsguides.com/2008/03/where-in-world-is-carmen-sandiego-pc.html (how to Instal carmen game using dosbox on pc)
I loved the tv show, the cartoon, and this game when I was a child. I'm 27 now, and I think this is still amazing stuff. When I have kids, I'm going to pass this all onto them
i need this for mac os!
I so want this
thank you soo much been trying to get this game for agers
thanks
This game is hard
hey boy what's up
How can I get the game on I pad?
i want it
I really love this game since I was still a Kid :))
Thanks so much for the game and the DOS tutorial. Works perfectly. Haven't played this game in like 19 years, so it brings back memories.
I know that Kyle's comment is a zombie thread that's been dead for years, but for anyone else who wants to know, the version with good music and Warrent Robot is the floppy version of Carmen Deluxe. It's the one on this site that has a screenshot of a spy-phone with a picture of the chief on it's screen instead of a computer.. The CD version which used Quicktime movies from the game-show, and where you walk around and talk to people is Warez, and is not available on this site.
cool love this game
love it!
What's the one where you have a travel agent that makes funny jokes and Warrent Robot and it has realistic music?
NOT the modern one where you walk around the screen and click on people to talk to them.
does anybody here knows where can i get the info manual for the promotions questions?
Yes be aware of game in french, they have (fr) appened at the end of the name.
it works with dosbox
this game isnt english, but it works with dosbox
No comment nor review for this game at the moment.