Where in America’s Past is Carmen Sandiego? is an educational video game that just happens to be a lot of fun. It’s just one of several games in the Carmen Sandiego series. I got hooked on this series with the first one that was released in 1985. “America’s Past” was released in 1991 by Broderbund Software—a software company known for producing awesome educational games.
When you are given your first case by the Chief, you are a rookie detective. Your job is to apprehend the thief; and do it before your time is up.
Where in America’s Past is Carmen Sandiego? is an educational video game that just happens to be a lot of fun. It’s just one of several games in the Carmen Sandiego series. I got hooked on this series with the first one that was released in 1985. “America’s Past” was released in 1991 by Broderbund Software—a software company known for producing awesome educational games.
When you are given your first case by the Chief, you are a rookie detective. Your job is to apprehend the thief; and do it before your time is up. Making mistakes eats away at your time, so try not to repeat your actions or travel to the wrong locations.
In this game, you will hunt down the villain by leaping from time to
time, involving nine time periods starting before the 1800s up until the late 1980s. America is divided into five geographic regions; and you will begin your assignment in one of those regions during a specific time period.
As you travel in the specific regions and time periods, you need to find clues. You do this by asking bystanders if they have seen anyone suspicious. Some locals will let you know of a physical feature of the suspect (weight, height), some might tell you what he/she is wearing (camera, watch), or someone might give a hint as to where and when the thief is headed next. Each time you get a clue you put it into the warrant file. Once enough information is gathered on the suspect, a warrant can be issued. Without a warrant, a thief can’t be arrested. If you choose the wrong region/time period to go to next, the locals won’t have any information to give you. If you did pick the right region/time period, then some inept villains will be running around on your screen.
With every so many cases that you solve, you will go up in rank. As you progress in the game, the cases get harder to solve. Finally you have one last case to solve—catching Carmen herself. Once you do catch this ring leader, your name will be added to the Hall of Fame.
If you are a geography, history, and crime lover, then “America’s Past” will definitely please you. If you like this game, I suggest downloading the other Carmen games that are available on this website. Then you’ll be able to catch the criminals for hours and hours.
