Play Where in the U.S.A. is Carmen Sandiego? Online

I first played Where in the U.S.A. is Carmen Sandiego? on MS-DOS back in 1986, a game developed and published by Brøderbund Software. It was part of that wave of educational titles that didn’t feel like homework, blending geography and detective work in a way that felt fresh for its time. You weren’t just learning facts; you were chasing criminals across a pixelated map of the United States.

You play as a rookie detective in the ACME agency, tasked with chasing Carmen’s henchmen from state to state. The main goal is to gather clues by talking to witnesses, then use a reference book (often included in the box) to pinpoint locations based on hints about landmarks, history, or culture. You move screen by screen through cities, hopping on planes when you’ve deciphered where to go next; if you arrest the wrong suspect or run out of time, the thief gets away. The pacing is brisk, and the difficulty comes from remembering details under pressure. It feels like a race against the clock where your own knowledge is the most important tool you have.

Each game uses different controls, most DOS games use the keyboard arrows. Some will use the mouse , "Alt" ,"Enter" and "Space bar".