In the case of academic video video games, the Carmen Sandiego franchise is a benchmark. The unique laptop sport, The place within the World is Carmen Sandiego?, got here out in 1985 and has gotten tens of sequels and spinoffs since. In 2025, the primary new franchise installment in 10 years, merely titled Carmen Sandiego, will hit retailer cabinets (or, maybe extra precisely, public library cabinets). epicgamejourney’s early playthrough of some hours of the sport confirmed it was not only for followers of the franchise — the sport can be profoundly academic, which is refreshing within the age of overstimulating and swiftly created content material for kids. Carmen Sandiego additionally appears to be like to be a wonderful, kid-friendly crash course in methods to play video video games.
Within the new puzzle-adventure sport, Carmen Sandiego is a spy working case-by-case to take down a malicious thieving group known as V.I.L.E. (simply as she does in her Netflix TV present adaptation). As Carmen, the participant visits places around the globe to uncover clues about suspects, chase down V.I.L.E. operatives, and in the end challenge a warrant to arrest the important thing perpetrator.
The tutorial components are woven into the sport mechanics, so you’ll be able to’t assist however be taught details concerning the nations you’re visiting. For instance, a witness who noticed the thief could offer you a couple of items of data, like that the thief spoke about finding out Mayan ruins and that that they had crimson hair. You should utilize that first bit of data to pick your subsequent vacation spot — Mexico Metropolis, on this case. Concurrently, you employ info you be taught concerning the thieves themselves to slim down your suspect database, marking off “crimson hair” as “sure,” for instance.
The educational doesn’t simply come within the type of static details; Carmen Sandiego is designed in such a manner as to encourage gamers to concentrate and take in the total image. There’ll all the time be youngsters (and gamers normally) who need to skip all of the dialogue and textual content and focus solely on interactive gameplay mechanics. However on this case, you’ll fail rapidly at your missions should you don’t try this studying, so the motivation to soak up the details and make knowledgeable selections is excessive — and enjoyable gameplay mechanics are nonetheless sprinkled in closely all through. On this manner, Carmen Sandiego additionally efficiently teaches the participant methods to play completely different sorts of video video games normally; you’ll management Carmen first-person in a single minigame, then remedy a tangled-wires puzzle within the subsequent. You’ll end up jotting down fast math issues to find out how a lot time you have got left to resolve the case should you take yet one more 10-hour flight internationally. You’ll sit idle for a couple of moments at your laptop, figuring out whether or not to chase a suspected thief or to easily pickpocket them as a substitute.
The sport isn’t overly simple, and with no voice reads, it’s possible solely a very good match for robust readers or youngsters who play video games with adults who can learn. There are some quirks that make me assume it’d make a very good slot in a classroom, the place a instructor can assist college students seek for clues on-line (like, What nation is Nara Park in?) and outline robust vocab (like “southpaw” for left-handed). However primarily based on this preview, Carmen Sandiego appears to be like like will probably be a near-perfect new addition to the franchise, and extra importantly, a near-perfect sport for youths who prefer to be taught.
The sport isn’t sanitized, neither is it a watered-down model of the unique — in brief, it isn’t making an attempt too exhausting to attraction to the youngest members of its viewers, although I feel they’ll prefer it. It’s a Carmen Sandiego sport via and thru, which implies it’s real enjoyable and subtly academic. I, an grownup with no youngsters, will in all probability spend a number of extra hours with it only for enjoyable — but when I did have youngsters, I really feel assured it’d be a killer first RPG/puzzle sport for them.
Carmen Sandiego might be launched in Q1 2025 on PC, PS5, Xbox Collection X, and Nintendo Change. This preview was performed on PC utilizing a pre-release obtain code offered by Gameloft and HarperCollins Productions. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These don’t affect editorial content material, although Vox Media could earn commissions for merchandise bought through affiliate hyperlinks. You will discover extra details about epicgamejourney’s ethics coverage right here.
