Version quirks & oddities

The same core loop, travel, interview three witnesses, decode the destination, build the warrant, arrest, powers every title, but each game bends it to a different subject. Knowing the quirks helps you switch between editions without re-learning the basics.

Where in the World (1985)

The original, designed by Gene Portwood and Lauren Elliott with programmer Dane Bigham, published by Broderbund. It set the template: chase a thief across the globe with The World Almanac in hand. Its success spawned a whole franchise, including the PBS game show Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? (1991) with Rockapella, and the animated series Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego? (1994).

Where in the U.S.A. (1986) and Europe (1988)

U.S.A. swaps countries for the fifty states plus Washington, D.C., and leans on American geography and the Fodor's USA guide. Europe narrows to European nations with the Rand McNally atlas. Both still use the Crime Computer to issue warrants.

Where in Time (1989)

The big departure: you chase the gang across history, not just places, using the Chronoskimmer time machine. Clues now have a when as well as a where, and the bundled New American Desk Encyclopedia replaces the almanac.

World Deluxe (1990)

An expanded re-issue of the world game with more cities, richer graphics and sound, and a larger clue pool, the same loop with more content and polish for the era's faster machines.

America's Past (1991)

Combines place and time within U.S. history: five regions across nine time periods give forty-five possible destinations. It shipped with What Happened When as its chronology reference.

Where in Space (1993)

The gang goes interplanetary. You travel the Solar System aboard an ACME craft, and instead of a printed book your reference is the built-in VAL 9000 computer. The game advertised dozens of locations and well over a thousand clues, testing astronomy the way the others tested geography.