ACME Detective Agency
The international investigative agency the player works for, dispatching detectives to chase V.I.L.E. and recover what it steals.
The ACME Detective Agency is the organisation the player joins at the start of each game. It is the good-guy counterpart to V.I.L.E.: when a theft is reported, ACME assigns a detective — the player — to investigate, follow the trail, and bring the crook in.
The agency frames the whole gameplay loop. It issues the case briefing and the deadline, provides the crime-lab and database tools used to cross-reference clues, and processes the warrant the player files before an arrest. It also runs the promotion system: solve cases and ACME advances you up its ranks, handing out tougher assignments as you climb.
Across the series
ACME's tools are themed to each game. In the geographic titles the detective works from city briefings and reference books; in Where in Time the agency issues the Chronoskimmer time-travel device; and in Where in Space investigations run through an on-board computer database. Throughout, ACME's mission is constant: catch the crook, recover the loot, and ultimately bring in Carmen Sandiego.