Where in Europe is Carmen Sandiego? Download (1988 Educational Game)

Third in the Carmen Sandiego series, you resume your detective role in pursuit of Carmen and her gang in 34 different European nations. Comes with Rand McNally's Concise Atlas of Europe.

Brøderbund brought us several high quality games (such as Lode Runner, Karateka, Prince of Presia, Stunts), but I guess their most successful series is without a doubt Where in ___ is Carmen Sandiego?

This time let's take a look at one of the older games of the series (most of them have been remade later on), the one where Carmen's crime wave hits Europe.

OK, so the graphics are CGA. There might not be all that many colours, but the graphics themselves aren't really bad (just compare them with Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? - also featured on our site, and you'll see the quality is about the same, just add/remove colors). The sounds are basic, as with the other games of the series, but the real difference is the input device. You can not play with mouse or joystick, just with the keys. It's still logical enough to play without any problems.

The premise is the same as with other games of the series. You're sent to a place where a crime has happened and from there on you need to follow the suspect around the map. You'll know where to go next after examining the crime scene, listening to witnesses and calling your stool pigeon for tips. Even if you are dead certain where to go next, you shouldn't stop investigating the crime scene, because you need to get a warrant fro the suspect as well (and you need to match the suspect in the crime computer). So every time you get a tip on what the person likes, looks like and stuff, enter it into your notebook. Once you have the warrant, you can rush off (just remember, not all locations will give you information about the suspect's identity).

So far so good. Overlooking the lack of colours and keeping in mind the year of the game's release, it's easy not to count the more or less primitive sounds and controls as a downside of the game, I can not overlook the most obvious! There are some things in the game that really got me mad. Imagine, the very first assignment I got started in Yugoslavia (the country where I was born) and so I started in Belgrade, but the picture was of Mostar (that's just sloppy). Next I had to go to Munich and got the picture of Neuschwanstein Castle. Come on, is it so difficult to actually match the place the game says you're going to with an actual picture of that place? Or at least a somewhat anonymous picture that could represent a random town? This is something I really couldn't overlook. This has got nothing to do with computer limitations, the year of release or anything relevant. It simply shows the lack of efford on the behalf of the producers.

Still, the game is fun and you might get to learn some of European geography, just don't look at the pictures as reference points, please!

Part of the Carmen Sandiego Series

Undoubtedly the most successful edutainment franchises, the Where in [xxx] is Carmen Sandiego? is Broderbund's flagship series that has spawned numerous sequels, TV shows, and even board games. Premiered in 1985 with Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, subsequent releases have sold millions of copies collectively worldwide. But until multimedia CD-ROM versions of the game appeared in 1995, the individual Carmen Sandiego titles were not all blockbusters.

The premise behind every Carmen Sandiego game is identical: starting out as a rookie detective, your job is to track down a gang of thieves who are stealing the world's (or the galaxy's/USA's/Europe's/history's as the case may be) most precious treasures. After each assignment briefing, you are given a deadline to capture the thief. Then it's off to the travel screen, where you pick the next destination to track the thief. At each location, you must interpret various clues from a number of sources (informants, etc.) to figure out the thief's next stop, as well as his/her identity. Your mission is a success when you track the thief to the right final hideout (plus time period, if you are playing Where in Time version) with the arrest warrant issued for the correct suspect before the deadline. Missions are progressively more difficult as you solve cases and win promotions.

Every Carmen Sandiego game contains hundreds of clues, attractive graphics and cartoons, and fun gameplay that will captivate kids and adults alike.

Between the original 1985/86 CGA versions and after 1995 (where CD-ROM era began), Carmen Sandiego games can be categorized into 2 groups, each based on the underlying engine: the first group comprises "VGA enhanced versions" releases between 1989 and 1992. In this group, in the order of release, belong Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego?, Where in Europe is Carmen Sandiego?, Where in America's Past is Carmen Sandiego?, Where in The World is Carmen Sandiego? (Enhanced), and Where in The USA is Carmen Sandiego? (Enhanced). The second group are games released between 1992 and 1994 that are based on the improved game engine that offers high-res VGA graphics, thousands of clues (as opposed to hundreds), and a more polished interface. These include Where in The World is Carmen Sandiego? Deluxe Edition, Where in Space is Carmen Sandiego?, and Where in The USA is Carmen Sandiego? Deluxe Edition. Of all these games, Where in Europe is Carmen Sandiego? and Where in The USA is Carmen Sandiego? Deluxe Edition are the hardest to find.

All 8 aforementioned releases are now available for download from this site, as a tribute to one of the best edutainment series ever made. Whether you have a kid in your house or not, Carmen Sandiego games will glue you to the screen for hours on end if you have even a slight interest in geography, history, or trivia in general.

How to run this game on modern Windows PC?

People who downloaded Where in Europe is Carmen Sandiego? have also downloaded:
Where in the USA is Carmen Sandiego?, Where in America's Past is Carmen Sandiego?, Where in Space is Carmen Sandiego?, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, Where in The World is Carmen Sandiego? (Enhanced), Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego?, Where in The USA is Carmen Sandiego? (Enhanced), Where in the USA is Carmen Sandiego CD-ROM