Where in the U.S.A. Is Carmen Sandiego? (1986)

Where in the U.S.A. Is Carmen Sandiego?
Apple II Cover art
Developer(s)	Brøderbund Software
Publisher(s)	Brøderbund Software
Series	Carmen Sandiego
Platform(s)	Amiga, Apple II, Apple IIGS, Commodore 64, DOS, Macintosh
Release	1986 (Apple II, DOS) 1987 (C64) 1989 (Amiga, Apple IIGS, Macintosh)
Genre(s)	Educational
Mode(s)	Single-player

Where in the U.S.A. Is Carmen Sandiego? Deluxe
Developer(s)	Brøderbund
Publisher(s)	Brøderbund
Series	Carmen Sandiego
Platform(s)	MS-DOS, Mac OS, Microsoft Windows
Release	1992
Genre(s)	Educational
Mode(s)	Single-player

Review score
Publication	Score
AllGame	(DOS)

Where in the U.S.A. Is Carmen Sandiego? is a video game released by Brøderbund in 1986 and part of the Carmen Sandiego series.

Where in the U.S.A. Is Carmen Sandiego?, which focuses on United States geography, was produced as a sequel to Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?, due to the success of the previous game. It became the second entry in the Carmen Sandiego franchise, and would be followed by Where in Europe Is Carmen Sandiego? three years later in 1988. In designing the game, Carmen Sandiego co-developer Doug Carlston followed a design philosophy that avoided explicit education throughout the experience. Instead, he wanted the game to feel more like an explorational detective mystery, which surreptitiously schooled the players on facts and figures, while they chased Carmen and tryed to capture her. This prevented the young demographic from writing off the game as boring or insincere.

A "VGA enhanced version" entitled Where in The USA is Carmen Sandiego? (Enhanced) was released in 1989. The enhanced version included music composed by Tom Rettig. As this version was released just after Europe, it opened with an animated sequence featuring Carmen and her crooks escaping from a European prison. A "Deluxe" expansion pack version was released in 1992, on hybrid Windows/Macintosh in 1994, and on Macintosh in 1996. The Deluxe extended edition - an "upgrade" - of the 1985 version had CD-ROM versions released for DOS and Macintosh were released in 1992, and a Windows version was released in 1994. The game featured additional animation and a reworked interface from the 1985 version.

A rebooted version of the game was released in 1996; this version featured Lynne Thigpen in the role of The Chief, which she originated in the 1991-1996 televised game show Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?. There was also a board game adaption created by University Games titled Where in the USA is Carmen Sandiego? The Geography Mystery Game. The Carmen Sandiego franchise that began with World and U.S.A. continued into the 21st century; the latest video game entry is the 2015 title Carmen Sandiego Returns, and the fourth television series (after World, Earth, and Time) is set to air on Netflix in 2019.