Carmen Sandiego Review: Not Quite The Same Super-Thief

Carmen Sandiego is back in video game form, although a lot has changed since her original thievery-filled chases. The game feels reminiscent of the original titles from the 80s and 90s in gameplay and takes its story from the 2019 animated series of the same name. Originally dubbed The World's Greatest Thief, Carmen still wears her classic red trenchcoat and red hat, but now seems to work for ACME on the good side of the law rather than working for the evil VILE organization.

Carmen Sandiego's new video game actually released on mobile devices through Netflix Games earlier this year before its recent launch on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch. On all platforms, the game features vibrant graphics and some voice acting, although the situations where voice acting is and isn't used feels a bit haphazard. Additionally, though it has both a main campaign and "cold case" side quests dubbed the ACME Files, players must bounce back and forth, completing missions in each unrelated thread in order to level up enough to progress, which can take away from the story.

Carmen Sandiego Has Changed A Lot Since 1985

The Story Of Carmen Sandiego 2025

It is important to keep in mind that the story for this game is based on the Carmen Sandiego animated series from 2019 and not her previous video games from 1985 through 1998. We get to play as Carmen Sandiego throughout this game, using some of her state-of-the-art gadgets and stealthy abilities. After a masked thief takes off with an invisible-cloaking jet, Carmen gets her beach vacation interrupted by a call from Player, a tech-savvy sidekick NPC. Player helps throughout the game and talks to Carmen as a bit of a guide and assistant.

Carmen then heads off on a globe-trotting adventure to help ACME track down VILE operatives, with plenty of distrust from ACME's chief about whether the true villain is Carmen. The story then runs much like the familiar games of my youth, except with a definite jump in story from what I remember.

The Gameplay Of Carmen Sandiego Has A Similar Thread To 1985

Learning About History And Putting Clues Together To Chase Thieves

From a gameplay perspective alone, it feels like a modernized version of the original games. Players travel to a city where they can visit three locations and get clues about the criminal and where they are heading next. They can use these clues to narrow down the suspect list and eventually issue a warrant, which is needed before they catch the VILE villain. Then, they must figure out where, from a list of three possibilities, the crook has gone based on leads gained in the city.

Live-Action Carmen Sandiego Movie Will Reveal Character's Backstory

Gina Rodriguez, who will play Carmen Sandiego in the upcoming Netflix movie of the same name, confirms the film will explore the thief's backstory.

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Each of the three locations in the city allows players to learn more about the real-life area and its history, walk around the location, complete minigames, and talk to witnesses or even henchmen. This gameplay is where the meat of the game lies, with puzzles and minigames galore and sneaky little moments of education to learn about everything from the Vikings to Constantinople. Oddly, though, there are only 16 locations in the game that players are continuously bouncing between. It does feel as though for a modern game they could have added more variety, but each are well done.

In the ACME Files "cold cases", players can also revisit these same locations in a retro feel using graphics of the original games. Those who purchased the Deluxe Edition can also relive the nostalgia with the Where in the World Anniversary Caper, where players are chasing down Carmen once again as they did long ago.

Cracking Cases Through Puzzles And Clever Minigames

Although Sometimes A Bit Repetitive In Nature

While tracking down clues, Carmen Sandiego is often confronted with obstacles that players have to work through in the form of minigames. There are many of these that come up, including stealthily following and pickpocketing NPCs, gliding through the air, using a grapple hook to jump across buildings, cracking safes, lockpicking, and hacking through moving wires to make sure none cross each other.

answering a math question in the cold case ACME Files in Carmen Sandiego game 2025

The minigames start out pretty simplistic, which made me originally think this was designed for a young audience, but then many of them do ramp up in difficulty a bit as the game goes on, although never reaching a point where they could be considered hard. Each uses different approaches and mechanics to keep things interesting, and are relatively short to finish.

Players Are Almost Forced To Do The Retro Games To Level Up

Unless Someone Wants To Grind Through Repeating Quests

I am a person who likes to play straight through a campaign for the story and then go back and do side quests. In Carmen Sandiego, that isn't practical unless someone wants to replay levels and grind just to level up. The game expects people to do a chapter of the campaign and then flip over to the ACME Files to do some of the retro stories until they level up enough to come back and do the campaign.

The ACME Files also have level requirements, so at a certain point, players are forced to go back to the main campaign before they can keep doing the side quests. This serves to prevent players from just finishing all the side quests so they can go through the story all in one go. The constant jumping between the older, retro style and the modern campaign storyline works fine, but can also take away from any immersion one gets from the story.

Final Thoughts And Review Score

ScreenRant Gives Carmen Sandiego 6/10

One of the biggest hurdles I see with Carmen Sandiego is the price. It's an engaging and fun adventure with elements of the nostalgia that I was hoping for, particularly in the Deluxe Edition's added Where in the World Anniversary Caper. However, it is a relatively short game with a lot of repetition and some strange bugs, which leaves it feeling more like a mobile game rather than a full $30 or $40 game (it launched earlier this year for iOS and Android through Netflix games).

Currently, the final chapter of the campaign is still "coming soon", which leaves players on a very unfortunate cliffhanger until that chapter is added to the game. Developers had originally hoped to have this added on launch day, so hopefully it truly is coming soon, as the narrative is engaging enough that it is frustrating to get so close and not be able to see the resolution. Despite these frustrations, I still found some joy in this game. Carmen may have changed a lot over the years, but I still generally enjoyed Carmen Sandiego.