Put on the Carmen Sandiego theme song, pull up Google Earth, and get ready for your first assignment. It’s time to get to work, gumshoes.
Google Earth dropped a welcome surprise Wednesday: A new version of the classic ’90s game Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?
The trailblazing PC game—which made its debut in 1985—taught children (and adults) about geography as they traversed the globe, chasing clues, and the game’s eponymous villain.
But for a modern way to access its nostalgic fun, you’ll have to keep your eyes peeked for a special Pegman icon in Google Earth on the Chrome browser, or in either its Android and iOS apps. That’s right—the new Carmen Sandiego is an Easter Egg inside Google Earth, not an app of its own. Need a clue? Here’s where super sleuths can find their first assignment: The Crown Jewels Caper.
Google worked with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, the owner of the Carmen Sandiego brand, to create a game that would do justice to the bold, red bandit.
After seemingly giving up a life of crime two decades ago, Carmen Sandiego is seemingly enjoying a bit of a resurgence in 2019. A Netflix show starring Gina Rodriguez made its debut in January. But this time, instead of positioning Carmen as a villain, the show focuses on her backstory, and casts the famous lady in the red coat in a new light—this time as a bit of a hero. What in the world?