Carmen Sandiego is making a return to the gaming world in 2025

Carmen Sandiego, ’90s icon and teacher of geography for an entire generation of children, was brought back for a new generation by Netflix in 2019, but she hasn’t starred in a video game since she began teaching math back in 2015. 

I mean, there was the interactive movie released by Netflix in 2020, but I’m not sure whether that counts as a video game. Either way, it’s been at least four years. My childhood memories are filled with weekend mornings watching Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? and, rather bizarrely, preventing her from turning the entire world illiterate in the 1997 game Word Detective. 

Today, Gameloft, HarperCollins, and Netflix have revealed that they’re teaming up to bring Carmen Sandiego back to not only Netflix, but also consoles and PC as well. This is exciting news for anyone with fond memories of past games, but this one is set to be a little different.

Carmen Sandiego will be a single-player puzzle adventure game, which will see the player thrown into the role of Carmen herself for the very first time in the franchise’s history. Throughout the story campaign, players will need to use high-tech gadgetry and spy tactics to solve crimes and take down the evil VILE. 

Of course, some things will never change and although this latest addition to the game series will be played through an entirely different perspective, we’ll still be sent off to explore the world as we battle VILE. On the plus side, at least we’ll never lose track of Carmen this time around. 

Based on the Netflix series which ran from 2019 to 2021, Carmen Sandiego is set to release in the first quarter of 2025. It’ll be coming to iOS and Android first, via Netflix Games, with a later release in the same quarter for those on Consoles or PC. 

According to the game’s publishers, Carmen Sandiego will be filled with easter eggs from not only the Netflix series, but also previous games and shows, including the 1994 animated series Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? There’s also a classic game mode called ‘The Acme Files’, which is described as ‘a tribute’ to Carmen Sandiego games released in the 80s. 

I can’t wait to dive back into the world of Carmen Sandiego, and I’m looking forward to seeing what kinds of puzzles will be thrown our way when the game releases next year.