Google Earth’s free game lets you track down Carmen Sandiego

Carmen Sandiego is up to her thieving tricks again, but this time she’s taken to running about on Google Earth and it’s your job to track her down in the free browser game, Where on Google Earth is Carmen Sandiego? The free game is a delightful throwback to the Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? educational game that came out back in 1985, with all the pixelated charm to go with it. 

When you open up Google Earth in your browser, you’ll notice a little red silhouette of the master thief in the bottom right corner. Once you click on it, you’ll find yourself embroiled in the ‘crowned jeweled caper’, where you’ll have to use your sleuthing skills to track down Carmen as she tries to escape across the globe with her loot. 

The game ends with the promise of more adventures to come in future, which isn’t so surprising given the recent reboot series on Netflix that sees the globe-hopping super thief make a comeback. Carmen’s voiced by Jane The Virgin’s Gina Rodriguez in the series which is said to be returning for a second season. It’s a pretty great way of using Google Earth. We have to give it an enthusiastic fedora hat tip. 

Heather Wald
Senior staff writer

I started out writing for the games section of a student-run website as an undergrad, and continued to write about games in my free time during retail and temp jobs for a number of years. Eventually, I earned an MA in magazine journalism at Cardiff University, and soon after got my first official role in the industry as a content editor for Stuff magazine. After writing about all things tech and games-related, I then did a brief stint as a freelancer before I landed my role as a staff writer here at GamesRadar+. Now I get to write features, previews, and reviews, and when I'm not doing that, you can usually find me lost in any one of the Dragon Age or Mass Effect games, tucking into another delightful indie, or drinking far too much tea for my own good.