Carmen Sandiego

"Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?" a question that was asked time and time again over the speakers of my parents desktop computer when I was a child. This fun detective game teaches its players about geography, history and other worldly facts. I remember using my copy of the World Almanac to look up capital cities and flags of countries that we're given as clues in the game. There are also many references to historical events throughout the world, as well as cultural icons. This game is somewhat addicting and progresses through many stages of catching villains who have stolen things from around the world. The ultimate goal is to catch the elusive Carmen Sandiego, but not before you catch the other villains in her cohort. The game also progresses through a series of promotions for the detective and the cases increase in difficulty as the detective gets closer to catching Carmen.

Attention: This game easily keeps the players' attention as it has a bright, cartoony interface, entertaining audio clips and a fun progressive series of levels and promotions. It will keep the attention of any player but is geared more toward children from 8 to 13.

Relevance: Though this game is a classic (to me at least) it has managed to stay relevant. Users of Facebook are now able to play on the website, earning points and badges. Users are required to build a team of detectives and can either use artificial intelligence or real friends from their Facebook page on their team. I believe this improves relevance greatly, especially now that so many online games are collaborative.

Confidence: The game builds confidence of the players by awarding them badges and promotions throughout the game. This positive reinforcement comes along with newspaper clippings that mention the detective catching the culprits, which I remember being very rewarding when I played this as a child. If a detective fails a case, they do not get demoted but simply are given another shot at a different case. Another part of this game that I believe builds confidence is the fact that the levels start out very easy and simply teach you how to use the interface. The levels increase in difficulty quickly enough to keep the player entertained, but not so quickly as to confuse the player.

Satisfaction: The player will feel more satisfied after each level, as their points, badges and rank continue to increase. On the Facebook version of the game, you can compare your score with other friends who also play the game and compete, not only against the levels but against each other. The players satisfaction is improved each level they pass and once they reach the ultimate goal of catching Carmen Sandiego, they can do it all again, with new cases and new criminals to catch.