Carmen Sandiego's ThinkQuick Challenge is a "game show-themed" edutainment computer game for kids ages 8–12. The title, which is a part of the Carmen Sandiego franchise, it was released by The Learning Company on June 1, 1999. it is a four player game, and runs on the Mohawk engine.
Plot[]
Carmen Sandiego and her six Master Thieves (Gnash, Madame Le Zaarde, Snarla Swing, Dr. Depth, Count Hypno, and Jane Reaction) have sent KnowBots (SynicBot, HALieBot, Pure-EBot, BruiserBot, DimBot, and Touchy-FeelyBot) to steal the world's data and information from various texts. In response Acme Agent Chase Devineaux recruits additional agents to counter this worldwide threat. Carmen Sandiego, eager for a challenge awaits the agents.
There is no actual end to the game, as after the defeat and capture of Carmen's minions, the game will just restart with them free as if the previous events never happened.
Gameplay[]
The object of the game is to get past Carmen's KnowBots and correctly answer questions to capture Carmen's Master Thieves. At the beginning of each mission, Chase Devineaux, the ACME Detective Agency's top agent will describe the suspect and the vital stolen knowledge. There are three difficulty levels, that cater for three age groups respectively and start players with a certain number of Energy Points. KnowBots will try to stop the ACME agent from disabling them (or delay the destruction and automatic surrender of 1/2 of the code that reveals the suspect's location) by challenging them to several Jeopardy!-like rounds of questions in the subject areas of History, Geography, Math, Crime Scene (which is similar to a memory game), English, Life Science, Physical Science, or Art and Music. If the player(s) answer correctly, they gain a certain number of Knowledge Points dependent on the type of question being asked (For example, Multipick questions are worth 950 Knowledge Points and Rapid Fire Sort questions are worth 200 Knowledge Points apiece). If they get a question incorrect, they lose one point of Capture Energy, which is essential to the capture of the Master Thief. Once at the Master Thief's hideout, the player needs to solve a unique puzzle to enter.
The game also offers a multiplayer option in which the player can play with friends. There are two types of multiplayer modes: The players can play cooperatively or competitively. If the player choose to play cooperatively, they will work in teams and score the same number of points if one player answers a question correctly. Whereas in competition, it is vice versa. The player with the most capture energy will have the opportunity to capture the thief, but if there is a tie in capture energy, the player with the most Knowledge Points will have the opportunity to capture the thief. Players also have the option to create their own questions as they wish and up to 50 questions using Multipick, YinYang (True/False), Sequencer, Matchmaker, and Gridlock (Finding all the answers in a graph).
Players outwit the KnowBots in a game-show type competition.
Development[]
The 1000 questions over 7 subjects in the game were written and developed by teachers. The game was first to give Carmen Sandiego players a multiplayer option. The title reviews curriculum for fourth- through sixth-graders.
There was a promotion where if players picked up their copy from CompUSA8, they would be entered into a draw with the chance to win Carmen Sandiego prizes. There was also a competition called "2000 TECHNOLOGY & LEARNING Teacher of the Year Awards program", with Learning Company as one of the sponsors and offering copies of the game as prizes for state winners.
Characters[]
Carmen's Master Thieves[]
- Count Hypno
- Dr. Depth
- Dr. Ima LeZaarde (as Madame LeZaarde)
- Jane Reaction
- Otto Readmore (as Gnash)
- Snarla Swing
Locations[]
Reception[]
Gallery[]
Screenshots[]
Trivia[]
External links[]
- Carmen Sandiego's ThinkQuick Challenge on Wikipedia
- Carmen Sandiego's ThinkQuick Challenge Review on SuperKids
| Carmen Sandiego games | ||
|---|---|---|
| Video Games | Broderbund | World (1985) • U.S.A (1986) • Europe (1988) • Prodigy (1988) • Time (1989) • North Dakota (1989) • Japan (1989) • America's Past (1991) • Space (1993) • Junior Detective (1995) • World (1996) • U.S.A. (1996) • Time (1997) • Word Detective (1997) • Math Detective (1998) • Amtrak (1998) |
| The Learning Company | ThinkQuick Challenge (1999) • Treasures of Knowledge (2001) • The Secret of the Stolen Drums (2004) • Gameloft (2008) • Mystère au Bout du Monde (2009) • Adventures in Math (2011) • Luggage (Unknown) • Facebook (2011) • Returns (2015) | |
| Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | Trivia • Google Earth • Handheld • To Steal or Not To Steal • Carmen Sandiego (2025 Video Game) | |
| Board Games | Original Franchise | World (1992) • U.S.A. (1993) • Junior Detective (1994) • Space • (1995) Time (1996) • V.I.L.E. Files |
| Reboot | World Card Game • ACME's Most Wanted • Capitals | |
| Other | The ClueFinders: Mystery Mansion Arcade (cameo) • Music • Universe | |