Paying homage to one of the finest, if not the most remembered, educational computer games created: The Oregon Trail. Growing up as a kid of the 90’s, many of us can remember the weekly computer lab we attended in grade school. For me, computer lab began in the third grade, 1991. The idea of a computer in every home was not yet a concept. When the class got to use the computers, it was a big deal. However, we didn’t have enough computers for each person. So we typically sat down in pairs or even small groups of 3-4, and huddled around a single, off-white (more like yellowing) Macintosh.
The Oregon Trail was created by Don Rawitsch, Bill Heinemann, and Paul Dillenberger in 1971, as an educational game. Its purpose was to teach students critical thinking, problem solving, and of course, a bit of US history. But the significance of learning to a bunch of third graders was non-existent. For us, it was simply a game. However, looking back now, it was only the beginning to learning some of life’s very important lessons. Lessons that we can only hope future generations will actually pick up.
Just recently, my bestie and I got to talking about old video games (after getting sucked into hours of playing Mortal Kombat 11 on the Nintendo Switch). Upon my first web search for more info on The Oregon Trail, I stumbled upon a website that allows uses to go back and play one of the very first versions of the game! Before we knew it, we were fully invested and hitting the trail to Oregon City, Oregon, from Independence, Missouri.
Let’s get back to the “important lessons” that I hope generations of today are learning. Take those children of the 90’s and turn them in to 40-year-olds. Now highly educated and established with family and in business. It’s time to play The Oregon Trail. A true game of bartering and survival, critical thinking and problem solving.
We very quickly spent all of our budget on clothes and food. Not paying attention to the fact that it is important to pick the right character. We had no clue that there is a benefit to selecting the “banker.” We also forgot that it’s important to properly ration the food. So here we are, two women with a full, fancy wardrobe, dining like queens. As we approach a river with our oxen and wagon, we have the option to ford the river, take the ferry, or caulk the wagon and float across. “Of course we should take the ferry,” we say aloud. Well, we don’t have any money. We spent it all on clothes.
One by one our characters slowly got sick, starved, and eventually died (mainly of Cholera). I learned that I can’t hunt for food. Once I actually did get the hang of it, I found out you can only carry so much meat back to the wagon. The extra kill shots are not worth celebrating.
Contrary to the end result, the rest of the evening spent playing The Oregon Trail was an absolute blast. Not only was it a fun trip down memory lane, but it was a hard and fast lesson that these skills learned as kids can easily be forgotten. Have we become so bougie that we can’t even survive The Oregon Trail? Nah. It’s simply a game.
Are you ready to experience more of this classic game? There have been many renditions for PC, web, and various gaming consoles. I found this version at oregontrail.ws. It’s free to play and there are some fun facts and trivia about the game found here as well! It’s a true throwback to the OG Oregon Trail.