The Oregon Trail

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Description

As a covered wagon party of pioneers, you head out west from Independence, Missouri to the Willamette River and valley in Oregon. You first must stock up on provisions, and then, while traveling, make decisions such as when to rest, how much food to eat, etc. The Oregon Trail incorporates simulation elements and planning ahead, along with discovery and adventure, as well as mini-game-like activities (hunting and floating down the Dalles River).

Screenshots

Promo Images

There are no promo images for this game

Alternate Titles

• "The Oregon Trail: Classic Edition" -- Softkey CD-ROM release title
• "Oregon" -- original title

Part of the Following Groups

• Gameplay feature: Hunger / Thirst
• Gameplay feature: Hunting
• Oregon Trail series
• Setting: Western / Old West
• Trail games

User Reviews

A fun game, but it doesn't feel like you're really traveling the trail	DOS	OceansDaughter (106)
A classic of its period and genre.	Apple II	PCGamer77 (3001)

Critic Reviews

All Game Guide	Windows	1998		70
SuperKids	Windows	1998	3.5 out of 5	70

Forums

Topic	# Posts	Last Post
Notes for later submissions...	10	Pseudo_Intellectual (52279) Dec 07, 2011

Trivia

1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die

The Oregon Trail appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by Octopus Books (ISBN 978-184403-681-3).

Development

From the manual:

The forerunner of The Oregon Trail was the original Oregon program designed by the Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium (MECC) and released on the MECC Time Share System in 1975. Adaptations for microcomputers and subsequent revisions were released in 1981, 1983, and 1985. The most recent major revision, upon which this IBM/Tandy version is based, was created by a MECC design team that included Tim Anderson, Philip Bouchard, Charolyn Kapplinger, Shirley Keran, John Krenz, Roger Shimada, Steve Splinter, and Bill Way. This IBM/Tandy version was created by Charolyn Kapplinger, Ed Gratz, Mark Paquette, Larry Phenow, and Julie Redland.

History

The original The Oregon Trail was a teletype version was co-developed by Paul Dillenberger, Bill Heinemann, and Don Rawitsch and first publicly shown in Rawitsch's history class at Carleton college in December 3, 1971. Rawitsch then took the game to his new job at MECC.

Related Web Sites

• On the Oregon Trail (A short story inspired by this game, authored by Caitlin Horrocks and published in the Jan '09 edition of the Hobart literary journal.)