The Oregon Trail (1985)
Schools and teachers oftentimes are at odds with video games, feeling they have to fight with them to get the attention out of the students required to learn. The Oregon Trail however, is one of the few that break the mold in that regard. It is one of the few games that can be found in many schools across the nation. It has been around for over three decades and has been a part of schools just as long, meaning children and adults of today can both be excited at the thought of the 8-bit educational game.
The Oregon Trail is an 8-bit game that has the player take the reins of a traveler in the 19th century. The player's character and a party of a few people embark on the historical and titular route, the Oregon Trail. Throughout the game, the player must make decisions on how to further proceed through the trail. For example, the player can come across a river and decide whether to cross by going straight through or attempting to float the wagon across. A bad decision at a wrong time often results in the death of a member of the player's party, with a game over happening when each member of the party has died.
The game is considered extremely difficult, and is perhaps why it has been such a popular game for students. It is rather fitting of course, as it is an educational game. The real life Oregon Trail was a harsh trail that did result in many pioneers dying in hopes of finding a new home. In a place where there is only learning and tedious work, it was fun for many to get a break from that and challenge one another to see who can beat the game or achieve a higher score. Little did many of its young players know, with each play-through resulting in failure, the game was educating them on the struggles of the real life Oregon Trail.
I told myself not to delve into the world of video games in hopes to avoid making my blog too informal and personal. This is one game that I know has significance enough to address. It has been touched by millions who will now remember a part of history that would not be nearly as well known to the general public.
Oregon Trail was one of those games I would try playing for hours but I never felt like I could beat it. It was so stressful as a kid trying to make sure all my people stayed alive.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember this game specifically, but I do remember playing similar games in school. I would spend hours playing these games. This video game goes to show you that there can be a fun and educational game. Thanks for the fun post.
ReplyDeleteNick H.
This is such a wild post, I never knew about this game and hearing your passion and talking about the game is awesome. The impact this game has made is really interested especially finding out that it could potentially be video game history material.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, I remember playing it in class all the way up to 5th grade and everyone naming characters off of kids in class. The whole period was us yelling at each other announcing who had died and by what, seeing who survived the longest. I also remember playing Ispy CDs in 2nd grade.
ReplyDeleteThis is super fascinating and not heard about a lot. It is odd to think that a game can have such value, since video games and students are given such a bad reputation! Super cool that you would look into this and blog about it!
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