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Niagara

(11,876 posts)
Fri Apr 3, 2026, 09:15 PM 7 hrs ago

You have died from dysentery

The Oregon Trail was an educational and strategy computer game that I got the chance to play in junior high.


Players start in Missouri, a Midwestern state that marked the beginning of the American frontier in the early 19th Century. You select travel companions and choose supplies before facing obstacles on the trail, including broken wagon wheels, weather, snake bites and more. Activities along the way keep things interesting, including a hunting mini-game and managing the health of the party.


It wasn't an easy game to play either. I died from dysentery plenty of times. I believe that last time that I played as an adult and I drowned crossing a hardcore river in my covered wagon.







I think I'm going to play the game tomorrow morning after my house-keeping patrol duties are completed.


https://www.visitoregon.com/the-oregon-trail-game-online/

12 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
You have died from dysentery (Original Post) Niagara 7 hrs ago OP
Now you're bringing back memories! True Dough 7 hrs ago #1
Nostalgic computer games Niagara 7 hrs ago #4
Here's one more True Dough 7 hrs ago #8
Thank you, True Niagara 7 hrs ago #10
Designed in Minnesota IbogaProject 7 hrs ago #2
I was so fortunate to have the experience to play this game, Iboga Niagara 7 hrs ago #5
I discovered this with my kid IbogaProject 7 hrs ago #7
It's not easy peasy either lol Niagara 7 hrs ago #9
I loved it, was played in class as part of curriculum. JMCKUSICK 7 hrs ago #3
I love it as well, John Niagara 7 hrs ago #6
Was Alcove Spring in Kansas one of the locations in that game? highplainsdem 6 hrs ago #11
At least they didn't call it the "bloody flux". eppur_se_muova 6 hrs ago #12

True Dough

(26,708 posts)
1. Now you're bringing back memories!
Fri Apr 3, 2026, 09:22 PM
7 hrs ago

I had a buddy with a TRS-80 computer. He had a few word-based games where you make choices to decide your fate. I can't remember the names of all of them but one was The Oregon Trail and The King of Chicago was another one (that one was about the mafia).

Niagara

(11,876 posts)
4. Nostalgic computer games
Fri Apr 3, 2026, 09:36 PM
7 hrs ago

I remember a few other games too I just don't recall the names.

IbogaProject

(5,921 posts)
2. Designed in Minnesota
Fri Apr 3, 2026, 09:27 PM
7 hrs ago

The game was loosely based on a statistical analysis from a large collection of diaries from folks who wagon trained out west in that period. It went through a few versions leading to the 1985 version some just slightly younger than my self encountered on the Apple IIe.

The Oregon Trail was created in 1971 by student teachers Don Rawitsch, Bill Heinemann, and Paul Dillenberger in Minneapolis to make history class engaging. Originally a text-based teletype game, it simulated a 19th-century westward journey, which Rawitsch later updated in 1974 for the Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium (MECC) to include more historical accuracy and Random events


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IbogaProject

(5,921 posts)
7. I discovered this with my kid
Fri Apr 3, 2026, 09:39 PM
7 hrs ago

We hacked through it one afternoon sometime in the last 10 years.

eppur_se_muova

(41,967 posts)
12. At least they didn't call it the "bloody flux".
Fri Apr 3, 2026, 10:50 PM
6 hrs ago

Get teacher to explain how it got that name.

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