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The Oregon Trail (series)

Updated: 12/20/2025, 1:08:56 PM Wikipedia source

The Oregon Trail is a series of strategy computer games. The first game was originally developed by Don Rawitsch, Bill Heinemann, and Paul Dillenberger in 1971 and produced by the Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium (MECC) in 1974. The original game was designed to teach eighth grade schoolchildren about the realities of 19th-century pioneer life on the Oregon Trail. The player assumes the role of a wagon leader guiding a party of settlers from Independence, Missouri, to Oregon's Willamette Valley via a covered wagon in 1848.

Infobox

Genre
Edutainment
Developer
MECC
Publishers
Broderbund The Learning Company Gameloft
Creators
Don Rawitsch Bill Heinemann Paul Dillenberger
First release
The Oregon TrailDecember 3, 1971
Latest release
The Oregon TrailApril 2, 2021
Spin-offs
The Amazon TrailThe Yukon TrailMayaQuest: The Mystery TrailAfrica Trail

Tables

The Oregon Trail games · History › Games
2022
Gameloft
Role(s)
Nintendo Switch, Windows
Title
Year
Developer
Publisher
Platform
The Oregon Trail
1971
Don Rawitsch, Bill Heinemann, and Paul Dillenberger
Not published
HP 2100
OREGON
1975
Modified by Don Rawitsch
MECC (on timeshare system)
CDC Cyber 70, HP2000
OREGON
1978
John Cook (ported from timeshare version)
MECC (as download)
Apple II
OREGON (part of Elementary Volume 6)
1980
Unchanged from 1978 version
MECC (on floppy disk)
Apple II
Oregon (part of Expeditions)
1983
MECC (ported from 1980 Apple II version)
MECC
Atari 8-bit
Oregon (part of Expeditions)
1984
MECC (ported from 1980 Apple II version)
MECC
Commodore 64, Radio Shack TRS-80
The Oregon Trail
1985
R. Philip Bouchard (designer), MECC
MECC
Apple II
The Oregon Trail
1990
MECC (remake of 1985 Apple II version)
MECC
DOS
The Oregon Trail
1991
MECC
MECC
Macintosh (B&W)
The Oregon Trail Deluxe
1992
MECC (ported from 1991 Macintosh version)
MECC
DOS (with mouse support)
The Oregon Trail
1993
MECC (port of The Oregon Trail Deluxe)
MECC
Windows 3.x, Windows
Oregon Trail II
1995
Wayne Studer (designer), MECC
SoftKey
DOS, Windows 3.x, Windows, Macintosh
The Oregon Trail 3rd Edition
1997
The Learning Company
The Learning Company
Windows, Macintosh
The Oregon Trail 4th Edition
1999
The Learning Company
The Learning Company
Windows, Macintosh
The Oregon Trail 5th Edition
2001
The Learning Company
The Learning Company
Windows, Macintosh
The Oregon Trail
2009
Gameloft Shanghai, Gameloft New York
Gameloft
DSiware
The Oregon Trail: Gold Rush
2010
Gameloft
Gameloft
J2ME
The Oregon Trail HD
2010
Gameloft
Gameloft
Windows Phone, Android, iOS
The Oregon Trail: American Settler
2011
Gameloft
Gameloft
iOS, J2ME
The Oregon Trail
2011
DoubleTapGames LLC
Crave Entertainment
Wii, 3DS
The Oregon Trail Card Game
2016
Pressman Toy Corporation
Pressman Toy Corporation
Card game
The Oregon Trail
2018
Basic Fun! (ported from 1990 DOS version)
Basic Fun!
Handheld device
The Oregon Trail: Journey to Willamette Valley
2018
Pressman Toy Corporation
Pressman Toy Corporation
Board game
The Oregon Trail: StepTracker
2022
Gameloft
Gameloft
Apple Watch
The Oregon Trail
2021
Gameloft
Apple
Apple Arcade
2022
Gameloft
Nintendo Switch, Windows
2023
Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
2024
PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5

References

  1. "The Legend of The Oregon Trail"
    https://web.archive.org/web/20130731090300/http://mentalfloss.com/article/51930/legend-oregon-trail
  2. Yester: Then For Now
    https://web.archive.org/web/20180830073852/https://yesterthenfornow.kinja.com/an-interview-with-the-teacher-turned-developer-behind-o-1529659314
  3. "Oregon Trail: How three Minnesotans forged its path"
    https://web.archive.org/web/20110123012937/http://www.citypages.com/content/printVersion/1740595/
  4. "Hewlett-Packard HP 2000 Time Shared BASIC"
    http://www.decodesystems.com/hp2000/
  5. The Philipendium
    https://medium.com/the-philipendium/4626ea09e184
  6. The Atlantic
    https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/09/the-true-story-of-real-life-oregon-trail/380730/
  7. Creative Computing
    https://archive.org/stream/creativecomputing-1978-05/Creative_Computing_v04_n03_1978_May-June#page/n139/mode/2up
  8. format.com
    https://www.format.com/magazine/features/design/you-have-died-of-dysentery-oregon-trail-design
  9. Interview with Dale Lafrenz. Charles Babbage Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis (accessed July 1, 2012)
    http://purl.umn.edu/107423
  10. Oregon Trail Game Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
    http://www.abandon5000.com/download/educational-games/oregon-trail-deluxe.html
  11. "The Oregon Trail: 3rd Edition for Windows (1997) – MobyGames"
    http://www.mobygames.com/game/oregon-trail-3rd-edition
  12. "Amazon.com: Oregon Trail 4th Edition: Software"
    https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00000JLNL
  13. "Amazon.com: The Oregon Trail, 5th Edition: Software"
    https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00005LBVS
  14. PocketGamer.biz
    https://www.pocketgamer.biz/news/24637/gameloft-primes-five-hd-games-for-windows-phone-7-us-launch/
  15. pressmantoy.com
    https://web.archive.org/web/20191107233317/https://www.pressmantoy.com/product/the-oregon-trail-card-game/
  16. The Verge
    https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/3/24/17155538/the-oregon-trail-handheld-portable-game-review
  17. PC Gamer
    https://www.pcgamer.com/get-the-oregon-trail-handheld-game-for-just-dollar850-right-now/
  18. pressmantoy.com
    https://www.pressmantoy.com/product/the-oregon-trail-journey-to-willamette-valley/
  19. mashable.com
    https://mashable.com/article/oregon-trail-nintendo-switch
  20. "Educational computing for the masses"
    https://archive.today/20070628002639/http://siliconuser.com/?q=node/12
  21. David H. Ahl's BASIC Computer Adventures
  22. "The Oregon Trail: Contracting dysentery has never been so much fun"
    https://web.archive.org/web/20141102180504/http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/r/Mobile/The+Oregon+Trail/review.asp?c=7058
  23. Facebook Oregon Trail Application: Social Networking Website's Version of the Original Educational Game
  24. "Oregon Trail iPhone Hands-On"
    https://web.archive.org/web/20141102182654/http://www.ign.com/articles/2009/02/25/oregon-trail-iphone-hands-on
  25. "The Oregon Trail Out Now-On"
    https://web.archive.org/web/20090314021427/http://theportablegamer.com/2009/03/the-oregon-trail-out-now/
  26. On the Trail of the Oregon Trail Archived July 6, 2011, at the Wayback Machine by Jimmy Maher on filfre.net (source code
    http://www.filfre.net/tag/the-oregon-trail
  27. "Classic games coming to Facebook"
    https://web.archive.org/web/20141102182902/https://games.yahoo.com/blogs/plugged-in/classic-games-coming-facebook-348.html
  28. "Carmen Sandiego, Oregon Trail on Facebook will be no more next year"
    https://web.archive.org/web/20141102183341/http://blog.games.com/2011/12/19/carmen-sandiego-oregon-trail-facebook-close/
  29. GameSpot
    https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/oregon-trail-review/1900-6347711/
  30. "Organ Trail"
    https://web.archive.org/web/20141102183505/http://hatsproductions.com/organtrail.html
  31. "Oregon Trail Live"
    http://www.oregontraillive.com
  32. "The Trail To Oregon!"
    http://www.teamstarkid.com/trail-to-oregon
  33. "The Oregon Trail Game 5K"
    https://web.archive.org/web/20150716081742/http://www.orcity.org/community/event/oregon-trail-game-5k
  34. "The Oregon Trail is back, but this time it's a card game"
    https://www.cnet.com/news/the-oregon-trail-is-back-as-a-card-game-and-includes-all-the-trail-traveling-anyone-could-want/
  35. "OG Trail"
    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=tech.ula.ogtrail
  36. "'The Oregon Trail': The Iconic Video Game is Being Made Into Movie Musical [Exclusive]"
    https://collider.com/the-oregon-trail-movie-musical-josh-gordon-will-speck-benj-pasek-justin-paul/
  37. "'The Oregon Trail' Musical Film Adaptation in Development From 'Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile' Directors, Songwriting Duo Pasek and Paul"
    https://variety.com/2022/film/news/the-oregon-trail-game-musical-adaptation-in-development-1235394208/
  38. "'Oregon Trail' Action-Comedy Movie In Development at Apple (Exclusive)"
    https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/oregon-trail-movie-apple-1236045454/
  39. Variety
    https://variety.com/2024/film/news/oregon-trail-film-apple-pasek-paul-1236191400/
  40. "A New Spin On A Classic Video Game Gives Native Americans Better Representation"
    https://www.npr.org/2021/05/12/996007048/no-bows-and-arrows-and-no-broken-english-on-the-updated-oregon-trail
  41. "'The Oregon Trail' is back—and a little less racist"
    https://www.fastcompany.com/90645359/the-oregon-trail-is-back-and-a-little-less-racist
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