It was later released for DOS PC computers in 1990.A remake of the 1975 mainframe game Oregon, as well as its 1980 microcomputer game update, The Oregon Trail tasks players with completing an arduous 2,000-mile wagon trek through the titular Oregon Trail (from Independence, Missouri to the Willamette Valley in Oregon) in the year 1848. Along the way, they visit various U.S. landmarks and must maintain their supplies and health while preparing themselves for various situations (including river crossings, occasional animal hunting, and various random events and misfortunes).Rather than the turn-based interactions of the original game, this remake includes a more robust system where players can interrupt their journey to check their supplies, change their pace and rationing, trade and talk with other emigrants, and hunt for food. The game features an improved representation of the titular route, with players encountering real-life rivers, forts, and other landmarks at a more accurate pace (with options for branching paths). Along with a more graphical interface, the game includes new features such as river crossings (where players choose how to proceed across rivers in a risk-reward system), a new hunting mini-game (where players rotate their hunter around and shoot wandering animals), NPCs (for chatting and supply trading), updated supplies (with spare wagon parts used for both trading and for certain encounters), scoring and difficulty systems, and a party system (where players can name each of their five party members and attempt to keep them all alive for score).Along with an updated revision, the game later received multiple sequels throughout the 1990's from MECC and The Learning Company, as well as numerous reboots afterwards (most of which are from Gameloft). It also received multiple spin-offs in the 1990's (including The Yukon Trail, The Amazon Trail, MayaQuest: The Mystery Trail, and Africa Trail), received dedicated card and board games in the mid-2010's, and received a dedicated handheld electronic game in 2018 (which replicates the original game with limited controls in a device resembling a classic computer).Gameplay In The Oregon Trail, the player assumes the role of the head of a five-person wagon party as they make their difficult journey west from Independence, Missouri to the Willamette Valley in Oregon. Throughout the journey, which is filled with difficult events (and sometimes random misfortunes), they must make tough decisions regarding the party's pacing and supply management. If they manage to reach the end of the route, they are scored based on their performance.Players first start by customizing the names of their party members, choosing their profession and which month to begin the journey, and their starting supplies. Both the game's profession and departure time act as the game's difficulty level, the former of which determines how much cash the player starts with (with less cash adding a higher final score multiplier) and the latter of which determines which part of the journey is more difficult (with earlier months having a more difficult start of the route and later months having a more difficult end of the route).Once on the trail, the player has to balance the morale and health of their party and beasts of burden against the need to travel quickly enough to reach Oregon before winter closes in, all while managing their dwindling supplies. This is done by selecting the pace at which the wagon party travels (Steady, Strenuous, or Grueling) as well as the size of the meals provided to the party (Filling, Meager, or Bare-Bones). There are few opportunities to re-stock equipment after setting off, barring a few Native American trading posts and some extortionate stores in forts and towns along the trail. The player can always supplement their food supply by playing a fun hunting minigame (providing they remembered to bring enough bullets).As well as forts and trading posts, the trail is dotted with interesting landmarks and treacherous river crossings. When confronted with these crossings, the player must decide whether to caulk the wagons and float across, attempt to ford the river, or wait and pay the ferry to cross (each decision comes with it's own dangers and drawbacks). Along the way the player will be hit with (usually negative) random events, which can range from one of the wagon's wheels breaking, requiring a brief stop and a spare, to a member of the party being stricken with dysentery or cholera, usually leading to death not long after. Deaths in the party leave a tombstone by the side of the road which will appear as a landmark on following playthroughs, making repeat playings a grim reminder of those who have been lost on the trail (or a hilarious reminder of a clever epitaph).If the player makes it to Oregon, they must either take the Barley tole road or raft down the Dalles. Choosing the Dalles makes the player complete a white water rafting mini-game to reach their final destination, where they are awarded a score and rank based on how many members of their party survived the trip, the speed of their journey, the provisions they had at the end, and the difficulty of their starting profession (see image for breakdown). This score is then placed on a scoreboard and given a ranking depending on where it falls in the top 10.
