City Pages Details The History Of Oregon Trail

For many who grew up in the '80s, their first exposure to gaming was actually in school, playing MECC's classic pioneer simulation Oregon Trail. The game's simplistic graphics and (for its day) fairly deep sim aspects made Oregon Trail as addictive as it was educational. Even today, the game retains a tremendous cult following, spawning a line of nostalgic t-shirts. The game has been released for iPhone, where it has been purchased an impressive 2.9 million times.

City Pages, a weekly newspaper in the Twin Cities, recently printed a great cover story on the game, which was created by a trio of public school teachers in Minnesota in 1971. It's a well researched piece that finally brings to light the game's creators -- Don Rawitsch, Bill Heinemann, and Paul Dillenberger. Check out the City Pages story online to find out more about this fascinating tale – unless you get bitten by a snake or die of dysentery first.

Source: City Pages