If you're a 90s kid and want to relive your childhood, there are lots of great options to play Oregon Trail online. Find the best places to play this classic pioneer-themed computer game.
3 Places to Play Oregon Trail On Your Computer
Oregon Trail is an important part of the traditional 90s childhood, and Format called it the "most successful educational computer game of all time." The popular game taught kids about the perils of the pioneer life as you tried to get your wagon train safely across the country without dying of dysentery or succumbing to other dangers. Today, you can play versions of this classic on your home computer. Try these options.
Virtual Apple
Virtual Apple offers a good re-creation of Oregon Trail with options to speed up or slow down the game depending on your computer. This is probably the best version you will find online to play in your web browser without downloading an Apple or Commodore emulator and separate disk image file. The emulator uses Disk Images, which you do have to load (by just clicking a button) as if you were using actual floppy disks.
Classic Reload.com
ClassicReload.com is another place to play the classic version of this game. The site did a software upgrade in 2018, and the game currently rates 4.2/5 stars. You can find great information about how to play and hints for playing it on a modern computer.
Travel Oregon
The tourism site dedicated to encouraging Oregon vacations has made an updated online version of Oregon Trail. You'll notice a few quirky, modern-day, Oregon-centric changes to Travel Oregon's version of this playable classic. For instance, you may find you have the option to drink a craft beer become a yoga instructor instead of leading a wagon train. It's a fun revamp if you're not too set on the details being exactly the same.
Play Oregon Trail on Your Phone
You can also download Oregon Trail apps for your phone so you can play the game on the go. Gameloft has designed a mobile version of the game that allows you to take your wagon train with you on the commuter train (or the car, bus, or most other places). iPhone users can download it at the App Store, and Android users can get it on Google Play. Both versions are free but have ads and in-app purchases.
Basic Gameplay
If you need a quick refresher before you play online or on your phone, this will help. After all, for many people, it's been decades since you played the leader of a wagon train working it way from Missouri to Willamette Valley in Oregon.
Hunting
One of the biggest features of the game is hunting. Since pioneer life hinged on how much food you had to eat, hunting is vital in the game. You are able to hunt bison, rabbit, squirrel, deer, elk, and bears. The number of bullets your party has determines how much you can shoot. Also, you can only take so much back to the party.
Avoiding Death
Death is also a big factor in the game. You goal is to reach Oregon without losing a party member, but with the diseases that can be caught, you might sometimes wonder how anyone could make it. Members can get ill and possibly die from snakebites, measles, typhoid, exhaustion, and other problems associated with pioneer life. When someone dies, a funeral is given and you can write a little saying on the dead party member's tombstone.
How to Score
There is a small scoring aspect to the game, and your final score is determined by these factors:
- The number of family and party members left and their health level
- What profession you chose (like a carpenter or farmer, for example)
- What possessions you arrived in Oregon with
- Your final tally for cash
Bookmark and Play for Free
Playing Oregon Trail on your phone or online is a great way to pass the time and relive some of the fun moments of your childhood. No matter where you choose to play, here's hoping you don't die of dysentery!
