Guest Game 2: The Oregon Trail - Final Rating

Trickster's Note: The below post (and indeed all posts for The Oregon Trail) was written by guest blogger Ilmari Jauhiainen.

We've seen lot of games on Trickster's blog, but I think none have so obviously not been adventure games. Presumably Oregon Trail cannot then score very high, even if it shines otherwise, but we'll see how it will fare under my critical eye.

Puzzles and Solvability
This is simple: Oregon Trail has no puzzles, but relies on other obstacles, like resource management and simple action sequences. I might be nice and give some consolation points, but if I must punish the game for its non-adventurishness in some area, I think it must be here.
Rating: 0

If this is closest to a puzzle it gets, it's definitely not an adventure game.

Interface and Inventory
I really have nothing major to complain about with the interface. The menu system might feel a bit primitive and I certainly missed mouse support, but the interface is rather intuitive and instructions for the more complex sections of the game (like the hunting) are readily available, if you just are patient enough to read it. Inventory is also a simple, but efficient list of the items your crew is carrying. True, there are no descriptions or even pictures for the food, wagon parts and ammunition, but considering the nature of the game, this feels quite adequate. Checking on what Trickster has given to similar efficient, but not fancy interfaces, I think 5 will be sufficient.
Rating: 5

It can't get any simpler than this.

Story and Setting
A group of immigrants leaves for Oregon, faces some obstacles, and arrives at Oregon. The story is not very engaging, and the only game so far with a similar setting, Gold Rush!, had a lot more going on. I got the feeling that you could have just discarded the whole Wild West setting and the gameplay would still have been the same (I hear they did this with Organ Trail). All in all, the story elements are rather primitive and almost non-existent, so I can't go really high here.
Rating: 1

In an adventure game this would start a new side plot: try to find some medicine for the father. Here it is just a not too subtle hint for the effects of too hard pacing.

Sound and Graphics
If this version of Oregon Trail would have been published a couple of years earlier, I might have praised its graphics more, but now they just seem quite dated, even in EGA-standards. The still images of different forts and towns are nice, but you see them so rarely, and most of the time you just watch the same animation of a bull and a wagon or then some very non-graphical menu. Sounds come from the PC speaker, which compared to what the other games of this era have to offer was just too grating for my ears. Comparing Oregon Trail with the two other low-quality EGA games of the year, Earthrise used its graphics more effectively and while the graphics of Oregon Trail were of a better quality than graphics of Hugo, there still was more graphics in Hugo.
Rating: 2

If only I could have seen more pictures like this...

...but all I got was this!

Environment and Atmosphere
Here I must take into account that I was not playing the game in a way that it was meant to be. I should have been doing this a couple of decades younger, in a classroom, full of other pupils, everyone fighting over who gets to do the hunting this time, classroom clown making fun jokes about all the various illnesses, history teacher explaining what exactly happened in Soda Springs... As it is, I was forced to play this just by myself, as a cynical old player expecting an adventure game instead of a semi-educational experience. Furthermore, my engagement was also hindered by the fact that I am not from the USA. I guess if you have an aunt living near Soda Springs, it is a bit more exciting to actually get there in the game. For me, all the little towns were just unfamiliar names. All in all, I cannot really give high marks for this category, but I still don't want to punish the game for me not belonging to the intended player group.
Rating: 3

Swimming in a fresh Mountain Dew. (What do you mean I cannot have sponsors here?)

Dialogue and Acting
What little dialogue there was, was professional enough. There just wasn't that much writing in the game at all. Even the most substantial and developed pieces of text in the game or the short discussions with the locals in the forts were rather short. Again, although Oregon Trail beats Hugo in its professionalism, Hugo at least tried to use the text for plot related purposes, so it seems reasonable if they both get the same rating.
Rating: 3

Why does it have to be all business with you, Matt? Why don't you tell us your dreams?

Final score should then be 23, but I think the long history of the game in history education justifies an extra point, so 24 it is! This might sound quite harsh, but  remember that although Oregon Trail was a decent enough resource management game, its graphics and sound weren’t up-to-date and it definitely was no adventure game.

Did anyone guess the correct score? Nope, but the nearest one was TBD. Congratulations! You will get a copy of Organ Trail from Andy Panthro and a bunch of CAPs.

CAP Distribution to come...

Game 44: Altered Destiny - It's Hard Being Green

P.J. Barrett Journal Entry 3: "Man, this is one strange planet! After spending time in those woods filled with weird bouncing creatures, I've now paid a lengthy visit to an underground cavern system. There I met Lantra, an over-sized praying mantis like creature, and the Master Towhee, a six-eyed guy with a pet piece of furniture. Lantra was obsessed with crystals, but wouldn't give any to me, and Towhee claimed to be the Master of Classification and Codification, which seemed to be another way of saying Librarian. I've learnt a bunch of interesting things, but don't feel much closer to finding Helmar and retrieving the Jewel of Light. Maybe there's something useful in that forest up ahead. Oh boy, I sure am starting to feel sleepy."

Well it's not like I can just go over and give him a big hug.

Damn it, why did the parser have to be so bad!!! I really want to like Altered Destiny. The environment and characters are really quite interesting, if a little on the strange side, and the solutions to the puzzles for the most part appear to require logic to solve. Time and time again though, I find myself fighting the parser, so much so that I begin to doubt my logic when I shouldn’t. There has been a lot of comparison between Altered Destiny and Les Manley, and with good reason given that the engine and the majority of people behind both games are the same, but Altered Destiny actually has the potential to be something much, much better than that other game that I refuse to name again. Putting this rant aside temporarily, let’s go back to the Bottom of Stairs, where JonQuah was signalling for P.J. to approach him across a sea of vicious toothy nightmares. I decided to ignore his request for now so as to get as much information out of him as possible. Perhaps I would learn something that might aid me in taking my next steps. I discovered the following info: JonQuah: "I am fairly powerless here. I spend most of my energy trying to balance the harm my brother does.” Jewel of Light: “Our time grows shorter yet. You still remain our only hope.” Helmar: “He is still on the island, hidden high within the castle there.” Castle: “It serves as a focus for the negative energy that the Jewel of Light and Helmar feed back.”

Gee, no pressure or anything!

Before I could even consider asking JonQuah more questions, something unexpected happened! P.J. turned completely green! I knew that the Hoppa that had sprinkled me with pollen had kicked off some sort of transformation into a tree creature, but I guess I hadn’t actually expected it to start happening! I typed “look at self”, and was given a view of my now leafy features. “It sort of looks like you, P.J. Barrett, to me. And I’ve just got to tell you how much I think green suits you. Tres vert.” Would I now be able to walk across the clamchops without being chomped up? After failing to get any further useful information out of JonQuah, I stepped out over the abyss. I was gobbled up immediately by the closest clamchop! I restored my game and had a think about how I might get across to JonQuah. The message I’d read on the stone just up the stairs seemed to be a hint: “Growth bridges the gap, seeding the path, crystallizing our differences.” Was I supposed to make a bridge? Was I supposed to grow my own bridge now that I was a tree creature? This seemed to make sense to me, so I began trying to make a bridge. No matter what I typed, the parser kept rejecting my requests either through not understanding me or just outright denying me. After a few minutes a message popped up saying: “Oops. I’ve been rooting for you, but it’s time you did a little rooting yourself. Too bad.” I wasn’t certain whether this message was directly related to the problem at hand, or whether it was just a result of me completing my tree transformation, but either way it was game over.

Well don't I just look treemendous.

You want me to do what?

I tried growing a root bridge for a bit longer, but eventually had to give up. There seemed to be no way out of the location I was in, since I’d dropped down through the Pool of Light. In the end I figured I either needed something from some other place in the game and was therefore dead ended, or I was failing to do what the parser wanted me to. Either way, I decided to reload back to the woods and try going elsewhere for a while. After restoring to the woods, I chose to hang around to see whether I would still turn green. I did, at which point I tried walking into one of the pools of water. Maybe I could grow something useful before going into the Caves of Death? As I tried to enter the water, I received the following message: “If you enter the water in this shape, you’ll permanently root where you stand!” Hmmmm...did this help in any way? If I had water with me in the caves, would I be able to pour some on me to grow roots? I didn’t have anything to carry water in anywhere, so there seemed no point putting any more thought into it. I restored way back to the crossroads and chose the path leading to the south. I was given the same bird’s eye viewpoint of the environment, but this time I could see P.J. taking a path to the southwest, leading towards what looked like a jagged cliff face.

Caption contest

On arrival I found it was more than a little jagged! There were shards of colourful rocks jagging away from an obvious central point, and there was also a diamond shaped plate on the ground in front of them. I took a closer look at the plate, and was given a view that showed it had four shapes cut into it. These shapes were a triangle, a diamond, and two circles of varying sizes, immediately bringing to mind the frags I had in my golden tube. I typed “point tube at plate”, fully expecting to be told something about the tube’s automechanism not being activated, only I wasn’t. P.J. pointed the device at the plate, and all four frags flew out of it into their respective slots!!! An entrance opened up in the cliff face behind me, which was really very exciting after my recent struggles. Figuring the frags probably needed to stay where they were for the entrance to remain open, I entered the cave, having absolutely no idea what waited for me on the inside. I was surprised to find there was another diamond plate located at the end of a tunnel, with pathways branching off to the southwest and the southeast. As I approached the plate, it was more than a little disconcerting that the tunnel literally seemed to come to life!!! Claws appeared at the base of the walls, and fiery eyes stared out from a face in the ceiling that simply wasn’t there moments before! I was happy to find that the plate had exactly the same shaped indents in it to the one I’d found outside, particularly as it gave me an excuse to get the hell out of there!

I'm genuinely excited to find out what's at the end of each of these paths.

Coincidence? I think not!

Looking at this now, I can kinda see a face. It would have warned me about what was waiting within.

Um...there's something horrifying behind me isn't there!

However, as I turned and walked towards the exit, the mouth of the face opened enough to emit a breath of fire that incinerated me on the spot! I blinked a few times, and then restored my game back to outside the cave. This time I tried pointing the tube at the frags after I’d used them to open up the cave entrance, and found I could recollect them without it closing back up. The face and claws were still there when I went back inside, but shooting the frags into the plate made the features morph back into nothingness. (15 points) Sighing in relief, I once again recollected the frags, wondering who might have installed these plates that just happen to accept the frags that Tentro had been recently making. I chose to travel down the south-eastern pathway, which led to a very striking scene. There was a huge glowing blue creature taking up most of the screen, and it seemed to be resting within a cluster of small stalagmites. “Before you is Lantra the Mother. Her legs and abdomen emit light which nourishes growing crystals, jewels in their infancy. Lantra’s a friendly, protective creature who oversees the growing of the crystals. Lantra is carrying a small pouch and a large pouch.” I was very happy to hear that this huge and potentially dangerous creature was benevolent, and set about talking to her. She responded with: “I am glad to see one so energetic and young in the Order. I nurture crystals, which is a time consuming task. But what can I help you with?” Now I knew where I was. I'd found the Order!

"......."

Buuuuuugs!!!!!!!

Pouches you say? That's interesting. Where are these pouches you speak of?

I began rattling off the standard list of questions, and once again expanded my knowledge of Daltere’s occupants and my quest. JonQuah: "Poor JonQuah is broken-hearted about his brother. That’s why he sent for you, mighty warrior. He no longer resides with us here, in the Order.” Jewel of Light: “Our Order tends the jewels and the crystals from which they grow. The Jewel of Light was a terrible mutation.” Crystals: “I tend them and grow them. They must be planted out of sunlight for them to germinate, and I grow them to fruition with the help of water and light.” Helmar: “That poor creature, Helmar. Led astray by the powerful crystal. It warped his young mind and now that he’s older, he warps its power. If only I had tended him more.” Small Pouch: “These seeds are delicate. Properly germinated, they will form a small round crystal.” Large Pouch: “When you want to germinate them, throw them to give them room to grow.” Lantra didn’t seem to have information on anything else I could think of, so I tried to pick up the pouches. “Which one do you mean, the small pouch or the large pouch?” I wanted both, but I tried taking the small one first: “You’re not close enough to the small pouch.” The same thing happened when I tried picking up the large pouch, yet I couldn’t see any visual representation of the pouches on the screen. I read through the room description again, but couldn’t figure out where they might be from that. I was going to have to just walk around and keep trying to get them.

Which one? Oh, um, how about the small one. By the way, where are these pouches?

Where're the goddamn pouches!!!???

After a few failed attempts, I began to wonder whether the pouches were actually part of Lantra herself. Maybe I couldn’t pick up the pouches and instead needed to focus on seeds or crystals? I typed “look at small pouch” to see whether I might get an image of it. I did, and it ruled out my latest way of thinking since it was definitely a real pouch that I should be able to pick up. The large pouch was too, so I spent quite a while standing on every part of the screen I could while typing “get small pouch” and then “get large pouch”. Nope, I still wasn’t close enough to get the damn things!!! Did I need to ask Lantra for the pouches? Nope, she responded with “I cannot. My crystals may need that at a later time”. I decided to ignore the pouches and go for the crystals directly, but that didn’t work either. I typed “look in large pouch”, and got the following ridiculous parser response: “Better not. All the seeds inside would grow.” WTF? The seeds would grow if I looked at them?! I was thoroughly frustrated now, quite sure that either I hadn’t found the exact pixel I was supposed to stand on, or that the parser was screwing with me once again. I decided to do some more exploring and come back to Lantra when I wasn’t feeling so cranky. The pathway continued to the southeast, so I took it, reappearing in a room that contained five doors if I included the one I’d just walked in through.

If P.J. can see the pouches, I should be able to...right?!

Honey, I'm home!

The room description suggested not all was well in the Order: “A stream of water trickles down the wall, seeking its own path like those who have left the Order in recent days. Unfamiliar eyes, like ghosts of those gone, haunt the darkness.” I walked up to one of the doors and looked at it: “All but one is locked to those who are not members of the Order.” Clearly the one door it spoke of was the one at the bottom of the stairs, which was wide open. I tried opening all of the other doors anyway, but they were locked as I expected they would be. I took the stairs and through the doorway stumbled onto another strange scene! I was now in a library of sorts, with scrolls filling multiple alcoves around a purple and pink room. A small three legged stool or table was walking (yes, walking!) across the room while the game’s most unusual character so far wandered slowly into sight. At first I thought the creature had no arms and was wearing armour, but then decided the arms were tucked into a kind of apron. I sought the room description in the hope I might be able to make sense of my surroundings: “You’re deep within a room before thousands of scrolls. This library is maintained by Towhee, the remaining Master of Classification and Codification, and his faithful, obedient sidekick Otto.” I wanted to confirm whether Otto was actually a piece of furniture, so typed “look at otto”: “Little Otto is a member of the three-legged Zen Puppy cult, known for their eagerness to fetch. Their understanding of the Universe enables them to perform their jobs without complaint.”

Just when you think things can't get any weirder.

I looked at Towhee to find out what he was all about: “Master Towhee is well-equipped for maintaining the scrolls in the Order’s library. His six eyes were the key to his success. As an ancient, the years have made his eyes helplessly myopic.” Oh great. A blind Master of Classification and Codification and his three-legged Zen Puppy! Sure, why not!? I typed “talk to Towhee”, preparing to go through my growing list of questions: “I like to talk. Talking is one of my favorite things to do. We, Little Otto and I, have run out of things to talk about.” Well he asked for it! JonQuah: “He’s disappeared. We have no idea where he is or what’s happened to him.” Jewel of Light: “It was stored here in the Order, in one of the rooms above me, but it is in Helmar’s possession now.” Frags: “An interesting form of storing communications. I prefer my simpler scrolls.” Scrolls: “There are many. Many here from which to choose.” Lantra: “If it weren’t for her, I’d be blinded in my work.” With my string of questions out of the way, I began going through my screenshots in search of my visit to Tentro’s workshop. One of the frags had definitely mentioned a scroll. Aha, it was the sphere frag that spoke the following words: “My story is long and arduous. The Longa were a hated tribe, known for their violence. Their lands bordered on the Yula’s land. The Longa might have survived if the prince hadn’t shot his arrow true. A scroll in the Order of the Jewel tells more of this.”

That could have something to do with the fact Little Otto is a side table.

I asked Towhee about “Longa”, and got the sort of answer that proved I was on the right track. “You know, Otto and I were chatting about them just the other day. Their leader, CinDee was a fierce warrior who led all the Longa tribes in their battle for survival against the huge insects, the Buggas.” The Buggas sure didn’t sound like a nice bunch! I asked Towhee about CinDee: “You know, if I were in a tight spot, I would want her and her lieutenant, TohMee, by my side in the fray. But those battle days for the Longa are over.” Hmmm, was this a hint of things to come? Could it be that I would need CinDee and TohMee to assist me in some battle down the track? I tried to get more information about TohMee, but Towhee suddenly claimed he didn’t know who that was. He also claimed ignorance on the subject of Yula, so I tried typing “ask for scroll” instead: “Yes, yes. I shall send Little Otto. Go now, Otto.” The little piece of furniture wandered across the room, where a wormy thing descended down a rope to drop a scroll into his tray. Master Towhee gave said scroll to me, claiming that it was the one “you should have”. (5 points) I read it immediately: “The scroll tells of the race of humans who lived in this region many many years ago. It focuses on one period of history, a time when the Yulas and the humans were having problems.”

Thanks! Don't mind if I do!

There were humans on Daltere? Well that's interesting!

The scroll continued: “One of the humans, a young prince who lived on Castle Island, fashioned an arrow head from a red jewel, one of the jewels used for entering the castle. This prince then shot a Yula on its way to the graveyard. Other Yulas heard and drove off the people. There’s more on the scroll, but it seems faded with age.” None of this meant anything to me, but I figured it would in some way later on. By this stage of the game I was still very intrigued, but starting to feel frustrated by the parser, and a little perturbed by the oddities that were creeping in. Still, there was quite a bit more of Daltere to explore, and since I had no further use of Towhee and Little Otto, walked back out of the library. All the doors were still locked in the next room, but I found out that walking to the left of screen brought me back to the original cave entrance screen. I’d explored the entirety of the Order that was available to me, and despite knowing full well that I hadn’t achieved everything I needed to with Lantra, decided to go somewhere else. I made my way back to the crossroads and took the southernmost pathway. It led to the “Edge of the Forest”, where everything seemed determine to put me to sleep. “You’re at the edge of a heavily wooded area. The serenity of the woods seems to lull you, relax you, make you feel secure and serene.” My head slumped towards my laptop, and I realised it really was time to go get some shuteye. I hope you’ll rejoin me in a few days.

Yes, I do feel a bit.....ooooaaahhhhhhh....a bit....zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Session Time: 1 hour 00 minutes
Total Time: 3 hours 00 minutes

Note Regarding Spoilers and Companion Assist Points: I've written a set of rules regarding spoilers and companion assist points. Please read it here before making any comments that could be considered a spoiler in any way. The short of it is that no points will be given for hints or spoilers given in advance of me requiring one. Please...try not to spoil any part of the game for me...unless I really obviously need the help...or I specifically request assistance. In this instance, I've not made any requests for assistance. Thanks!

Guest Game 2: The Oregon Trail - Won!

Trickster's Note: The below post (and indeed all posts for The Oregon Trail) was written by guest blogger Ilmari Jauhiainen.

Zenic's Journal: "Life is a game. Just a few nights ago I was trapped in an Arabian city on the trail of a killer, but after a few simple choices I find myself in the East Coast of the United States, looking towards West, to California, where I will hopefully be able to settle down and make a living. I am joining a company, sponsored by a European entrepreneur, Lars-Erik, escaping from the Swedish oppression of his beloved home country, Norway, interested in setting up a carpenter shop in Oregon. The condition of our wagon is to be taken care of by Laukku, a youngster running from consequences of a too successful bet and an enraged Russian duke, and an engineer Canageek from the British territories up north. Words of wisdom and guidance are provided by Charles, an experienced explorer of wilderness from South America. As I have most familiarity with letters, I have been tasked with keeping a log of our adventures. We haven't even left Independence, but I have a feeling it will be LEGEN... wait for it ...DARY!"

7. Put together your ultimate Fellowship of Adventure Gamer Companions

The opening screens of the Oregon Trail feel more like I am entering a CRPG than an adventure game. I get to decide the occupation of the leader of my group from three possibilities and name all of the five individuals travelling in my wagon. The resemblance to a CRPG is lessened by the fact that individual characters have no stats. Furthermore, the occupation merely determines the amount of cash I have to use and thus provides a difficulty level. I have already beaten the game once with the middle difficulty (carpenter) and I now consider taking up the challenge of playing as a poor farmer. Eventually I decide to take the trip as a carpenter again – there's supposed to be no other difference, but the amount of money one gets at the beginning of a new game. As for my travel party, I decide to use the names of five people currently on top of the CAP chart, to make this journey special.

Lars-Erik's obviously the one with the gun, but I am not sure who the other four are.

After naming all members of my team, I am prompted to buy equipment for the journey from the store owner Mat. There's not a lot to choose from, but all will probably prove important. Food is obviously required, and the wagon won't move without any oxen to pull it, so these two are essential. In addition, the store sells bullets, clothes and spare parts for the wagon. The shop owner gives some hints as to what I should minimally buy. Having completed the game once, I decide to invest my cash mainly on oxen and bullets. I also buy a few extra spare parts, but food I am purposefully leaving to a straight minimum.

Surprisingly, you cannot use the oxen as a food source. Luckily they also do not eat.

Before my party gets to the real adventure, I have a chance to decide the month when my group will start the journey to Oregon. The time of the year obviously has some effect on the weather, so players with more experience of the game could probably use the starting month to maximize their chances of survival. As this is just my second try at Oregon Trail, I randomly choose to begin the journey in May.

Zenic's Journal: "We packed our belongings into a wagon, mostly just ordinary stuff, clothes for keeping warm, a couple of rifles, spare wheels and axles, but there were also more personal items, like Laukku's violin and Canageek's collection of odd looking dice that he keeps throwing and inventing a story as it goes. Last to arrive were the metal cans full of food, complete with a picture of a Joker. Canageek looked at the cans doubtfully. "Trickster's Canned Asparagus Pieces? I don't really like asparagus.” ”Oh, you'll soon grow to love CAPs”, Lars-Erik assured him. ”Besides, we get them at a half price, because I've been sponsoring the owner of the company for some time”. And Lars-Erik's prediction came true. With a couple of hundred miles behind our backs, after constant hunger and rain, Canageek run for groceries in Fort Kearney saw him swim right into a pile of cans, shouting: ”CAPs, sweet CAPs! From this moment on, I shall dedicate the rest of my life for collecting as many CAPs as I can.”"

The basic game play couldn't be more monotonic. Your wagon is moving west, days go by and the food rations diminish steadily. With a press of Enter, you have the chance to take a more active role, with the following options:

1) Take a look at the map: This is usually pretty pointless, because there is only one way to go. Sometimes the player has to make the decision which of two roads to take, but I don't see how looking at the map really helps here.
2) Rest for a few days: This option is also pretty useless, because if the crew requires resting, it is better to also do something useful, like hunting.
3) Set the pace of the wagon: I begin with full speed and I won't really need to change the setting after that. If the speed is too exhausting for the animals or the crew, I stop for a few days rather than slow down.
4) Determine the rate of food consumption: Because there is a sure way to feed the travelers, I can let them eat as much as they want.
5) Trade with other wagons: An interesting possibility that in the first game I played I had to use couple of times when I ran out of some essential item on the road. The wagons always want a certain amount of some items and offer something else in return. No bartering at all, you can just accept or refuse their offer, so it might take a while before a wagon with the item you want arrives.
6) Hunt: I'll come to this in a minute.

I like the sound of Soda Springs. Do they serve it chilled?

My crew owns a dozen bulls, but you can see only one. The others are apparently resting in the wagon.

If I could just trade one bullet for everything you've got…

OK guys, if you won't behave, you won't get a burger today.

The screen always tells how many miles the wagon has to travel to the next place of interest. Most of these places are forts or towns, where the wagon has the option to stop. After seeing a picture of the place and listening to a simple tune, the pioneers have almost the same options to choose from as when they stop on the road. One exception is hunting – I guess it makes sense that you cannot shoot a deer in a fort. The travelers also have the opportunity to chat with the locals, which gives some flavour text and sometimes share some tips for the journey. Some places also have shops, which sell exactly the same things as Matt did at the beginning, although the more west you go, the more expensive everything gets.

Is that supposed to be a river?

Indian meets a true paleface.

This is all that towns have to offer. No casino, no bars, no ladies of the night. I guess we are travelling in Utah.

You mean they DON'T grow on trees?

Zenic's Journal: We had been low on CAPs for a few days, when Charles had finally had it. ”The time has come to show some love to Elvira, the Indian goddess of the hunt. Who's with me!!??” Lars-Erik was somewhat reluctant and said coughing: ”I'm sorry, I'm busy ... umm … washing my hair”. The rest of us were enthusiastic to get out of the boredom of wagon trail. We went standing between some bushes, waited for a while and BANG! That night we feasted on bear flesh. There was so much meat that we could not carry it all to the wagon, but Charles said it was all right, because we should leave some for the Earth spirits. While we ate in the Moon light, Charles told us a magical tale of weavers and their music, and when he was finished, Lars-Erik continued with a story of distant future and an investigator flying around in a horseless wagon and solving crimes. Laukku had heard a yarn about a writer battling forces of darkness, and even I shared with everyone my favourite story of a boy who went looking for his dog and became a sorcerer. Canageek complained how silly our tales were, and we ran into a fierce debate. Finally Charles sighed with a full stomach and satisfied mind: ”When I am going to retire, I will do nothing but read all the stories in the world”.

The most important thing to do while on the trail is to hunt – all you need is some spare time and bullets. After some simple instructions, the player just lands on a scene, filled with trees, bushes and cacti. Every few seconds animals appear from the edges of the screen and move according to some simple algorithm – straight line, until they bump on some obstacle and change their direction. The player can fire his rifle at any time and try to hit the animals. After a while, the hunting session ends automatically, but the player can also stop it earlier.

And only now I notice there's actually a key for walking around. This just shows how absurdly simple this minigame is.

Just one more deer and that's enough.

I quickly find out that I can just ignore most of the animals. Smaller animals, like rabbits, are quicker and hence more difficult to shoot and they also carry less meat. Besides, if I accidentally hit them, their corpses just block my shots. So don't waste your time on chasing bunnies or beavers, because all it takes is to shoot one bear or buffalo, or if neither are seen, two deer. After that, there's so much meat that the characters cannot carry it back to wagon, but have to leave the rest to rot. Bears, buffaloes and deer are quite slow and thus only obstacles like trees can prevent the player from getting enough food. Even if there are too many bushes that prevent a good shot, you can easily just skip the hunt and start anew with a different screen. In effect, hunting makes buying food completely redundant, and most of the time the game is spent in the hunting mini game.

Very bad hunting day. Luckily I can just instantly begin a new one.

Zenic's Journal: "CRASH! Our wagon refused to move forward. Canageek and Laukku began to investigate and soon found out that one of the wheels had broken. They discussed a while with a secret code language of engineers:

Laukku: %@ E6== E96 ECFE9[ x 5@?VE <?@H 2?JE9:?8 23@FE 7:I:?8 @?6 @7 E96D6] (92E D9@F=5 H6 5@n

Canageek: QmVhdHMgbWU-sIG15IGRlZ3JlZSdzIG9uIGNoZW1pc3RyeS4gSSBndWVzcyB3ZSBjb3VsZCBibG93IGl0IHVwPw==

Finally they had to admit it was beyond repair. Lars-Erik was certain that he had bought a spare wheel, but we could not find it. Finally Canageek confessed that he had traded it for a significant amount of CAPs.

With nothing more to do, we started waiting for other wagons. After a while, one arrived. ”Look here Billy-Joe, they're trying to make do with only three wheels. You reckon they would like our spare?” ”Yes sir, we do. Would you care to trade something for it?” I asked. ”Well, I don't know. It would have to be a considerable amount of CAPs to make us give our only spare wheel away.” Suddenly Canageek walked in and thunked a sack full of CAPs on the ground. Then he threw on shades and walked away as everyone gasped at the amount of CAPs he was throwing down."

Couldn't I just call for mechanics?

Driving around in the wagon is not just uneventful with continuous scenery watching, but is occasionally broken by a random event. The travelers may find some wild fruits adding to their food portions or remains of other caravans that contain some salvageable goods.

Finders, keepers.

Usually the events are more negative. Bad weather conditions and loss of trail make the progress slower. Robbers steal items, usually oxen, leaving unprepared players stranded in the middle of desert – or oxen could die of too hard work. Wagon parts might also get broken, and some random number generator determines whether it can be repaired or whether a new part is required. But there are even more tragic events in store.

Zenic's having dangerously high temperature...

Canageek's tired...

Laukku has a fatal disease...

I don't even want to know what Charles has caught…

And then Canageek dies. Oops!

Zenic's Journal: "We buried Canageek today. He had complained how tired he was and we all tried to cheer him up, telling him how close we were to the next town. Alas, even the sight of his collection of CAPs couldn't make him happier and he just wasted away in front of our eyes. We dug up a hole, to cover his body from predators, Laukku played some violin and our eyes were full of tears. We cast his beloved dice in the grave with him, but we knew he would want us to take his collection of CAPs with us. Every one of us left a piece of their heart with our companion, but our loss could not but fortify our spirits and make us even more determined to reach Oregon."

Every once in a while the game tells player that some member of his party has fallen to some illness. I haven't the faintest idea what actually triggers these events, but presumably food condition, amount of clothes and weather have something to do with it. It is also somewhat of a mystery to me what decides the final outcome of sickness, but resting for a few days appears to help. I thought I shouldn't have to do this, when Canageek got ill, because the next fort was so close, but the worst happened and my party had to leave him behind. Sorry about that!

In addition to forts and towns, there are also a few other points of interest on the road. In a few places the player comes upon a crossroad and has to decide which way to choose. Having played the game only twice, I cannot really say much about the options, but it seems obvious that both roads have some advantages and some disadvantages, that is, while one route might be shorter, the other one is easier to travel.

Should I meet Muppets or J.R.?

There are also a few rivers that must be crossed in some manner. Usually there are at least two possibilities: fording and caulking. Successful fording seems to require that the river is at its lowest (the height of a river changes according to time and weather). Caulking can be done without the fear of wagon sinking, but there's the real possibility that the wagon will tip over. There's usually also a third option (like hiring a local for help), which is usually the most expensive, but also the safest choice.

Crossing a river.

Zenic's Journal: "After numerous days in the scorching sun, eating nothing but CAPs and beaver meat, we finally set foot on Oregon. There was no one to cheer our arrival, only an official with an arrogant look who noted our arrival. ”Sign here please. One, two, three, four, was that all? No, one dead? All right, could you then tell me your name?” ”Name?” ”Yes, for official purposes, each group of settlers is to be identified by a name, preferably of your own choice. So what shall it be?” We discussed the matter for a while, but came to the only possible conclusion – after all, we wouldn't have survived without the CAPs. I turned to the official. ”You can call us Team Trickster.”"

Is it over already?

It takes no wizard to actually get your wagon to Oregon, and it took me only two hours of very unintense gaming, interspersed with watching TV, to get my team to the finish line. At least with the medium difficulty the key is just buying a lot of everything, but especially bullets, so you can shoot some deer whenever the food situation starts to look dire.

It is scoring high that is difficult. Yes, the player is scored at the end of the game. Most of the points come from the settlers and their health, so you want to get as many of them in good condition to Oregon. In addition, the amount of different items and the remaining cash are considered. Finally, the difficulty level is taken into consideration (with the medium difficulty the points are doubled). With Team Trickster I got 3540 points, which was a bit of disappointment, since in my first ever game of Oregon Trail I managed to score 4192 points.

Broke and one dead friend, but at least we still have all the oxen.

We are all adventurers.

I don't know how educational my experience was, and as for being entertained – well, I think I'll still prefer Lucky Luke. Quite certainly Oregon Trail is far from an adventure game, and feels more like a strategy game. Indeed, there are no traditional puzzles, just random obstacles you need to plan for. I am certain the PISSED score will reflect this, but it will be interesting to see how much the game will be penalized.

Session Time: 2 hours 00 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours 00 minutes