The Oregon Trail: Won better!

I did some experiments to try to better understand how Oregon Trail works under the hood, and I didn't quite crack it, but I made two discoveries that allowed me to snap this game in half.

• People are unlikely to die from their illnesses unless your overall health drops down to "very poor."
• Your health suffers exponential decay; the unhealthier you already are, the longer it takes for it to get worse. Depending on how hard you drive, it will stop getting worse at some point. By extension, the unhealthier you are, the more beneficial rest is.
  

 

That first part is not a guarantee. In fact, during one test session, one wagon member just randomly died while the party was in good health with no prior illness! But I'm usually one to play the odds, provided I've got some idea what the odds are.

And so I took the return trip to Oregon (welcome aboard, Scribe!) with a new strategy. Abuse the party's health. Grueling pace from start to end. Barebones rations except when resting. No rest unless the party health drops to "very poor," and the rest ends once it reaches "poor." And by rest I mean hunting.

We leave in March like before, and I buy an extra pair of Oxen in case I lose one or two in the the relentless pace. I get half as much ammo - I never needed that much anyway - and have $40 to spare.

The month opens up into the tail end of winter, so we hang back and hunt until the weather starts to warm up a bit - this takes just over a week, and we leave with 743 pounds of food.

And boy do we make it last.

 

March 11 - 77 miles in. Health degrades to "fair."

March 12 - Caulk wagon across the Kansas River. I'm already a month ahead of schedule.

March 16 - 185 miles in. Big Blue River is 2.8 feet deep; we ford it.

March 18 - 224 miles in. Health degrades to "poor."

March 20 - 304 miles in. Fort Kearney.

March 27 - 554 miles in. Chimney Rock.

March 29 - 634 miles in. AlphaAnon gets lost and three days are lost.

April 2 - Fort Laramie and the Wyoming border. Travel slows down from here on.

April 4 - 688 miles in. Wagon wheel breaks - we spend the day repairing it.

April 11 - 830 miles in. Independence Rock. Warm weather.

April 12 - Ox injured.

April 15 - 926 miles in. Inadequate grass.

April 16 - South Pass. This time, we detour to Fort Bridger, rather than risk another victim at Green River.

April 22 - 1057 miles in. Fort Bridger.

April 24 - 1105 miles in. Bad water. Health degrades to "very poor."

April 25 - Hunt for two days - one bear is shot. 578 pounds of food remain, health is poor.

May 1 - 1219 miles in. Soda springs.

May 3 - 1267 miles in.

Shake it off, pussy.

May 4 - Fort Hall.

May 7 - 1331 miles in. Impassable trail costs us a day.

May 10 - 1384 miles in.

May 11 - 1403 miles in. Health degrades to "very poor."

May 12 - Hunt for three days - shot two deer. 605 pounds of food remain, health is poor.

May 16 - 1442 miles in. Health degrades to "very poor."

May 17 - Spend the day hunting and shoot one deer. 653 pounds of food remain, health is poor.

May 18 - 1458 miles in. Snake River Crossing.

A Shoshoni guide offers to help us cross the river in exchange for two sets of clothing, and I take this offer.

May 20th - 1477 miles in. Health degrades to "very poor."

May 21 - Spend the day hunting and shoot one bear. 723 pounds of food remain, health is "poor."

May 22 - 1499 miles in. Inadequate grass.

May 24 - 1542 miles in.

I think you two are doing this on purpose.

May 25 - Very little water.

May 26 - 1572 miles in. Fort Boise. Health degrades to "very poor." 

May 27 - Rest for two days - no hunting allowed at the forts. Health is "poor."

May 31 - 1630 miles in. Hot weather. Inadequate grass.

June 1 - Health degrades to "very poor."

June 2 - Spend the day hunting - total failure. 633 pounds of food remain, health is "poor."

June 4 - 1692 miles in. Very little water.

June 5 - Very little water. Health degrades to "very poor."

June 6 - Spend the day hunting and shoot one bear. 703 pounds of food remain, health is "poor."

June 7 - 1732 miles in. Blue Mountains. Trail forks here and we head to The Dalles.

June 8 - Health degrades to "very poor."

June 9 - Spend the day hunting - total failure. 688 pounds of food remain, health is "poor."

June 10 - Very little water. 

June 11 - 1797 miles in. Health degrades to "very poor."

June 12 - Spend two days hunting - shoot one bear. 748 pounds of food remain, health is "poor."

June 14 - Very little water. Health degrades to "very poor." 

June 15 - Spend the day hunting - total failure. 728 pounds of food remain, health is "poor."

June 16 - 1840 miles in. The Columbia River is in sight! For comparison, in the last trip, it took until October 29th to get this far.

We want to finish the game in good health for maximum points, but you also score points for coming to Oregon with surplus food, so I spend the next two weeks hunting - this is as long as it takes for our health to restore to "good."

June 30th - Arrived at The Dalles with 1175 pounds of food. Health degrades to "fair." We rest here for one day to restore it to "good."

July 1st - Float down the Columbia River and win the game.

Rocks spawn in a slightly tricky configuration.

But I slip through them like a pro.

And make my landing.

Victory by July!

Word has it that the lead designer R. Philip Bouchard wanted a climactic finale, but MECC insisted it be completed quickly or be scrapped altogether, hence the somewhat underwhelming end result.

Let's see how we did.

High score!

 

GAB rating: Above average. The Oregon Trail is by no means perfect, but it's a nostalgic classic for many, and its ubiquity in U.S. classrooms isn't entirely undeserved. As a history lesson, it just works - the mid-19th century setting is as well-realized as the technology allows, thanks in no small part to a great deal of polish and attention to detail, and students can immerse themselves in the role of rugged settlers (or foolhardy and pampered tourists out of their element) without being lectured to or condescended to like a typical children's edutainment title would. As a game, the ludonarrative is as strong as it gets for the time; everything you see and do is part of the story - your own personal story of making the 2,000 mile wilderness trip - and is justified by the setting. Bad things with serious consequences can happen that you have no way of preventing, and I'm okay with that.

But I can't quite promote it to the ivory deck simply because it's not substantial enough. CRPG Addict's breadth, depth, and immersion balance is perfect. But the space of gameplay possibilities - and therefore narrative possibilities - is pretty small. You either make it to Oregon or you don't, there are only so many things that can happen along the way, and even fewer things you can do to deal with them. Later versions - and later Trail games by MECC - add more depth, but I don't plan on covering them.