Oregon Trail Game

Oregon Trail game review

Oregon Trail (5th edition) by The Learning Company is a popular video game that will take kids back in time and back to the American Old West. Thanks to the game's nice graphics, kids get to see what frontier life was like. In the game, players have to move West to Oregon (just like many settlers back then willing to move to the greener state) and face many challenges. They go hunting, talk to Indians, cross rivers, get supplies, choose a wagon, read maps and avoid all kinds of hazards along the way.

The Oregon Trail computer game is truly educational. It was actually designed by a professor in American studies, therefore it is quite accurate. It gives kids a true picture of what life was like in the Old West in 19th century America. It also helps kids develop decision-making and problem-solving skills as they constantly have to make decisions and weigh the pros and cons of each decision. Since they also have to use a map, kids also familiarize themselves with the geography of the United States and develop some map skills.

The (3D) graphics are quite good. There are also short movies throughout the game which are like so many small documentaries about the life of pioneer Americans. The game works smoothly on most platforms: windows 95, 98, Me, 2000, XP, Vista, Windows 7, MAc (noting that it doesn't run on Mac OS X).

Overall, a very entertaining computer game that both children and adults can enjoy playing and that also has an educational value as it can spark an interest in the history of the United States. If your child is interested in this period in history, you can move on to the Professor Noggin's history trivia games or other American history games.

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