The Oregon Trail (1988) and When Rivers Were Trails (2019) were both great games to play to learn more about the expansion and relocation period. The Oregon Trail was more like a survival game to me while When Rivers Were Trails was more like an adventure and educational game.
In The Oregon Trail, I learned mostly about life and death situations occurring during the west-expansion including sickness, bad weather, and food shortage. The game emphasized the dangers and the unexpected scenarios that happened during the trip, all of which could eventually cost the life of a family member. I found the game particularly challenging to finish but very interesting and (a bit) addictive to play. Although I played the game more than 4 times, I still could not complete the journey. In my last attempt, I was able to lead the family to the last landmark before reaching the final destination. However, at that moment, I realized that I spent all of the money on food. Thus, I could not take a safer route to the destination (because it cost money). As a result, I lost the game. I learned that the trip was more dangerous than I initially thought. The success of the trip was dependent on luck, wise preparation, and timely decision-making.
On the other hand, the game When Rivers Were Trails focused mainly on educating the player on the culture and life of Native people. Unlike The Oregon Trail in which the images were not shown/ drawn in detail, When Rivers Were Trials showed good drawings of Native people. Besides, the Native language and music were used in the game, which created a more immersive experience for the player. When the game used the Native term, there was an explanation of what it meant at the right corner of the dialogue box, which was very helpful and informative. Although in this game, the player still has to pay attention to the food, medicine, and well-being level, the life-death situations in this game were not as intense as those in The Oregon Trail. However, I learned a lot of information about the Native people.
Video games are a great approach to learning about a new culture or historical event in a fun way. Through the player character, I got to experience the situations by myself, therefore, I got a better understanding of the events. I strongly believe that the integration of educational video games into traditional lectures will help me remember the material longer.
Hi Thy! Thank you for sharing these thoughts on the two games. I’m always fascinated by the backstory of The Oregon Trail as a game designed specifically for use in classrooms. It also involves far more math than history, in my opinion! I’m glad to hear that you had a much more engaging experience with When Rivers Were Trails, and I agree. It is simply more immersive and more informed, and this makes for a more educational experience. It is equally important to consider video/computer games as a mode for historical education. There are advantages as well as limitations, but undeniably, video games are a mode creating an interactive learning experience.