Ford the river with kombucha and craft beer in the millennial version of 'The Oregon Trail'
Played The Oregon Trail in school? The classic classroom frontier game has had a modern day makeover.
An ambitious promotional tool from Travel Oregon, a "semi-independent" agency created by the Oregon Legislature, Travel Oregon: The Game is an homage to the educational staple, allowing you to explore all seven regions of the state.
The game isn't produced by the original team, according to Munchies, but it has the same 8-bit look and addictive nature. The game's goal, as tradition stipulates, is to keep morale high, while playing different activities — or you'll be writing tombstones.
You can play the game in your browser, and be sure to have something else ready to bring up on screen when your boss wanders past.
First, choose your character, one of many Oregon stereotypes:
Let's go with "ski pro," because I'm anything but.
Enter the names of your driver, and your passengers.
Before going on your adventure, you're encouraged to stock up on equipment and supplies, with $1,300 to spend. Here's what a 2017 store in Oregon looks like, according to the game:
We loaded up on kombucha, craft beer, and artisanal coffee — when in Oregon.
Then, you can pick your destination, from Portland Region, Mt. Hood/Columbia River Gorge, Eastern Oregon, Central Oregon, Southern Oregon, Oregon Coast or the Willamette Valley.
Let's head for the city first.
Here, you have a few options, including a visit to a brewery or chatting up a local. Let's head for the beers. Here, you can join the overwhelmed bartender in a cheeky round of:
Cruise around Oregon's other locations for other activities — throw hockey T-shirts at a Willamette Falls game, go mountain biking around the Rowena Crest Loops, have beavers steal your socks, pretend to be a sommelier in the Williamette Valley, go whale watching at Haystack Rock.
You can also go hunting at Anthony Lakes, build a wizard snowman with a backstory on the way to Painted Hills, go ice skating at Three Sisters, and get yelled at for pumping your own gas (not allowed in Oregon, people).
There's an awesome throwback to 1991 Microsoft game SkiFree, when you're skiing in Trillium Lake/Mt. Hood.
The whole game prompts you to book a trip to Oregon, of course, but with this level of detail and throwbackery, we're all for it.
Munchies reports that you can play the game through to December 31.
Topics Gaming
Shannon Connellan is Mashable's UK Editor based in London, formerly Mashable's Australia Editor, but emotionally, she lives in the Creel House. A Tomatometer-approved critic, Shannon writes about entertainment, tech, social good, science, culture, and Australian horror.
