So a co-worker and I were reminiscing about the early computer era today to pass the time at The Workplace. You know, back in the days when there were no mice, no harddrives (you needed a boot disk), and minimum color. The conversation then progressed to old school video games like Tetris, Pong, and Super Mario Bros. Then, of course one of the best old computer games came up. Who could possibly forget, the super, the wonderful, the highly addicting Oregon Trail. In case you forgot how the game went, here is a brief rundown.

I want to be a banker from Boston. Hey I’m married! Let’s name my kids. Time to shop. “I’ll take 4 oxen, 500lbs of food, 10 pieces of clothing an extra wagon wheel and of course, a whole slew of bullets!” Time to leave. You past a tombstone, would you like to read it? You have come to a river, would you like to cross? You lost a wheel, would you like to replace it? Julie has yellow fever. Rest. You came to another river, “I’ll hire an Indian to help me across.” Oops, your ferry broke; you loose 5 pairs of pants. Sally has malaria. Rest. John has typhoid. Rest. Philbert has a snake bite. REST REST!! You have no food. Time to hunt. Bang you got a buffalo. Bang you got a bear. Bang you got a dear. Fred has a broken leg. Fred has died. You lost a wheel. You will need to trade for a new wheel. Will trade for bullets. Will trade for clothes. Will trade for oxen. Bang you got a bear. You trade 4 sets of clothes and two oxen for a wagon wheel. Julie has a cold. REST!! Julie has died. You attempt to ford the river. You loose 2 oxen and 10 boxes of bullets. Congratulations! You have made it to Oregon. You have a new high score. Please type your name. Do you want to play again?

Ahh the good old days!