How to Play Oregon Trail Online

Oregon Trail is an online game that makes learning about United States history fun for kids. Load up your wagon with supplies and make your way along the trail with your fellow pioneers in this educational adventure game.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Getting Started

1. Find the Oregon Trail game online. Several websites offer the game, including the site you'll find in Resources below. You may need to run ActiveX and install Shockwave or some other system to play.

2. Select "Number One" to start the game when the menu appears. Choose your profession. This basically represents the amount of money you begin the game with and the difficulty level. Banker is the easiest, followed by carpenter and then farmer.

3. Enter your name as the wagon leader. Type in the names of four other people that will accompany you on the adventure.

4. Decide which month you want to leave Independence, Missouri to begin your journey. It's best to choose April or May, as you run the risk of not having grass for your oxen to eat if you leave too early, and you may not make it to Oregon before winter if you leave too late.

5. Visit Matt's General Store to purchase supplies for the journey. Matt will give you advice on what to purchase if you are not sure.

On the Trail

1. Select from several options once you are on the trail. Your status, including your pace and rations, is shown at the top. You can change your pace or rations by selecting number 4 or 5.

2. Begin your journey. Once you reach the Kansas River, look around. If anyone in your party is injured, you can stop to rest here. You can also trade with other wagon parties or talk to people.

3. Decide how you want to get across the river. You can ford the river or caulk the wagon and float it across. You also can pay to take a ferry across.

4. Continue traveling and making decisions along the way as needed.

5. Hunt for food when you begin to run out of provisions. Use the arrow keys to move your hunter around the screen and press the space bar to shoot at game.

6. Win the game by making it to Willamette Valley. You will earn points based on how many members of your party survived the trip, how many supplies you have left and how much money you have.

Tips & Warnings

• Once you get better at hunting, buy less food at the beginning of the trip, as you'll be able to feed your party with whatever you shoot.

• Don't attempt to ford a river that is more than 3-feet deep.

Resources

• A version of the Oregon Trail game.