Oregon Trail is a very educational game. It takes you on a Westward journey, follows the footsteps of many Americans in the 1840s. Life was tough back then and so does this game. The user interface is really simple but the game demands a great amount of attention and skills. The characters keep hurting themselves, exhausted, or die. The wagon is prone to breaking down, and bandits are everywhere. The stakes are high but you get to choose your own path. People have always try to escape reality through games, for example, “Animal Crossing” has become so popular in this time of the pandemic, in which the main character owns an island where bags of money fall out of trees and talking animals are your friends. But Oregon Trail didn’t romanticize life as it teaches children (and adults) how brutal life can be for these people in the past. However, it is a game and you can win. It’s rewarding to try to overcome all the hardships on the way by the knowledge you gained after each failure and win in the end.
I think the time investment in Animal Crossing and this game is what makes a lot of the dedicated players really happy. It’s slow paced but at the same time the tasks and choices you need to make are what draw out the experience.
I agree on the “escape reality” toughts too, and I think this game made it becuse it is first person perspective so that the player would think from the character they choose!
I like how you mention how we try to escape reality through games; it’s certainly true with me when it comes to times like this.