As a gamer, I play RPG(role-playing game) every day. When I say every day, I literally meant seven days a week nonstop. There is a reason why RPG is so addicting because it gives you the first-person perspective to manipulate your character in the game. When you are playing these games, you would slowly feel like you are becoming the character you are playing, and it also feels like you are syncing with the character.
The Oregon Trail is a classic game that reminded me of two things: the Pokemon game and the interactive fiction project I did in Story class. The similarity between The Oregon Trail and the Pokemon game is that they both have the feature of customizing your own characters. For example, naming them and picking their roles. This feature helps the users to manifest their desires and ideas into the game. That is why these two games are(were) popular and successful because they provide options for users to narrate and craft their own game. In a way, it unleashes the limitation for imagination.
The Oregon Trail made me think of my interactive fiction project because they both had a specific storyline, and users have to make decisions to continue the story. On the one hand, an interactive storyline can engage users in contemplating decision-making, stimulating their cognitive functioning. On the other hand, it anticipates the users for what would happen next, creating excitement for the upcoming narrative.
I like your comparison to pokemon when talking about The Oregon Trail. I never would have thought the two were the same until you brought up the point that they have names and roles to be customized.
It feels so nice to forget the reality once in a while with RP games.