Jazz Halfmoon remembers playing the educational video game Oregon Trail as a reward for doing well in her Oregon grade school class. “It was on a super old computer,” she says. “The green screen was like the only color.” She says it was really exciting, and the kids would often clamor and fight over who could play the game on the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation in northeastern Oregon. “I remember being like ‘oh, like the Indians killed off somebody in your wagon train … and then being like, ‘Oh we’re Indians, you know,’” Halfmoon says. Halfmoon, who is 38, and a generation of kids like her grew up playing it. They remember the game mostly for the moment — wait for it — their party died of dysentery. Now, a new spin on the wagon train game focuses on more accurately representing Native Americans. The company Gameloft tackled the redesign of Oregon Trail for Apple Arcade just in time for the increase in worldwide play because of the pandemic. Its target audience: the now
Podchaser is the ultimate destination for podcast data, search, and discovery. Learn More