Wednesday, January 27, 2010

The Oregon Trail, 5th Edition From The Learning Company

The Oregon Trail, 5th EditionThe Oregon Trail, 5th Edition

Product Description

A huge hit in the schools! Builds real-life decision-making and problem-solving skills. Kids get to choose his/her own wagon party, read maps, and guide their team through the wilderness!

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #129 in Software
  • Brand: The Learning Company
  • Model: 380859
  • Platforms: Mac, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows, Windows 95
  • Format: CD-ROM
  • Dimensions: 5.00" h x .38" w x 5.63" l, .31 pounds

Features

  • Make the wise choices as you avoid hazards and face the many challenges of frontier life
  • Go hunting, buy the right supplies, talk to Indians and fellow travelers and much more
  • Along the way you'll discover useful wilderness knowledge like avoiding poison and crossing rivers
  • Kids will also get to learn the complete story of the Donner Party
  • Ages 9 and up

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
A decidedly low-tech era in U.S. history goes electronic in Oregon Trail 5th Edition, a game for children ages nine and older that pits players against all the hazards a wagon-train voyage can dish out. Following Captain Jed Freedman and a trio of young pioneers out West, this program teaches history, map reading, geography, and a variety of other skills. Players must keep their wits sharp if they want to keep their party healthy and well-fed all the way across the country.
Oregon Trail 5th Edition offers a good all-around workout in reading skills and problem solving. Using limited funds, players must equip their wagons, balancing the need to survive on the trail with the necessity for moving quickly. Shortages will inevitably crop up along the way, and members of the wagon train can die of thirst, fever, snakebite, or many other perils... if you don't have the right equipment on hand to deal with the emergency. Even a well-equipped party can come to grief, though. Swamped wagons can lose critical supplies, and though there are people sprinkled along the trip who might provide help or trade goods, happening on the right trade is by no means assured.
Except for being a bit slow-paced, Oregon Trail 5th Edition has few flaws. The people aboard the wagon trains come from a variety of cultures. Though the game glosses over the ugliest aspects of this historical period, it does not skirt them entirely. Players who over-hunt the resources of a particular native tribe are likely to hear about it. The game has a variety of features that flesh out the travel experience, like a trip diary and animated campfire tales--one of them about the Donner party--that effectively break up the pace of play.
For children interested in a multifaceted educational challenge, Oregon Trail makes a good choice, capturing the difficulties and dangers of the long voyages that settlers made so long ago. (Ages 9 and older) --Alyx Dellamonica
From Children's Software Revue® -- "Subscribe Now!"
Sometimes you have to take two steps back to take one step forward. That holds true for this "new" version of Oregon Trail, which is actually based on the older, more stable second edition of the game; one of the last products produced by the respected Minnesota publisher MECC. Children start their trek westward by typing in their name, profession, and the names of people in their party. They then navigate through a series of complex menus to purchase supplies and stock their wagon. Unfortunately, some of the flaws with version two have also been carried into this edition. Children often overload their wagon, and the program doesn't help them visualize what they have. Kids also have trouble with some new phrases that could be better defined, such as "caulk the wagons" and "ford the river". Along the trail, it is possible to hunt, fish and interact with characters. So what's different? At each main break in the adventure, children can listen to campfire stories about three real life children who actually traveled the Oregon Trail. Our testers loved these vignettes and felt like they helped them better understand what the journey was really like. The children's journal is also on the CD as a PDF file, which makes good reading. Despite its flaws, this edition of Oregon Trail is the best yet, and a great way to experience American history.
Amazon.com Product Description
Explore the West, live the adventure, and survive the trail! Kids will build real-life decision-making and problem-solving skills as they choose their wagon party and supplies, read maps, plan their route, and guide their team through the wilderness. Can they survive the dangers of the long journey, raging rivers, buffalo stampedes, sickness, and starvation? The trail explodes with adventure as you face the rugged challenges and experience real-life events.
Plus, The Oregon Trail 5th Edition introduces players to the Montgomery kids and trail guide Captain Jed, who are heading West from Independence, Missouri, to Oregon City, Oregon, to meet Pa Montgomery. The Montgomery's story is brought to life for players through six exciting movies, Cassie's heartfelt journal entries, and Jed's captivating campfire tales. The Oregon Trail, 5th Edition

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