Computer Game Comparison

The Oregon Trail vs Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?

It's high time we had an epic battle between classic, educational-simulation video games from Brøderbund in 1985. Join me for the battle of a century!

Both games were aimed at elementary aged school kids to help learn about geography and history in a fun way, and in their own ways, became very successful. The gameplay is similar in how players must travel simulated distances to a final destination, picking up information about famous landmarks and history along the way. The mechanics of progressing from one location to the next varies a bit, in that Oregon Trail players must evaluate resources and the pace of their troop to survive their trek, and Carmen Sandiego players must successfully answer trivia questions based on geography and history facts presented along the way.

Visually, both games featured brightly colored landscapes and landmarks from actual locations, and text prompts and inputs to make progress. The Apple II offered a simple, yet vivid color scheme, and monophonic music and sound effects. The story was engaging enough that most kids forgot they were learning, which is a mark of a successful edutainment title

Each play through presented different opportunities to succeed or fail based on players choices and random obstacles along the way. Oregon Trail randomly challenged players with illness and poor weather, while Carmen Sandiego would randomly present new locations and stolen objects at the start of the game.

Ultimately, Oregon Trail become a game that defined a generation, and Carmen Sandiego went on to enjoy several iterations as a television game shows for kids.