Question 1

How do I play The Oregon Trail?

Accepted Answer

Open a game from the catalog and press Play. Nothing is installed, the game runs in the browser tab. In The Oregon Trail, the 1990 game, you choose to be a banker, a carpenter or a farmer, name your wagon party of five and buy oxen, food, clothing and bullets at Matt's General Store in Independence, Missouri. Then you head west, deciding when to rest and hunt and how to cross each river, and try to reach Oregon's Willamette Valley with your party alive. You play it from the keyboard: type the number of a choice and press Enter.

Question 2

Do I have to pay or make an account to play?

Accepted Answer

No. Every game here is free, and you can play without an account. The ads beside the game, on the play page only, pay for the server.

Question 3

The game does not start. What can I do?

Accepted Answer

Most often the web browser is too old for the emulator, the program that runs the old games inside the browser. Update your browser or try another one: Chrome, Edge or Firefox from 2021 or later, or Safari 16.4 or later (on an iPhone or iPad, that means iOS 16.4 or later). Then open the game again. If you cannot update, play The Oregon Trail Web Port. It needs no emulator and runs on older browsers too. If a game still does not start, press Found a bug? at the bottom left of the game's page and tell us what you see.

Question 4

The game works at home but not at school. Why?

Accepted Answer

School networks often block large downloads or whole websites, and a game file can arrive empty or not at all. The game tells you when that happens. Your school's IT team can allow oregontrail.ws, or you can play The Oregon Trail Web Port, which has much less to download.

Question 5

Which game should I play first?

Accepted Answer

If you remember The Oregon Trail from school, start with The Oregon Trail, the 1990 MS-DOS game played from the keyboard, or The Oregon Trail Deluxe, the 1992 version played with a mouse. On a phone, a tablet or an older computer, The Oregon Trail Web Port is the easiest. Every game is in the catalog.

Question 6

Can I play on a phone or a tablet?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The games show a keyboard on the screen, and in games played with a mouse you move the pointer with your finger. The Web Port has buttons under the picture for everything the game asks for. If something does not work on your phone or tablet, write to us and we will fix it.

Question 7

How do I change the CD in a game that came on several CDs?

Accepted Answer

When the game asks for another CD, press Esc to free the mouse. Then press the disc button in the bar on the left of the game. It is the round disc with a small number that tells you which CD is in now. Pick the CD the game asks for and carry on. All the CDs are already there, and the game keeps running while you switch. On a phone, open the bar with the menu button at the top first.

Question 8

The mouse is stuck inside the game. How do I get it back?

Accepted Answer

Many games hold on to the mouse, so that it moves only inside the game. Press Esc and the mouse is yours again. Click the game to give it back.

Question 9

How do I save my game?

Accepted Answer

Save inside the game first, if it has a save option in its menu. Then press the orange Save button at the top of the bar on the left of the game. That keeps the game just as it is, and the next time you open it, it carries on from there by itself. In The Oregon Trail Web Port your journey is saved by itself while you travel.

Question 10

Where are my saved games kept, and how can I lose them?

Accepted Answer

In your web browser, on this device. If you clear the browser's data, such as its cookies, site data or cache, your saved games go with it, and a phone that runs short of space can clear them too. To keep them safe, make a free account (for ages 13 and up). With a Google account your saved games are kept on our server and follow you to every computer you sign in on.

Question 11

Can I take my saved game to another computer?

Accepted Answer

With a Google account it goes with you by itself. Some games also have a Save file button beside the game, which downloads your save as a file you can load on another computer.

Question 12

How do I get on the leaderboard?

Accepted Answer

Finish a game that keeps a high score list: The Oregon Trail, the Web Port or Deluxe. When the game ends, the site offers to post your score. Type a name and that is all, no account needed. The quiz has a board too, where each quiz and run length keeps your best run.

Question 13

Why is every player on the board only once?

Accepted Answer

Each board keeps one row for each player, with their best run, so it shows more people and fewer repeats. The leaderboard lists the best 500 players of each game. If you are further down, Your best run at the top of the board tells you your place.

Question 14

Why did my game start over after I posted my score?

Accepted Answer

Posting a finished game clears that game's save and starts it over, so every score on the board comes from a fresh game. Your score stays on the board.

Question 15

Can I use the music from the site?

Accepted Answer

Yes, for anything you like: videos, school projects, your own games. You do not need to ask.

Question 16

Can I use the pages and pictures in class?

Accepted Answer

Yes. This is an open archive, and you can use what you find here for anything: in class, for homework, in a presentation or on a worksheet. Two things have owners of their own. The photos on the trail map come from Wikimedia Commons and keep their licences, which are named with each photo. The classic games, their screenshots and box art belong to the companies that made them. The terms say the same in a few more words.

Question 17

Does the site work without internet?

Accepted Answer

Partly. Pages you have read and games you have played open again without a connection, and a score you post offline waits until you are back. A game's page can also install the whole game on your device.

Question 18

How do I find out what is new?

Accepted Answer

What's new lists every update. For a week after one, a small New label shows beside the logo at the top of the page.

Question 19

Who runs this site?

Accepted Answer

Independent editors. The site is not affiliated with the owners of The Oregon Trail name or games.

Question 20

I found a mistake or a bug. How do I tell you?

Accepted Answer

Press Found a bug? at the bottom left of the page, or write to us. Tell us the page and what happened.

Questions about the Oregon Trail games.

Playing the games

Saving your game

Scores and the leaderboard

Using what you find here

The site

Other trails worth taking