The high whine of a dial-up modem connecting to the internet always takes me back to my parents’ kitchen, where my father’s computer was inconveniently placed when I was growing up. I was a curious kid, and I knew the internet held all manner of secrets. But three doors led to the kitchen, where a parent or vengeful sibling could get a full view of whatever it was I was trying to do. Like so many others in my generation, I found a wholesome obsession in the 1985 game The Oregon Trail. As a quasi-19th-century pioneer, I forged many rivers, buried many a sibling and ox and stocked up on ammunition but never made it to the Willamette Valley. It was, and I say this with love, a ridiculously difficult game. Despite its frustrations, the appeal of The Oregon Trail has lasted long past its rightful obsolescence. Enter the Beaver State’s Travel Oregon: The Game. It’s got the 2-D graphics and linear travel path that makes me feel safe. It’s got all the trappings of the original, but it’s funnily updated. You don’t drive a covered wagon. You drive a station wagon. Instead of sudden death brought on by dysentery or measles, travelers are beset by more contemporary anxieties. Consuming too much kombucha will inevitably lead to a sour stomach, a broken aux cord can send a passenger screaming into the woods, and backseat drivers demand apologies and hot chocolate. As you make your stops at sites like Anthony Lakes, Shore Acres State Park and downtown Portland, you can hunt, fish, ice skate and more. Talk to locals for random facts about the state’s migratory birds, and gain invitations to special events, like a snow-tubing party on Mt. Hood. Travel Oregon is a clever piece of marketing for the state — while trying to keep your car full of friends alive, you get taken in by the pixelated, rugged beauty of the mountains and shores. At each stop, you can choose to book your in-real-life vacation and navigate right to the Oregon Tourism Commission’s website. Whether you’re planning a trip, in it to daydream or simply want to buy flights of craft beer with money you earned arm-wrestling a guy at a truck stop, Travel Oregon is a great way to kill time while you avoid whatever very important work you are supposed to be doing. Visit traveloregon.com/thegame to get started. ERICA CICCARONE
Procrastinate With Travel Oregon
