Excellent write up on it: https://if50.substack.com/p/1971-the-oregon-trail https://if50.substack.com/p/1971-the-oregon-trail The short: It was around since 19

Excellent write up on it: https://if50.substack.com/p/1971-the-oregon-trail https://if50.substack.com/p/1971-the-oregon-trail The short: It was around since 1971. It was basically an AAA game on a teleprinter. It was random enough that you couldn't "game" it by getting calculations right. It calculated the accuracy of your shot by your speed of typing. It rang the bell when you got a hit. Basically, it had a lot of 'juice' for games of that era and was an easy hit (pun intended). Some teachers would have played it by the time they became teachers. There's probably some nostalgia and they'd have brought the sequel to schools.