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Version History Opens Season Five With The Oregon Trail and Its Iconic Version's Designer

The Verge's Version History begins its fifth season with an episode on The Oregon Trail, featuring Philip Bouchard, who led the team behind the game's most iconic version, plus its academic roots and contested legacy.

AI News Feed · 2026-09-16 02:48

According to The Verge, the episode examines the game's academic origins, its complicated legacy, and the long-running question of whether anyone ever really died of dysentery. The Verge writes that children over the past 30 years have almost certainly grown up playing the game, whether in the back of a classroom or on a computer at home.

The outlet describes the new season as going back to school. Episodes to come will take on the TI-84 graphing calculator, One Laptop Per Child, the Chromebook, the LeapPad and the overhead projector.

The Verge also plans to livestream a playthrough of The Oregon Trail on its YouTube channel on Friday, with viewers learning which staff members make it to the end and which ones fall along the way.

Verge subscribers can listen to Version History and the outlet's other podcasts without ads through their account settings, The Verge said.

The Verge pointed readers to further material on the game: Gaming Historian's The Story of The Oregon Trail; The Atlantic's Going West: The World of Live Action, Competitive Oregon Trail; Epic Games' Representing history: the many faces of The Oregon Trail; a brief history of the game at died-of-dysentery.com; and the BBC's 50 years of The Oregon Trail, which addresses controversies surrounding the title.

Editor's Summary

The Verge's Version History has begun its fifth season with an episode on The Oregon Trail, built around an interview with Philip Bouchard, designer of the game's best-known version. The season will continue with episodes on classroom technology including the TI-84 calculator, One Laptop Per Child, the Chromebook, the LeapPad and the overhead projector, alongside a livestreamed playthrough of the game.