Organ Trail
- NA: October 20, 2015[1]
- PAL: August 17, 2016
August 10, 2023
- Single-player
Organ Trail is a "retro zombie survival game"[2] that parodies the educational game series The Oregon Trail.[3][4] It was initially released as a free Adobe Flash-based browser game, and later as a Facebook app. This version was developed by Ben Perez, Michael Block, and Ryan Wiemeyer.[5][6] The game uses the Unity game engine.
An expanded version, The Organ Trail: Director's Cut, was released on mobile devices in August 2012. That same month the Director's Cut was also posted on Steam Greenlight; after receiving enough support, it was released on Steam for Windows, Mac, and Linux on March 19, 2013.[7] The expanded version was developed by Michael Block and Ryan Wiemeyer, founders of the company The Men Who Wear Many Hats.[8]
Director's Cut has sold 429,192 copies as of August 9, 2013. Most of the copies were sold on Humble Bundle, Steam and iOS. Most profits were made on the Steam and iOS platforms.[9]
Gameplay
In The Organ Trail, players must cross a post-apocalyptic United States in a car in order to reach a sanctuary free of zombies, called Safe Haven. Players must manage their limited resources, including food, ammunition, medicine, scrap, money, and fuel for their vehicle, in order to complete their journey and keep everyone in their party alive and healthy.[citation needed]
At the beginning players can choose from a number of characters to play as, including a cop from Kentucky, a clerk from New Jersey, or a lawyer from Miami.[10]
Director's Cut
The Organ Trail's popularity led its developers to start a Kickstarter to fund a "director's cut" of the game based on fan feedback and suggestions.[11][12][13] The Director's Cut features a number of changes to the original game, including a customizable protagonist instead of the above preset characters, "choose-your-own-adventure" style random encounters, boss fights, in-game achievements and online leaderboards.[2] While the original game has been described as a "1:1 pure parody" of The Oregon Trail, the developers decided The Director's Cut should stand on its own as a title that pushed beyond the source material.[14]
In contrast to the original game which is free to play, The Director's Cut is a commercial product. It was released for iOS and Android devices on August 9, 2012.[2] It debuted for Linux, Mac, PC and Android via The Humble Bundle.[15]
Reception
Aggregator | Score |
---|---|
Metacritic | (iOS, Vita) 86/100[16][17] (PS4) 80/100[18] (PC) 74/100[19] |
Publication | Score |
---|---|
Destructoid | (PC) 8/10[20] |
Gamezebo | (iOS) ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Hyper | (iOS) 9/10[22] |
PC Gamer (UK) | 71%[23] |
PC PowerPlay | 7/10[24] |
Pocket Gamer | (iOS) ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
TouchArcade | (iOS) ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Digital Spy | (iOS) ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The game received "generally favorable reviews" on all platforms except the PC version, which received "average" reviews, according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[16][17][18][19]
References
- ^ Wiemeyer, Ryan (October 15, 2015). "Organ Trail Complete Edition Coming to PS4, PS Vita October 20th". PlayStation Blog. Sony Interactive Entertainment. Archived from the original on April 28, 2017. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
- ^ a b c "Organ Trail: Director's Cut". The Men Who Wear Many Hats. Archived from the original on August 13, 2012. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
- ^ Totilo, Stephen (April 11, 2012). "Organ Trail Adds Zombies To That One Educational Game Where You Could Get Sick and Die". Kotaku. G/O Media. Archived from the original on October 21, 2018. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
- ^ McDonnell, Jess (January 22, 2013). "Indie Hour: The Organ Trail Highlights". GameSpot. Fandom. Archived from the original on September 25, 2015. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
- ^ Davis, Lauren (October 30, 2010). "Flee the zombie hordes on the "Organ Trail"". i09. G/O Media. Archived from the original on September 28, 2020. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
- ^ "Organ Trail". The Men Who Wear Many Hats. Archived from the original on November 2, 2014. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
- ^ "Organ Trail: Director's Cut". Steam. Valve. Archived from the original on May 18, 2013. Retrieved May 12, 2013.
- ^ "Official Company Website". The Men Who Wear Many Hats. Archived from the original on October 1, 2013. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
- ^ Wiemeyer, Ryan (August 9, 2013). "Organ Trail: Director's Cut One Year Sales Figures". Game Developer. Informa. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
- ^ Ehrlich, Brenna (October 29, 2010). ""Oregon Trail"-Inspired Zombie Game Is Apocalyptically Awesome". Mashable. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on May 26, 2012. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
- ^ Corriea, Alexa Ray (April 13, 2012). "Organ Trail - Meet The Men Behind the Zombie Roadtrip". G4TV. G4 Media. Archived from the original on August 5, 2016. Retrieved May 26, 2012.
- ^ Lawton, Chuck (January 5, 2012). "Kickstarter: Organ Trail Simulates the Zombie Apocalypse". Wired. Condé Nast. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
- ^ Netburn, Deborah (January 5, 2012). "Organ Trail, a zombie spoof of Oregon Trail, is going mobile". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on January 19, 2012. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
- ^ Nicholson, Brad (June 17, 2012). "Hands-On With 'Organ Trail' - A Gruesome Post-Apocalyptic Take On 'Oregon Trail'". TouchArcade. TouchArcade.com, LLC. Archived from the original on July 21, 2012. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
- ^ Pearson, Craig (January 11, 2013). "Travel Sickness: The Organ Trail: The Director's Cut". Rock Paper Shotgun. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on January 24, 2013. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
- ^ a b "Organ Trail: Director's Cut for iPhone/iPad Reviews". Metacritic. Fandom. Archived from the original on May 7, 2019. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
- ^ a b "Organ Trail: Complete Edition for PlayStation Vita Reviews". Metacritic. Fandom. Archived from the original on April 28, 2019. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
- ^ a b "Organ Trail: Complete Edition for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. Fandom. Archived from the original on April 28, 2019. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
- ^ a b "Organ Trail: Director's Cut for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Fandom. Archived from the original on September 27, 2016. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
- ^ Sterling, Jim (April 2, 2013). "Review: The Organ Trail [sic]: Director's Cut (PC)". Destructoid. Gamurs. Archived from the original on November 23, 2022. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
- ^ Rambo, Dant (August 14, 2012). "Organ Trail: Director's Cut Review (iOS)". Gamezebo. Archived from the original on November 23, 2022. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
- ^ "Review: Organ Trail: Director's Cut (iOS)". Hyper. Next Media Pty Ltd. November 2012. p. 29.
- ^ "Organ Trail: Director's Cut". PC Gamer UK. Future plc. June 2013. p. 89.
- ^ "Review: Organ Trail: Director's Cut". PC PowerPlay. No. 222. Next Media Pty Ltd. December 2013. p. 85.
- ^ Devlin, Paul (August 28, 2012). "Organ Trail: Director's Cut (iOS)". Pocket Gamer. Steel Media Ltd. Archived from the original on November 23, 2022. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
- ^ Khaw, Cassandra (August 10, 2012). "'Organ Trail: Director's Cut' Review – Tickling Your Nostalgia with a Zombie Apocalypse". TouchArcade. TouchArcade.com, LLC. Archived from the original on November 23, 2022. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
- ^ Nichols, Scott (August 13, 2012). "Mobile review round-up: Pitfall, Organ Trail, Farming Simulator, more". Digital Spy. Hearst Communications. Archived from the original on November 23, 2022. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
External links
- Official website
- Organ Trail at MobyGames
- Organ Trail: Director's Cut (Android, iOS) at MobyGames
- Organ Trail: Director's Cut at MobyGames
- Organ Trail: Complete Edition at MobyGames
- v
- t
- e
- The Oregon Trail (1971)
- The Oregon Trail (1985)
- Oregon Trail II
- 3rd Edition
- 4th Edition
- 5th Edition
- The Oregon Trail (2009)
- American Settler
- The Yukon Trail
- MayaQuest: The Mystery Trail
- Africa Trail
- The Trail to Oregon! (musical)
- Card and board games
- MECC
- Oregon Trail
- Freedom!
- Organ Trail