Oregon Trail is a browser game project built around two ideas: a journey should survive a reload, and the game rules should be editable without rewriting the application code.
Packing the wagon creates a separate saved journey. Every completed action saves immediately, including the exact pending river or landmark choice. Reloading resumes the most recent unfinished journey without rerolling the previous turn.
Saved data includes the party, date, supplies, health, miles, pace, rations, next stop, story state, pending choice, and a snapshot of the content rules. That snapshot matters because old journeys should keep their original rules even if new content is added later.
The game content lives in a JSON file. Stops, river crossings, travel events, actions, probabilities, effects, hunting settings, and failure outcomes can be adjusted as data. Bad content is reported without deleting existing saves, and older saved journeys can still be opened using their embedded rules.
Probability handling is documented plainly. Travel events use absolute percentages per travel turn, not relative weights. Action success has its own chance when selected. This keeps tuning from becoming a mystery hidden behind the interface.
Saves use browser localStorage on the current origin. That is useful for a lightweight game, but it also sets a clear boundary: saves do not sync between devices, private windows, browsers, or domains, and clearing site data removes them.
The project also includes service-worker support for offline play after a successful first install over HTTPS or localhost. The initial visit still needs connectivity, but a working cached copy can reload later on the same device.
The result is a small game that treats persistence as part of the experience. The wagon can get interrupted by life, the browser can reload, and the journey can still continue from the decision that was actually in front of the player.
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These notes record article updates associated with repository changes. The original publication date is retained.
- — Added the Oregon Trail project article with notes on saved journeys, recovery, editable JSON rules, river choices, and offline play. GitHub source