The classic Oregon Trail adventure, now for the modern generation!
Originally released for Apple Arcade in 2021, it was later ported the next year to PC and the Nintendo Switch. It's notable for including Indigenous travelers for the first time, with Gameloft going out of their way to make sure the representation is as accurate and respectful as possible.
This game provides examples of:
- Bears Are Bad News: One random event that can happen is a bear coming along and injuring one of your party members. You then have to either scare the bear away with a bullet (if you have any) or play dead, the success of which depends on your character's Composure. You don't get long to choose.
- Death of a Child: Little Mary in Frail Monument doesn't live to see her fifth birthday.
- Do You Want to Haggle?: When trading or using services like the ferry, a character can try to haggle for a better price. Those with higher Wit and/or traits like Brilliant or Charming have a better chance of success.
- Foregone Conclusion: The various Native American tribes that you can come across worry that the white settlers are killing off too many bison and how they fear they will eventually be pushed further and further west out of their homelands. Yeah.
- Gotta Catch 'Em All: You can catch over 80 species of fish in the Fishing Minigame and spot numerous creatures to fill out your journals.
- Incurable Cough of Death: What ultimately does in Little Mary at the end of Frail Monument, even if you give her medicine.
- Inventory Management Puzzle: All items need to be fitted inside the wagon and each item takes up a certain amount of space ranging from one square (such as herbal remedies) to 6 squares (fish), with some taking more awkward shapes though items can be rotated where need be. Also bear in mind that each type of item only goes up to a certain limit before needing to take up another slot. Items that overlap exposed squares may become damaged while no item can be placed in damaged squares at all. Players will need to rearrange their inventory and fix their wagon regularly due to them hitting rocks and whatnot.
- Purely Aesthetic Gender: Party members are now explicitly male or female, but it doesn't seem to affect gameplay, just some dialogue.
- Quick Time Event: Players will occasionally need to be quick on their heels to choose the correct choice or course of action for various events such as stabilising an old, abandoned wagon, playing the Gunslinger's shooting game, or stopping a crow from nicking one of your gold nuggets.
- Suck Out the Poison: If a party member gets bitten by a snake, sucking out the venom is once again an option that works. However, the person sucking out the venom will now themselves suffer a fever.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
- Sucking out snake venom is still an option. However, it now comes with the side-effect of the healer getting a fever themselves. There's a reason this method's not recommended these days with the availability of anti-venom.
- Broken limbs and gunshot wounds now result in maximum health being reduced. Even after the injury heals naturally, the health penalty will remain and can only be removed by a physician at a fort. First aid can only do so much to mitigate such injuries; proper medical care is required.
- Cool, Clear Water is not in effect here. The party may come across ponds and water holes, but the water is stated to taste bad, be cloudy, and have mosquito larvae swimming in it. Drinking such stagnant water carries the risk of dysentery or cholera. There's a reason one emigrant warns "Don't dig a water hole! Drink only river water."
- Total Party Kill: In Ka-Boom, running out of water results in the bullets the party's transporting to overheat. Obviously, neither the party nor the wagon survive the explosion.
- Vengeance Feels Empty: If you successfully convince The Gunslinger to kill the man who killed his brother, he will complete his task but he then admits that he stills feels angry and feels that he cannot face his family ever again. Once he leaves, the son of the man that the Gunslinger shoots dead comes across the party saying that he will take his revenge for his father's sake.
- Video Game Caring Potential: You can give food and other supplies to random people in need of help en-route. Sometimes you don't get anything for it but other times doing so will boost your party's morale. You can also help out people in specific quests such as the "Star-Crossed Lovers" and "Reuniting the Peoria Party", etc.
- We Cannot Go On Without You: In Lost Hollow, the game ends if Stephen Meek dies or abandons the party.
- Wizard Needs Food Badly: Besides the standard need to eat, Ka-Boom also has the need to maintain the party's water supply. Running out of water results in the bullets being transported to overheat and explode, killing off the entire party.
- You Lose at Zero Trust: If a party member's morale gets too low, they'll become Forlorn. If this persists, they may end up abandoning the party. Having said that, the party member does a chance to later return and ask for your Forgiveness. If you let them return, their stats will be restored (which can actually save you a good bit of money/resources). Or you can turn them away again for the hell of it.
