“JIMMY was dicking around with the meds kits and now you’ve lost one.”
With this hilarious one-liner, I was sold on the cleverly-named 8-bit throwback “Organ Trail.” From indie developer The Men Who Wear Many Hats, this old-school homage makes you feel like you’re in on all the jokes. The premise of the game is a simple re-write of the classic PC point-and-click “Oregon Trail.” But instead of braving the many dangers of the open plains to bring your pioneer wagon safely (or, infamously, rather unsafely) to Oregon, in this version you’re trying to survive the zombie apocalypse–also in a (station) wagon.
All of the classic scenarios have been cunningly translated to their zombie-appropriate parallel. Instead of deciding how to cross the river, you’ve got to decide how to drive through a massive (but relatively unperturbed) zombie horde. Will you try to go slowly and sneak through? Wait to see if they go away? Take advantage of the opportunity to score a pre-emptive attack? Holding my breath to see if we made it “across” took me right back to my childhood, hoping against hope that my wagon wouldn’t overturn in the river. Happily, these zombies didn’t look at us twice, and we made it safely to Pittsburgh.
I also had the chance to quickly explore the “scavenge” option–just like “hunting” in the original–which gave me the satisfying chance to shoot up some zombies (and multi-task by foraging for food).
Full disclosure: Since I had no idea this game even existed before stumbling across it at the Indie Showcase at PAX East, I haven’t had a chance to play for more than a few minutes. But it’s a testament to the ingenuity of the developers and writers that after just one test-play, I’m completely stoked to head home and download this game–and to tell you all that you should promptly do the same.
Download it here.
Recommended for zombie enthusiasts, those who appreciate knowing-wink comedy, and anybody “of a certain age” looking for a delightful trip down zombie-infested memory lane. Appropriate for kids old enough to handle 8-bit zombie violence and some mild language. 9 out of 10 stars because I would feel disingenuous giving 10 stars to something I hadn’t spent even half an hour playing.
