Gamers of the world can rejoice as Gameloft brings the joy of contracting dysentery into the modern age with The Oregon Trail: Steptracker Apple Watch app. Functioning as an add-on for the Apple Arcade game The Oregon Trail Steptracker app will allow players to travel the Oregon Trail in their day-to-day life, just hopefully without the scorpions and the blizzards and whatnot.

For those who need a history lesson, The Oregon Trail was an immensely popular series of games that had players guide a party of settlers across the Oregon Trail, which went from Missouri to Oregon, a 2000-mile journey, by wagon in 1848. First developed as an educational tool for schools, the game was brutally punishing, with choices having to be made about supply management, hunting, how to cross rivers, maintenance of tools and so on, the number of ways to die was endless. It was upgraded and re-released commercially in 1985 and became a huge hit, and has rightfully landed itself in the Video Game Hall of Fame.

After being modernised and released on the Apple Arcade, The Oregon Trail found its way back into everyone's hearts, sitting number 1 in 2021s most downloaded Apple Arcade Game, and now the StepTracker app offers a new and improved way to play. By walking with an Apple Watch, players will be able to track their progress across the Oregon Trail across 5 journey legs, going through 64 locations, seven forts, 15 river crossings and eight pony express stations, with graphics popping up for each of them. There are also animated environment changes to see as the locations change.

When talking about the app, the Game Manager of Gameloft Brisbane, David MacMinn, said: “By utilizing Apple Health, we can confidently say the original walking simulator branches out of being just a game, into a method for players to follow the path of The Oregon Trail with their own steps. We think it’s a great way for people to better understand those who made this journey, all while taking strides towards enhancing their own health and fitness.”

The Oregon Trail: StepTracker is available to download from the App Store and requires both an Apple Watch, and also a subscription to Apple Arcade for the base game The Oregon Trail.