Odell Lake was an early educational

Educational game

Educational games are games that have been designed to teach people about a certain subject, expand concepts, reinforce development, understand an historical event or culture, or assist them in learning a skill as they play...

 life simulation game

Life simulation game

Life simulation games is a sub-genre of simulation video games in which the player lives or controls one or more virtual lifeforms...

, produced by MECC for the Apple II and Commodore 64 computers. In the game, the player is a fish living in Odell Lake

Odell Lake (Oregon)

Odell Lake is located near Willamette Pass in the northwest corner of Klamath County, Oregon, United States. It is one of several lakes in the Cascade Range in Central Oregon, and lies within the Deschutes National Forest. It was named for Oregon Surveyor General William Holman Odell by Byron J...

, a real-world lake in Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

. It was followed up by the game Odell Down Under

Odell Down Under

Odell Down Under is a game for the PC and Macintosh that takes place in the Great Barrier Reef. It is the sequel to Odell Lake.-Gameplay:...

.

Gameplay

As a fish, the player could "go exploring" or "play for points". The object was to decide which fish to eat, while trying to survive and avoid other enemies; such as otters, ospreys, and fishermen. When simply exploring, the player could select from six different species of fish, such as Mackinaw Trout, whitefish, or Rainbow Trout; however, when playing for points, the computer randomly assigned the type of fish that the player will play as. In addition, the titles for each of the types of fish and other creatures are removed when playing for points, forcing the player to rely on memory; also the game was timed.

When playing for points, the best decision netted the player the most points, with less intelligent decisions earning the player fewer or no points, or in the case of the fish eating something disagreeable, actually taking them away. If at any time the player's fish was attacked by an enemy, or the player got caught by an angler, the game ended immediately.

Main fish

The species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of fish found in Odell Lake included the following:

• Rainbow trout
  Rainbow trout
  The rainbow trout is a species of salmonid native to tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead is a sea run rainbow trout usually returning to freshwater to spawn after 2 to 3 years at sea. In other words, rainbow trout and steelhead trout are the same species....
  
  
• Dolly Varden trout
  Dolly Varden trout
  The Dolly Varden trout, Salvelinus malma malma, is a subspecies of anadromous fish in the salmon family, and is technically a char. Although many of the fish are anadromous, the fish also exists in landlocked waters.- Range :The subspecies S. m...
  
  , can eat everything except a Mackinaw Trout
• Mackinaw trout
  Lake trout
  Lake trout is a freshwater char living mainly in lakes in northern North America. Other names for it include mackinaw, lake char , touladi, togue, and grey trout. In Lake Superior, they can also be variously known as siscowet, paperbellies and leans...
  
  , the largest fish in the game and also the deadliest (other fish could be eaten while attempting a deep escape, but not a shallow escape)
• Blueback Salmon
  Sockeye salmon
  Sockeye salmon , also called red salmon or blueback salmon in the USA, is an anadromous species of salmon found in the Northern Pacific Ocean and rivers discharging into it...
  
  
• Whitefish
  Lake whitefish
  The lake whitefish , also called the Sault whitefish or gizzard fish, is a species of freshwater whitefish from North America. Lake whitefish are found throughout much of Canada and parts of the northern United States, including all of the Great Lakes. A valuable commercial fish, they are also...
  
  
• Chub
  Chub
  The European chub , sometimes called the round chub, fat chub, chevin, pollard or simply "the" chub, is a freshwater fish of the family Cyprinidae...
  
  , the smallest fish in the game; when playing as another fish, eating a Chub earned the most points but was also risky since Chubs were frequently used as bait by anglers.

Other species

In addition to the other species of fish, the player's fish could come across the following in or above the lake:

• Otter
  Otter
  The Otters are twelve species of semi-aquatic mammals which feed on fish and shellfish, and also other invertebrates, amphibians, birds and small mammals....
  
  s, who would eat any fish not making a deep escape (the exception was a Mackinaw Trout, because it can only swim in deep water)
• Osprey
  Osprey
  The Osprey , sometimes known as the sea hawk or fish eagle, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey. It is a large raptor, reaching more than in length and across the wings...
  
  s, who would grab any fish not making a deep escape (the exception was a Mackinaw Trout, because it can only swim in deep water)
• Algae
  Algae
  Algae are a large and diverse group of simple, typically autotrophic organisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms, such as the giant kelps that grow to 65 meters in length. They are photosynthetic like plants, and "simple" because their tissues are not organized into the many...
  
   (which was only a good food to a Chub; any other fish would find it disgusting if eaten)
• Plankton
  Plankton
  Plankton are any drifting organisms that inhabit the pelagic zone of oceans, seas, or bodies of fresh water. That is, plankton are defined by their ecological niche rather than phylogenetic or taxonomic classification...
  
  
• Fishermen
  Fisherman
  A fisherman or fisher is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishermen and fish farmers. The term can also be applied to recreational fishermen and may be used to describe both men...
  
  , whose presence would not be known unless the player ate a baited Chub or a fisherman's fly concealed as Insects and Larva
  Larva
  A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...
  
  
• Bottom Organisms
• Insects and Larva
  Larva
  A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...
  
  

Actions

The actions a fish could take when he approached (or was approached by) another fish, animal, or object included:

• Attempting to eat the item
• Attempting to chase away the item
• Ignoring the item (by default when player ran out of time in "Play for points")
• Making a "shallow escape" (heading for high water)
• Making a "deep escape" (heading for low water)

External links

• Gamebase64 entry for "Odell Lake"