Yukon Trail
Encyclopedia
The Yukon Trail is a 1994
computer game from MECC
, the creators of The Oregon Trail
. The game is based around the Klondike Gold Rush
of the late 19th century. Players start out in Seattle, where they must partner up, secure travel, and purchase needed provisions.
named Sadie, a native of the Yukon called Linda (her actual name is not given), a carpenter
named Jake, or a businessman named Midas T. Golden. Each partner has unique advantages over the others: the miner collects gold more effectively, the native can carry more weight, the carpenter can build and repair more effectively, and the businessman has more money. After selecting a partner the player purchases two tickets for one of three ships to Skagway
or one of three ships to Dyea
. Tickets are more expensive for ships that depart immediately, and less expensive for those departing later. The player can buy equipment and food
for the journey at Pioneer Outfitters, or they can wait until they get to Alaska
. There is also a peddler at the wharf who will sell two of the following items: "gold-sniffing" gopher
s, a trail bicycle
, a folding canvas
boat, eggs
, caviar
, or kitten
s. Three of the peddler's items are relatively worthless: the gopher will walk out during the claim, the bicycle will accidentally be stolen by another passenger in the ship to Dyea or Skagway or thrown overboard by the captain, because he says it's impossible to get over the mountains on a bike, and the folding canvas boat will be confiscated when a player arrives in Lake Bennett.However, the eggs, caviar, and cats may be resold at a profit. The player's partner can offer advice on purchasing tickets, outfits, or anything else, but it is not always wise to heed their advice. For instance, some partners encourage the player to delay buying supplies until they arrive in Alaska, where supplies are more expensive, or to buy the peddler's worthless items. Advice given depends on which partner is chosen.
, or head for either the White Pass
trail or the Chilkoot trail. The White Pass is longer, but easier, and the Chilkoot is shorter, but harder. The player can also hire packers in the two cities that would haul their supplies to the respective routes. Gambling involves three games called Yukon, a card game located in the saloons of Dyea and Skagway, an arcade with a host that would tell you the best place to find gold in change of $5, however, she will only tell it if you get exactly 1000 points and "find the nugget", located in Skagway, where a gold nugget
is placed under one of three cups, which are shuffled. If the player bets $1, the game is made very easy. If the player bets the higher amount, the game is rigged so it is impossible to win. When reported to the bar manager, he "claims" he will get your money back, but actually does not. Gambling can be turned off in the preferences menu.
The Yukon Trail gives children plenty of opportunities to think about the situation, giving many options and many possible consequences for each event, thus building problem solving skills. The initial choice players make on the trail, and can constantly change if wished, is the load personally carried. A smaller load results in the ground moved each day to become shorter (as some of the supplies have to be left behind and then returned for). Moreover, the trail becomes much more difficult to travel when encroaching upon the winter months. However, a larger load will result in a higher probability of the player or partner being injured.
Midway down the trail, the player and partner stop at a camp. They can then buy or sell goods before climbing the mountain pass leading to the Canadian
border where they pay a toll to pass into the Yukon Territory. The North West Mounted Police will not let them pass unless they have 1000 pounds of food per person.
Along the trail, numerous random events can occur. Random events include: someone being injured (the player decides to continue at a slower pace or to rest), theft of food, rockslide
s, crowds of people or abandoned animals, and sudden inclement weather.
The player and partner arrive at Bennett Lake after hiking into Canada
. While there, they meet the legendary Mountie Sam Steele
. During the winter they need to build one of three boats. To do this they must acquire a whipsaw
if they do not already have one. To get one they can easily trade food. Once the spring arrives and the ice has melted, the player and partner can embark with their boat. Depending on the date of their arrival at Lake Bennett, Sam Steele will let them depart right away, or have them wait two or four days before departure.
On the river, the speed is determined by the type of boat chosen, and how much damage it has sustained. The choices for boats include a dinghy
, a raft
, or a canoe
. The dinghy is balanced, the raft handles well but is slow, and the canoe is fast but handles poorly. There are a few minigames, which involve guiding the boat away from rocks and whirlpools. After the minigame, if the boat has been damaged, the player can choose to repair the boat or build an entirely different one.
The player and partner will eventually reach Dawson City
, where they are presented with a map of claims they can stake. There, they meet Nellie Cashman
and author Jack London
. Once they have staked a claim, they can begin searching for gold. With the arrival of winter, the game ends. The player's score is determined by the amount of money they have (from the entire journey, including gold). Most claims will yield small amounts of gold, but at least one claim can get you the high score.
, the totem pole
s, and the three rapids: Miles Canyon, White Horse Rapids
and Five Finger Rapids
.
1994 in video gaming
-Events:*Nintendo calls this year "1994: The Year of the Cartridge".*Nintendo Australia Pty. Ltd, the Australian subsidiary of Nintendo Co., Ltd is established and opened by Hiroshi Yamauchi and effectively ends Mattel Australia's distribution of Nintendo's products throughout Australia.*"Project...
computer game from MECC
MECC
The Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium , most commonly known as MECC, was an organization founded in 1973. The goal of the organization was to coordinate and provide computer services to schools in the state of Minnesota; however, its software eventually became popular in schools around...
, the creators of The Oregon Trail
The Oregon Trail (computer game)
The Oregon Trail is a computer game originally developed by Don Rawitsch, Bill Heinemann, and Paul Dillenberger in 1971 and produced by the Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium in 1974. The original game was designed to teach school children about the realities of 19th century pioneer life...
. The game is based around the Klondike Gold Rush
Klondike Gold Rush
The Klondike Gold Rush, also called the Yukon Gold Rush, the Alaska Gold Rush and the Last Great Gold Rush, was an attempt by an estimated 100,000 people to travel to the Klondike region the Yukon in north-western Canada between 1897 and 1899 in the hope of successfully prospecting for gold...
of the late 19th century. Players start out in Seattle, where they must partner up, secure travel, and purchase needed provisions.
Gameplay
- This section is applicable to the MacintoshMacintoshThe Macintosh , or Mac, is a series of several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced by Apple's then-chairman Steve Jobs on January 24, 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a...
and WindowsMicrosoft WindowsMicrosoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
releases of The Yukon Trail.
Start
The game starts in Seattle in August 1897 (right before the actual Gold Rush). The player is presented with a wharf, but must first go downtown, where there is a ticket office and a shop called Pioneer Outfitters. The game does not allow the player to purchase anything until they choose a partner. Partners can only be found at the ticket office, which is where the player is directed. One of the following partners can be chosen: an experienced minerMiner
A miner is a person whose work or business is to extract ore or minerals from the earth. Mining is one of the most dangerous trades in the world. In some countries miners lack social guarantees and in case of injury may be left to cope without assistance....
named Sadie, a native of the Yukon called Linda (her actual name is not given), a carpenter
Carpenter
A carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....
named Jake, or a businessman named Midas T. Golden. Each partner has unique advantages over the others: the miner collects gold more effectively, the native can carry more weight, the carpenter can build and repair more effectively, and the businessman has more money. After selecting a partner the player purchases two tickets for one of three ships to Skagway
Skagway, Alaska
Skagway is a first-class borough in Alaska, on the Alaska Panhandle. It was formerly a city first incorporated in 1900 that was re-incorporated as a borough on June 25, 2007. As of the 2000 census, the population of the city was 862...
or one of three ships to Dyea
Dyea, Alaska
Dyea is a former town in the U.S. state of Alaska. A few people live on individual small homesteads in the valley; however, it is largely abandoned. It is located at the convergence of the Taiya River and Taiya Inlet on the south side of the Chilkoot Pass within the limits of the Municipality of...
. Tickets are more expensive for ships that depart immediately, and less expensive for those departing later. The player can buy equipment and food
Food
Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals...
for the journey at Pioneer Outfitters, or they can wait until they get to Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
. There is also a peddler at the wharf who will sell two of the following items: "gold-sniffing" gopher
Gopher (animal)
The term gopher as it is commonly used does not relate to any one species, but is a generic term used to describe any of several small burrowing rodents endemic to North America, including the pocket gopher , also called true gophers, and the ground squirrel , including Richardson's ground squirrel...
s, a trail bicycle
Bicycle
A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....
, a folding canvas
Canvas
Canvas is an extremely heavy-duty plain-woven fabric used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, and other items for which sturdiness is required. It is also popularly used by artists as a painting surface, typically stretched across a wooden frame...
boat, eggs
Egg (food)
Eggs are laid by females of many different species, including birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish, and have probably been eaten by mankind for millennia. Bird and reptile eggs consist of a protective eggshell, albumen , and vitellus , contained within various thin membranes...
, caviar
Caviar
Caviar, sometimes called black caviar, is a luxury delicacy, consisting of processed, salted, non-fertilized sturgeon roe. The roe can be "fresh" or pasteurized, the latter having much less culinary and economic value....
, or kitten
Kitten
A kitten is a juvenile domesticated cat.The young of big cats are called cubs rather than kittens. Either term may be used for the young of smaller wild felids such as ocelots, caracals, and lynx, but "kitten" is usually more common for these species....
s. Three of the peddler's items are relatively worthless: the gopher will walk out during the claim, the bicycle will accidentally be stolen by another passenger in the ship to Dyea or Skagway or thrown overboard by the captain, because he says it's impossible to get over the mountains on a bike, and the folding canvas boat will be confiscated when a player arrives in Lake Bennett.However, the eggs, caviar, and cats may be resold at a profit. The player's partner can offer advice on purchasing tickets, outfits, or anything else, but it is not always wise to heed their advice. For instance, some partners encourage the player to delay buying supplies until they arrive in Alaska, where supplies are more expensive, or to buy the peddler's worthless items. Advice given depends on which partner is chosen.
The Trail
Once the player and partner get tickets, they go to the wharf where, depending on the ship chosen, they either board immediately, wait a week, or wait two weeks. Upon reaching their destination, either Skagway or Dyea, they can purchase any supplies that were not bought in Seattle, gambleGambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
, or head for either the White Pass
White Pass
White Pass is a mountain pass through the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains on the border of the U.S. state of Alaska and the province of British Columbia, Canada...
trail or the Chilkoot trail. The White Pass is longer, but easier, and the Chilkoot is shorter, but harder. The player can also hire packers in the two cities that would haul their supplies to the respective routes. Gambling involves three games called Yukon, a card game located in the saloons of Dyea and Skagway, an arcade with a host that would tell you the best place to find gold in change of $5, however, she will only tell it if you get exactly 1000 points and "find the nugget", located in Skagway, where a gold nugget
Gold nugget
A gold nugget is a naturally occurring piece of native gold. Watercourses often concentrate and grow the nuggets. Nuggets are recovered by placer mining, but they are also found in residual deposits where the gold-bearing veins or lodes are weathered...
is placed under one of three cups, which are shuffled. If the player bets $1, the game is made very easy. If the player bets the higher amount, the game is rigged so it is impossible to win. When reported to the bar manager, he "claims" he will get your money back, but actually does not. Gambling can be turned off in the preferences menu.
The Yukon Trail gives children plenty of opportunities to think about the situation, giving many options and many possible consequences for each event, thus building problem solving skills. The initial choice players make on the trail, and can constantly change if wished, is the load personally carried. A smaller load results in the ground moved each day to become shorter (as some of the supplies have to be left behind and then returned for). Moreover, the trail becomes much more difficult to travel when encroaching upon the winter months. However, a larger load will result in a higher probability of the player or partner being injured.
Midway down the trail, the player and partner stop at a camp. They can then buy or sell goods before climbing the mountain pass leading to the Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
border where they pay a toll to pass into the Yukon Territory. The North West Mounted Police will not let them pass unless they have 1000 pounds of food per person.
Along the trail, numerous random events can occur. Random events include: someone being injured (the player decides to continue at a slower pace or to rest), theft of food, rockslide
Rockslide
A rockslide is a type of landslide caused by rock failure in which part of the plane of failure passes through intact rock and where material collapses en masse and not in individual blocks.The mode of failure is different from that of a rock-fall....
s, crowds of people or abandoned animals, and sudden inclement weather.
The River
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. While there, they meet the legendary Mountie Sam Steele
Sam Steele
Major General Sir Samuel Benfield Steele, CB, KCMG, MVO was a distinguished Canadian soldier and police official...
. During the winter they need to build one of three boats. To do this they must acquire a whipsaw
Whipsaw
Whipsaw as a noun refers to the type of saw used in a saw pit.As a transitive verb it means to beset or victimize in two opposite ways at once, by a two-phase operation, or by the collusive action of two opponents, e.g., wage earners were whipsawed by inflation and high taxes....
if they do not already have one. To get one they can easily trade food. Once the spring arrives and the ice has melted, the player and partner can embark with their boat. Depending on the date of their arrival at Lake Bennett, Sam Steele will let them depart right away, or have them wait two or four days before departure.
On the river, the speed is determined by the type of boat chosen, and how much damage it has sustained. The choices for boats include a dinghy
Dinghy
A dinghy is a type of small boat, often carried or towed for use as a ship's boat by a larger vessel. It is a loanword from either Bengali or Urdu. The term can also refer to small racing yachts or recreational open sailing boats. Utility dinghies are usually rowboats or have an outboard motor,...
, a raft
Raft
A raft is any flat structure for support or transportation over water. It is the most basic of boat design, characterized by the absence of a hull...
, or a canoe
Canoe
A canoe or Canadian canoe is a small narrow boat, typically human-powered, though it may also be powered by sails or small electric or gas motors. Canoes are usually pointed at both bow and stern and are normally open on top, but can be decked over A canoe (North American English) or Canadian...
. The dinghy is balanced, the raft handles well but is slow, and the canoe is fast but handles poorly. There are a few minigames, which involve guiding the boat away from rocks and whirlpools. After the minigame, if the boat has been damaged, the player can choose to repair the boat or build an entirely different one.
Dawson City, Yukon
The Town of the City of Dawson or Dawson City is a town in the Yukon, Canada.The population was 1,327 at the 2006 census. The area draws some 60,000 visitors each year...
, where they are presented with a map of claims they can stake. There, they meet Nellie Cashman
Nellie Cashman
Ellen Cashman , better known as Nellie Cashman, was a native of County Cork, Ireland, who became famous across the American and Canadian west as a nurse and gold prospector.-Early years:...
and author Jack London
Jack London
John Griffith "Jack" London was an American author, journalist, and social activist. He was a pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction and was one of the first fiction writers to obtain worldwide celebrity and a large fortune from his fiction alone...
. Once they have staked a claim, they can begin searching for gold. With the arrival of winter, the game ends. The player's score is determined by the amount of money they have (from the entire journey, including gold). Most claims will yield small amounts of gold, but at least one claim can get you the high score.
Landmarks
Periodically, the player stops at landmarks along the journey, where players can learn historical facts about each location. Some include the Dead Horse TrailWhite Pass
White Pass is a mountain pass through the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains on the border of the U.S. state of Alaska and the province of British Columbia, Canada...
, the totem pole
Totem pole
Totem poles are monumental sculptures carved from large trees, mostly Western Red Cedar, by cultures of the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America...
s, and the three rapids: Miles Canyon, White Horse Rapids
White Horse rapids
The White Horse rapids were rapids on the Yukon River in Canada's Yukon Territory, named for their supposed resemblance to the mane of a charging white horse...
and Five Finger Rapids
Five Finger Rapids
The Five Finger Rapids are located on the Yukon River, Yukon, Canada. Four islands divide the river into five narrow channels of which only the eastern is passable....
.
Hidden Menu
A hidden menu can be accessed by going to the management tab, clicking enable management, and entering the password MECC.See also
- Africa TrailAfrica TrailAfrica Trail is an educational computer game based on the similar idea of The Oregon Trail. It was published by The Learning Company. In this game, players traveled across Africa via bicycle. Players choose three of six people to aid them in their trip. You can start in Bizerte, Tunisia; Lagos,...
- Amazon Trail
- Oregon TrailThe Oregon Trail (computer game)The Oregon Trail is a computer game originally developed by Don Rawitsch, Bill Heinemann, and Paul Dillenberger in 1971 and produced by the Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium in 1974. The original game was designed to teach school children about the realities of 19th century pioneer life...
External links
- The Yukon Trail at Macintosh Garden
- The Yukon Trail at GameFAQsGameFAQsGameFAQs is a website that hosts FAQs and walkthroughs for video games. It was created in November 1995 by Jeff "CJayC" Veasey and was bought by CNET Networks in May 2003. It is currently owned by CBS Interactive. The site has a database of video game information, cheat codes, reviews, game saves,...