A strange little side quest
If World of Alice Footprints sends you down a curiosity rabbit hole, start here. The Oregon Trail began in 1971 when three student teachers created a computer simulation to help Minnesota schoolchildren learn American history. The surprising part is how quickly the next milestone followed. Midway's Gun Fight from 1975 was the first arcade video game to use a microprocessor. That history is one reason familiar mechanics can still feel new when they are recombined well.
