Nick Martel

He spreads the paper out across the living room floor, and he gets to work. With a fat black marker, Don draws a squiggly line from one end to the other, representing the trail route from Independence, Missouri to Oregon's Willamette Valley.

He spreads the paper out across the living room floor, and he gets to work. With a fat black marker, Don draws a squiggly line from one end to the other, representing the trail route from Independence, Missouri to Oregon's Willamette Valley.

And now Don starts to think he's on to something, so he sticks that pen cap in his mouth and he adds a series of squares across the map, each one representing historic forts and landmarks that players might land on via dice rolls. But this, this is a game, not just a map, and it needs another dimension.

And now Don starts to think he's on to something, so he sticks that pen cap in his mouth and he adds a series of squares across the map, each one representing historic forts and landmarks that players might land on via dice rolls. But this, this is a game, not just a map, and it needs another dimension.

And now Don starts to think he's on to something, so he sticks that pen cap in his mouth and he adds a series of squares across the map, each one representing historic forts and landmarks that players might land on via dice rolls. But this, this is a game, not just a map, and it needs another dimension.

So Don starts thinking up period-accurate obstacles, and he jots them down on index cards, like broken wagon wheel, or your oxen died, or you just got bit by a snake, go back three spots, you need to find a doctor. Jack, these are like the chance cards that you get in Monopoly, right? Only instead of a luxury tax bill, you might get mauled by wild animals. Exactly.

So Don starts thinking up period-accurate obstacles, and he jots them down on index cards, like broken wagon wheel, or your oxen died, or you just got bit by a snake, go back three spots, you need to find a doctor. Jack, these are like the chance cards that you get in Monopoly, right? Only instead of a luxury tax bill, you might get mauled by wild animals. Exactly.

So Don starts thinking up period-accurate obstacles, and he jots them down on index cards, like broken wagon wheel, or your oxen died, or you just got bit by a snake, go back three spots, you need to find a doctor. Jack, these are like the chance cards that you get in Monopoly, right? Only instead of a luxury tax bill, you might get mauled by wild animals. Exactly.

And Don, he's getting super creative going back in time in his head for these. As Don is scribbling out these cards, two of his roommates come home. Bill Heinemann and Paul Dillenberger. They're fourth-year teaching candidates, too. Bill and Paul teach math at a different public school. So Bill sees what's going on with this map on the table, and he tosses a frozen burrito in the microwave.

And Don, he's getting super creative going back in time in his head for these. As Don is scribbling out these cards, two of his roommates come home. Bill Heinemann and Paul Dillenberger. They're fourth-year teaching candidates, too. Bill and Paul teach math at a different public school. So Bill sees what's going on with this map on the table, and he tosses a frozen burrito in the microwave.

And Don, he's getting super creative going back in time in his head for these. As Don is scribbling out these cards, two of his roommates come home. Bill Heinemann and Paul Dillenberger. They're fourth-year teaching candidates, too. Bill and Paul teach math at a different public school. So Bill sees what's going on with this map on the table, and he tosses a frozen burrito in the microwave.

And he takes one look at Don's work in progress, and something just clicks. Bill has been taking some programming classes in an early computer language called BASIC. That's Beginner's All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code. And Bill also happens to be a fan of simulation games. So as he stares at Don's map that's laid out on the table, he offers a thought. Uh, cool game, bro.

And he takes one look at Don's work in progress, and something just clicks. Bill has been taking some programming classes in an early computer language called BASIC. That's Beginner's All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code. And Bill also happens to be a fan of simulation games. So as he stares at Don's map that's laid out on the table, he offers a thought. Uh, cool game, bro.

And he takes one look at Don's work in progress, and something just clicks. Bill has been taking some programming classes in an early computer language called BASIC. That's Beginner's All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code. And Bill also happens to be a fan of simulation games. So as he stares at Don's map that's laid out on the table, he offers a thought. Uh, cool game, bro.

Uh, wouldn't it be more fun, though, if you played it on a computer? Don's totally into the idea. Loves it. But he doesn't know code. That's okay, Bill says. I'll build the code for you. Don calls Paul over next, and Paul is on board, too. He volunteers to get in on this project as their debugger.

Uh, wouldn't it be more fun, though, if you played it on a computer? Don's totally into the idea. Loves it. But he doesn't know code. That's okay, Bill says. I'll build the code for you. Don calls Paul over next, and Paul is on board, too. He volunteers to get in on this project as their debugger.

Uh, wouldn't it be more fun, though, if you played it on a computer? Don's totally into the idea. Loves it. But he doesn't know code. That's okay, Bill says. I'll build the code for you. Don calls Paul over next, and Paul is on board, too. He volunteers to get in on this project as their debugger.

Jackets giving my uncle's got a barn, my aunt can sew the costumes, let's put on a show kind of vibes. Just one problem. Don's Oregon Trail unit is coming up really soon in the classroom. If they're going to build this game, they'll have to do it in 10 days.

Jackets giving my uncle's got a barn, my aunt can sew the costumes, let's put on a show kind of vibes. Just one problem. Don's Oregon Trail unit is coming up really soon in the classroom. If they're going to build this game, they'll have to do it in 10 days.

Jackets giving my uncle's got a barn, my aunt can sew the costumes, let's put on a show kind of vibes. Just one problem. Don's Oregon Trail unit is coming up really soon in the classroom. If they're going to build this game, they'll have to do it in 10 days.