Facebook users old enough to remember watching their oxen die while fording a river, or the time when M. T. Pockets stole “the banks of the Nile” will be pleased to hear that both The Oregon Trail and Carmen Sandiego have been reborn on the popular social media site.
The Oregon Trail for Facebook was launched on February 2 and Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? launched today, February 9. Both titles make use of the Facebook credit system and allow players to team up with friends, à la Zynga hits CityVille and FarmVille.
The core games are free, but as with Farmville and CityVille, extra features will cost you.
To give you an idea of the staying power of these titles, consider that The Oregon Trail was first developed by a group of college students in 1971 — 40 years ago — and debuted on the Apple II in 1981 — 30 years ago — with a series of releases occurring every few years since. Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? was first released in 1985 — 26 years ago — with a series of games following that were based in different geographical regions.
Interested gumshoes can check out the Carmen Sandiego Facebook game trailer below.