You Have Died of Dysentery t-shirt from Oregon Trail

By Cory Doctorow at 8:35 am Thursday, Mar 31

This "You Have Died of Dysentery" tee is a loving tribute to Oregon Trail, the classic 80s computer game that challenged you to get your settlers to their destination without their succumbing to cholera, dysentery, or other thermonuclear versions of turista. Jason on Preshrunk has written a lovely memoir of the game:

I spent three arduous weeks trying to circumnavigate the Columbia River. After that, I spent six weeks trying to hunt enough buffalo to feed my party. All the while my party kept dying of dysentery and cholera. It took me five months to beat that goddamn game, but I loved it.

Since I like to show off my scars and broadcast my shortcomings, I adore Busted Tees' "You Have Died Of Dysentery" shirt. It reminds me of swing sets, pizza day in the cafeteria, cub scouts and kickball. Besides, what's not to love about a shirt that basically says "you died from a bad case of the shits"?

Link (via Preshrunk)

Update: Mlahumlaha sez, "In December you linked to this Apple 2 emulator. I think it would be convenient to link to Oregon Trail itself."

Update 2:Chris B sez, "Zug columnist Scott Taylor recently returned to The Trail to see if he'd be able to find love on the American Frontier (or a pixelated approximation thereof)."

Update 3: Matt sez, "The great comic Achewood had a story about Oregon Trail being hacked."

Update 4:Ramit sez, "I originally designed it over at www.BitterShirts.com (and then licensed it out to BustedTees)."