Placing stories, stories of place

In the 2D adventure game When Rivers Were Trails, stories reflecting place are situated on maps that keep track of the player’s journey as an Anishinaabe person who is displaced due to the impact of land allotment in the 1890s. An Indigenous spin on The Oregon Trail meets Where the Water Tastes Like Wine, this game emphasizes Indigenous perspectives during interactive dialogue and decision making. While traveling from Minnesota to California, the player has the opportunity to come across over one hundred character scenarios and an assortment of random happenings written by around thirty Indigenous contributors. With the hope of providing insights for future games with similar aims, this brief descriptive overview delves into the writing of When Rivers Were Trails.