Oregon Trail Board Game
The Oregon Trail Game was developed back in 1971 by Don Rawitsch, Bill Heinemann, and Paul Dillenberg. Three years after, Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium also known as MECC, produced the game.
Originally, it was designed to teach children about the real-life situations of people in the 19th century. The goal must be to take a group of people from Independence, Missouri, to another place called Oregon.
Oregon Trail Resources Great Academic Games Contact Classroom Policies Recent Educreations Powered by Create your own unique website. Not only that, but the fact that the trail cards must all be played to get to Oregon (and that you must play until you don't have any cards that can continue the trail) leaves little variability in the number of calamities you will face. This game is 99% luck, with the other 1% being based on the number of players.
Oregon Trail was a big hit and almost became one of the best selling video games back then. It was played by school kids from the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s.
Gameplay
There are several basic things that you need to know about this game. The Oregon Trail consists of three parts:
- Beginning(The Departure). This is when the player needs to choose the character and name of the leader, as well as his/her companions, prior to leaving Independence, Missouri.
- Middle(The Journey). This is the journey and the leader is expected to face obstacles along the way.
- End(The Arrival). It is the moment of reaching Oregon where a player can review all the points acquired on the journey.
Departure to Independence, Missouri
Independence, Missouri is the starting point of the trail. To start the game, a player needs to choose what kind of person a leader would be while traveling to Oregon. There are four people who can accompany the leader on the journey. The player will name them according to his preference.
Once the leader and company have been decided, the leader needs to decide the month of departure. He can choose between March to July. There is also an option to ask for a piece of advice.
For the time the travelers are about to leave the Independence, they have the available fund of $1,600. The money can be used to purchase items like foods, clothing, animals, ammunition, and spare parts which are sold in Matt’s General Store in Missouri.
After buying the items, the leader together with his party members is ready to leave. This will be the start of trials and challenges along the way.
The Trail
During the course of the Oregon trail game, travelers will face many obstacles. They will be reminded of the available supplies, the current weather, and the health condition of the leader. The leader has the choice to continue the trail, check supplies, and rest. There is also an option to see how many miles they will need to travel and the places they will need to cross.
While traveling, valuable items can be found. Now and then, the game will show the status of the weather and the remaining resources. So, better watch these things to successfully reach Oregon.
One of the most important aspects of the game is hunting for food. The leader is given the rifle to hunt animals and add to resources. The travelers are also provided with a map to have an overview of where they are headed.
Arrival to Oregon
At the end of the game, points are awarded according to the chosen profession of the leader, number and health of surviving parties, cash on hand, and remaining resources. If the player chose carpenter, the points will be doubled. If the farmer is selected, the acquired points will be tripled.
Obstacles of Oregon Trail
There are many obstacles the leader and his parties may face while traveling to Oregon. These problems may arise at some point and can be a factor in accomplishing the journey.
- Wrong direction or trail
- Illness/sickness of the leader’s company or the party
- Stolen supplies along the way
- Snakebite
- Death of one of the parties
- Severe thunderstorm
- Heavy Fog
Game Controls of the Oregon Trail Game
- Click the Start button using your mouse and wait for the game to load all the necessary data to start.
- Once started, use your computer’s keyboard to complete the game.
- Press Alt+Enter to switch and exit to full-screen mode.
- Click “Y” for Yes, “N” for No, and number keys to select from the options.
- Press Enter/space bar to continue the trail.
Oregon Trail Board Game Geek
In Conclusion
Did you play Oregon Trail? How was your experience so far? Please let us know in the comment section below if you found this game fun and exciting.
If in case you need help, or you have questions, do let us know and we’ll get back to you.
The Oregon Trail is a series of card games and a board game based on the video game of the same name, produced by Pressman Toy Corporation.
The Oregon Trail series by Pressman Toy Corporation[edit]
- Card games
- The Oregon Trail Card Game
- The Oregon Trail: Hunt For Food Card Game
- Board games
- The Oregon Trail Game: Journey to Willamette Valley
The Oregon Trail Card Game[edit]
| Players | 2–6 |
|---|---|
| Setup time | 5 minutes |
| Playing time | 30 minutes |
| Age range | 12+ |
The first card game was released on 1 August 2016.[1] The game is exclusively distributed through Target,[2] although copies are also available via Amazon.com.[3] The game components are in the style of 8-bit video games to emulate the look and feel of the original releases.[4]
Gameplay[edit]
The object of The Oregon Trail card game is to follow the Oregon Trail from Independence, Missouri, to the Willamette Valley, Oregon, with a party of two to six players.[2] Players write their names, or 'frontier name' aliases, on a roster. On the back of the roster are tombstones, which can be customized when players die, as in the original video game.[5] Players play trail cards to progress, with the players needing to play 50 cards to win. Each trail card ends on the left, right, or middle of the card, and a subsequent trail card must be placed to smoothly connect to the previous one. Of the 56 trail cards, 46 have consequences associated with them, such as rolling a die to cross a river, which can result in the player losing a supply card or dying.[5] Other trail cards require the player to draw a calamity card, which represent accidents such as snakebites, dead oxen, typhoid, or dysentery. There are sixteen unique calamity cards, with one in eight resulting in instant death.[5] Calamity cards that do not result in instant death can be remedied by supply cards, of which there are seven different types, including clean water, ammunition, and medicine. Other trail cards represent forts or towns, allowing the player to resupply. All players win if one or more players are still alive after the 50th card is played. A successful game should take around 30 minutes to play.[5]
Reception[edit]
On the tabletop-gaming forum BoardGameGeek, The Oregon Trail card game has a rating of 5.0 out of 10, with 286 ratings, as of 13 December 2016. According to BoardGameGeek's Rating wiki page, a game with a score of 5 is described as being 'Average. No significant appeal, take it or leave it.'.[6]
Writing for Ars Technica, Megan Geuss stated that some cards have ambiguous instructions or are hard to understand, but that the cooperative aspect is 'refreshing' and that players in her group 'weren't bored by the end'.[7] She concluded that winning the game is 'really hard' and that her group never did.
The Oregon Trail: Hunt For Food Card Game[edit]
| Players | 2–6 |
|---|---|
| Age range | 12+ |
This card game is based on the hunting trip portion of the video game, except player's goal is to collect 600 pounds of meat.
The Oregon Trail: Journey to Willamette Valley[edit]
| Players | 2–4 |
|---|---|
| Age range | 13+ |
The Oregon Trail Card Game
It is a board game for 2–4 players, where player's starts the trip from Independence, Missouri in 1844 to Willamette Valley. Each player has 4 family members as in the first The Oregon Trail video game, but has the ability to upgrade wagon.
References[edit]
- ^Krol, Jacob (29 July 2016). 'The Oregon Trail is back, but this time it's a card game'. CNET. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
- ^ abRobinson, Will (2 August 2016). 'An Oregon Trail card game is here'. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
- ^Erickson, Christine (31 July 2016). 'You can buy the Oregon Trail card game online'. The Daily Dot. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
- ^Zumbach, Lauren (1 August 2016). 'Target selling 'Oregon Trail' card game'. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
- ^ abcdCampuzano, Eder (4 August 2016). '6 things to know about 'The Oregon Trail Card Game''. The Oregonian. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
- ^'Ratings'. BoardGameGeek. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
- ^Geuss, Megan (5 September 2016). 'Oregon Trail Card Game: Simple, repetitive, and you'll die of dysentery. A lot'. Ars Technica. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
External links[edit]
- Pressman Toy Corporation pages:
- The Oregon Trail Card Game at BoardGameGeek