I received The Oregon Trail game for Christmas, and I was pretty excited to play it. I remember all those times in the computer lab elementary school playing Oregon Trail. Sadly I never made it to Oregon. Not once. I probably died in all the ways you can die in that game: sickness, injuries, starvation (I sucked at hunting), dead oxen, broken wagon, drowning… Maybe I could survive the card game. Maybe.
Game play is simple. Everyone has trail cards and supply cards. If possible each player plays a trail card (the trail has to match and be continuous). If the trail card played has text written on it, you follow those instructions. If it’s blank, you count yourself lucky. There are also Town and Fort cards that can be played on the trail. Fort cards give you two supply cards of your choice, and Town cards give you one supply card or the ability to remove one Calamity card from play.
Many trail cards instruct you to draw a Calamity card which, unsurprisingly, are bad. Supply cards can help with Calamity cards. For instance if someone gets typhoid, they need medicine and clean water to get better. The player who drew the Calamity card can play the supply cards needed, otherwise she relies on the other players to save her. As a free action one or more players can turn in two supply cards for one supply card.
If a player either doesn’t have a trail card that matches or doesn’t have any trail cards, they draw a trail card as their turn action.
In this play by play, we’re skipping over a player putting down a trail card without text or drawing a trail card. We’re going to focus on the exciting stuff which is the stuff that could kill us.
- Professor successfully forded a river
- Space Cat broke the wagon tongue but was able to fix it
- Signing Monkey got measles – Chubby Unicorn played a medicine card, and she got better
- Chubby Unicorn was starving
Chubby Unicorn is Starving
- Professor played a Fort (took 200 lbs food just in case)
- Space Cat did not successfully ford a river and turned in a supply card
- Signing Monkey fed Chubby Unicorn
- Chubby Unicorn got typhoid – played medicine and Professor played clean water to cure her
- Clumsy Ninja broke the axle but fixed it
- Space Cat did not successfully ford a river and turned in a supply card
- Chubby Unicorn was starving – Professor fed her
- Space Cat did not successfully ford the river and turned in a supply card
- Signing Monkey broke the axle but fixed it
- Chubby Unicorn successfully forded a river
- Professor got dysentery and died! Willed clothes and medicine to Chubby Unicorn
Professor Dies of Dysentery
- Clumsy Ninja drew inadequate grass
- Space Cat played a Fort (took oxen just in case)
- Signing Monkey successfully forded a river
- Signing Monkey played a Town – removed inadequate grass from play
- Chubby Unicorn got cholera – played two medicine cards and got better
- Thief steals a supply card from Space Cat
- Chubby Unicorn drew bad water, but Clumsy Ninja played clean water
- Space Cat successfully forded a river
- Signing Monkey successfully forded a river
- Signing Monkey did not successfully ford a river and turned in a supply card
- Chubby Unicorn got typhoid – Clumsy Ninja played clean water and Space Cat played medicine and cured her
- Signing Monkey Oxen have died! – Chubby Unicorn turned in two supply cards for oxen
- Space Cat got cholera
- Clumsy Ninja successfully forded a river
- Signing Monkey did not successfully ford a river and turned in a supply card
- Chubby Unicorn played a Town – removed Space Cat’s cholera
- Clumsy Ninja broke her arm (lost 2 turns)
- Space Cat broke a wheel – Chubby Unicorn and Space Cat each turned in a card to get spare parts and fixed the wheel
- Space Cat got measles (lost 1 turn)
- Signing Monkey successfully forded a river
- Chubby Unicorn broke the wagon tongue – Clumsy Ninja turned in supply cards for spare parts and fixed it
- Space Cat drew extreme cold and would die without clothes (no one had any supply cards)
- Chubby Unicorn successfully forded a river
- Clumsy Ninja was bitten by snake and died!
Clumsy Ninja and Space Cat Die
- Space Cat died of extreme cold!
- Signing Monkey successfully forded a river
- Thief tried to steal from Chubby Unicorn but she didn’t have anything
- Signing Monkey successfully forded a river
- Chubby Unicorn successfully forded a river
- Signing Monkey successfully forded a river
- Signing Monkey and Chubby Unicorn make it to Oregon!
We made it!
I was so happy that I finally made it to Oregon!
This is a really fun game, especially for those who have played the computer game. We’ll definitely be playing again, and maybe Professor won’t get dysentery and die.
Tombstones