Dysentery, Or How I learned to love the Oregon Trail Card Game

Growing up, our computers were representative of the time (read: mid 80s to early 90s). Our computer games were also representative of that time. We had lemonade stand and we had Oregon Trail. Lemonade Stand was a math game where you sold lemonade. Oregon Trail was a game where you went on the historic Oregon Trail in the same time period as the epic migration. Things could happen, like snake bites, dehydration and starvation. It should mean something that I cannot remember ANYTHING good that happened while you were playing.

The card game is very similar to the game. There are calamity and trail cards. You have to connect pieces of the trail together, like a puzzle. I feel like a five or six year old could play this, with older players. You can buy supplies and trade for things. The way you win is to make it to the end of the trail. As you can see, we died. We failed.

It took us about twenty minutes to set up and play a round for the first time, but it could be a lot simpler on subsequent tries.

Two to Six players can comfortably play this game. The card game retails for about $15 and is available in Target, game shops and even on the Internet! If you want to support this blog, at no cost to you, consider purchasing the Oregon Trail for $14.30 on Amazon via this link–thanks!

Do you remember the Oregon trail? What was your favorite video game to play–and would it make a good card game? Share in the comments below.