The Oregon Trail, 5th Edition

Oregon Trail 5th Edition offers a good all-around workout in reading skills and problem solving. Using limited funds, players must equip their wagons, balancing the need to survive on the trail with the necessity for moving quickly. Shortages will inevitably crop up along the way, and members of the wagon train can die of thirst, fever, snakebite, or many other perils... if you don't have the right equipment on hand to deal with the emergency. Even a well-equipped party can come to grief, though. Swamped wagons can lose critical supplies, and though there are people sprinkled along the trip who might provide help or trade goods, happening on the right trade is by no means assured.

Except for being a bit slow-paced, Oregon Trail 5th Edition has few flaws. The people aboard the wagon trains come from a variety of cultures. Though the game glosses over the ugliest aspects of this historical period, it does not skirt them entirely. Players who over-hunt the resources of a particular native tribe are likely to hear about it. The game has a variety of features that flesh out the travel experience, like a trip diary and animated campfire tales--one of them about the Donner party--that effectively break up the pace of play.

For children interested in a multifaceted educational challenge, Oregon Trail makes a good choice, capturing the difficulties and dangers of the long voyages that settlers made so long ago. (Ages 9 and older) --Alyx Dellamonica

Amazon.com Product Description
Explore the West, live the adventure, and survive the trail! Kids will build real-life decision-making and problem-solving skills as they choose their wagon party and supplies, read maps, plan their route, and guide their team through the wilderness. Can they survive the dangers of the long journey, raging rivers, buffalo stampedes, sickness, and starvation? The trail explodes with adventure as you face the rugged challenges and experience real-life events.

Plus, The Oregon Trail 5th Edition introduces players to the Montgomery kids and trail guide Captain Jed, who are heading West from Independence, Missouri, to Oregon City, Oregon, to meet Pa Montgomery. The Montgomery's story is brought to life for players through six exciting movies, Cassie's heartfelt journal entries, and Jed's captivating campfire tales.