The Northwest Trail

In the spirits of the old classic computer game Oregon Trail, Northwest Trail is created.  In this game, you recruit your friends to your wagon and lead them across the Northwest Trail.  The game has a small but loyal user base with about 50k monthly active users.  However, this game is not as great as I hoped it would be.  I had no idea it was even on Facebook until I was invited to join a wagon.  Without a second though, I joined the wagon and couldn’t wait to get started.  Unfortunately, it is only slightly similar to the Oregon Trail I was used to playing.  You can earn money for your wagon, but only the leader can spend the money on food and supplies.  If you want to be a leader, then you have to go through the whole process of building a wagon, inviting friends, and hoping they join you.  The ways in which you can earn money for your team are less than exciting.  You can invite friends to join the wagon, play a few games, add an auction application, or take a survey.  There is also the duel feature, in which by challenging someone to a duel you can earn money.  However, with the duel feature the friend has to except and be online to participate.  Many of us don’t spend that much time online playing games and waiting for other people to join the game, at least not without preplanning.  This game was fun for about five minutes and then it was sort of boring.  The original Oregon Trail allowed you to play alone and for a decent amount of time, without needed to relay on other people getting into the game.  This game is too time consuming and requires a commitment from other friends.  In summary, great game idea to build on the original but falls far short in meeting expectations. I would rather play some solo Pathwords.

Tags: Games, northwest trail, puzzle, quest, wagon