While the other four were playing Sylla, Tom, Guy and I tried out Oregon – one of Steve’s Christmas acquisitions that I was keen to play. The game was designed by Ase and Henrik Berg and published by Rio Grande.

Tom started off very well, getting a couple of his cowboy farmers next to two gold mines and plundering loads of gold. Guy struggled a bit in the middle of the game with no useful card to use and having to waste a turn playing into a remote area of the board. However, he did then manage to pick up a church tile and used it to very good effect. I never really seemed to be in contention but it looked close between the other two. However, when the hidden gold and coal tiles were revealed, Tom’s massive stash wasn’t quite enough to catch Guy. I liked this quite a lot although there is some luck involved in what cards you draw. However, you can usually do something useful so you have to adapt accordingly.