Oregon Trail [4 player!] Secrets Guide: Surprising Finds on the Trail

Oregon Trail [4 player!] dares you to "uncover the secrets of the trail!" in its own description — without saying what those secrets are or where they hide. The surprising finds players have turned up so far: a statue that turns out to be a hostile haunted wolf, a ghost town holding loot and bandits, a priest who brought a dead player back to life, and a gambling table gated by souls. Here's each find and what happened when players hit it.

Not every landmark is harmless scenery

In one recorded run, a player walked up to what seemed to be an ordinary statue — and it turned out to be a hostile haunted wolf that attacked on the spot. Caught off guard, the party never recovered: a ram charged in, another wagon wheel gave out, and the run collapsed soon after.

You can't count on meeting a disguised wolf on any given run, but the one recorded meeting is reason enough to travel armed and treat odd landmarks — statues, memorials — as possible ambushes instead of scenery. If things go wrong out there anyway, the Oregon Trail survival guide covers keeping your party alive.

The ghost town: real loot, bandits inside

Another run turned up a ghost town holding a spare wheel and, in the players' words, "all kinds of goodies." The catch: bandits were inside too. Go in armed and expect resistance — in that run the loot was real, and so were the bandits. A spare wheel is no small prize on a trail where wheels break mid-journey. See where else loot turns up in the Oregon Trail loot guide, and let the Oregon Trail bandits guide help you handle the welcome party.

The town church brought a player back from the dead

When a party member died in one run, the players went to the town church and asked the priest to "work a miracle" — and the character got brought back to life. If someone dies on your wagon while a town is in reach, that church is the place to try. Just don't count on revival being free or repeatable.

The gambling table runs on souls

There is a gambling activity in the game, but don't build a route stop around the table: the one recorded party that tried it found it needs "souls" as currency, which they didn't have — so they couldn't play.

Treat finds as surprises, not scheduled stops

You can't count on meeting a ghost town or a disguised wolf on any given run, so build a party that's ready whenever something turns up:

• Treat odd landmarks as possible ambushes, not scenery — keep your weapon handy.
• Go into any ghost town armed and expect bandits inside.
• Remember the town church when someone dies.
• Treat the gambling table as a bonus, never a planned stop.

For the rest of the trip, how to reach Oregon covers the journey end to end.