Overview

Oregon is a family strategy game set in 1846 as settlers head west to Oregon. Players use cards to place farmers and buildings on a grid board, scoring points through adjacency. The game combines card-driven placement with area control mechanics. Published by Hans im Gluck / Rio Grande Games, designed by Henrik and Ase Berg.

Components

• 1 game board (grid with landscape)
• 60 farmers (15 per player in 4 colors)
• 50 landscape cards
• 21 building cards
• 28 building tiles (7 types in stacks)
• 7 start tiles
• 4 extra turn tokens
• 4 joker tokens
• 21 coal tiles
• 21 gold tiles
• Scoring track

Setup

1. Place board centrally. Organize 28 building tiles into 7 face-up stacks.
2. Each player takes 15 farmers of one color; place 1 on space 0 of the scoring track, keep 14.
3. Deal each player 3 landscape cards and 1 building card.
4. Each player receives 1 extra turn token and 1 joker token.
5. Distribute 7 start tiles randomly among players; remove unused tiles.
6. Shuffle coal and gold tile stacks separately.

Turn Structure

Each turn has 4 phases:

1. Play 2 cards and place a farmer or building.
2. Score points from the placement.
3. Optionally use Extra Turn token (repeats phases 1-2 once more).
4. Draw cards to restore hand to 4 cards.

Actions

Farmer Placement (2 landscape cards)

Play 2 landscape cards whose symbols correspond to a row and column on the board. Place 1 farmer at the intersection. Cannot place on water spaces, occupied spaces, or building spaces.

Building Placement (1 landscape + 1 building card)

Play 1 landscape card (determines row or column) and 1 building card (determines building type). Place the building tile on the board. Harbors must be placed adjacent (orthogonally or diagonally) to a water space.

Joker Token

If active, may substitute for 1 landscape card (one-time use, reactivated by Warehouse scoring).

Extra Turn Token

If active, may repeat phases 1-2 once more (one-time use, reactivated by Train Station scoring).

Scoring / Victory Conditions

Farmer Scoring (when placed adjacent to buildings)

Building	Points per Adjacent Farmer
Post Office	3 points
Harbor	4 points
Church	1 point per adjacent farmer (all players, min 1, max 8)
Coal Mine	Draw 1 coal tile (VP value on tile)
Gold Mine	Draw 1 gold tile (VP value on tile)
Warehouse	1 point + reactivate joker token
Train Station	1 point + reactivate extra turn token

Building Scoring

When a building is placed, all players with farmers adjacent to it score accordingly. Points are multiplied by the number of their adjacent farmers.

Group Bonus

Creating a connected group of 3+ farmers (horizontal/vertical, not diagonal) earns a one-time bonus of 5 points.

Game End

The game ends when:

• A player places their last farmer, OR
• Building tiles of certain types run out (2 types for 2p, 3 types for 3p, 4 types for 4p)

Highest score wins. Tiebreaker: most farmers on the board.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Landscape cards have symbols matching rows and columns; the intersection of 2 cards determines placement.
• Farmers cannot be placed on water or occupied spaces.
• Harbors must be adjacent to water.
• Coal and gold tiles have hidden VP values revealed at game end.
• Church scoring counts all adjacent farmers from all players.
• Joker and extra turn tokens start active, become inactive after use, and can be reactivated.
• Group bonus of 5 points is earned only once when the group first reaches 3+.

Player Reference

Turn: Play 2 cards → Place farmer/building → Score → (Optional: Extra Turn) → Draw to 4 cards

Key buildings: Post Office (3), Harbor (4), Church (1/farmer), Coal/Gold (draw tile), Warehouse (1+joker), Train Station (1+extra turn)

Group bonus: 3+ connected farmers = 5 points (once)

Game end: Last farmer placed or building stacks exhausted