Indian Chiefs of the Old West

U. S. Games Systems

U. S. Games Systems has happened upon a good thing, and so they are making as much of it as they can. The good thing is historical rummy decks, and a quick trip to their web site will show you just how many of these they have. For that matter, a perusal of my own site here will show you a handful of them as well. Interesting and educational, these sets all feature standard decks of playing cards broken down into thirteen sets of four cards each. Each set of cards provides four pieces of information about one subject, be it a person, an event, or even an object.

This deck is no different - the theme is Indian Chiefs of the Old West, and it has short biographies of such legendary figures as Sitting Bull, Black Hawk, Geronimo and Cochise. The biographies are real, not sensationalized or romanticized, and highlight the important events in some very difficult lives. The deck is part of the greater Old West series, which contains decks about Law Men, Outlaws, Women, Prospectors and more. The information is simply writtten and straightforward, and is as rewarding for children as it is for adults who may not be familiar with the history of the 19th century American territories.

The standard matching rummy game described in the deck is little more than Go Fish, but certainly other games can be easily fashioned with these decks. And they all have a pleasant anachronism that I keep hoping to see more of, the title card. Shown here in the upper right, it's a card which identifies the game, the artist, the publisher, and any other pertinent information.

Educational and collectible, this deck has hit a target market admirably without being pandering. USGS, I expect, will continue to put out more of these series, and I, for my part, will buy them each and every one.

All images and quoted text © 1996 U. S. Games Systems, presented here solely for analysis and appreciation.