Like anything else with a picture of a train on it, N, our little Thomas the Tank Engine groupie, went nuts when he opened this gift (one that we had on his wish list, I think)
Thomas Making Tracks Game actually a pretty clever board game, although to truly play it according to its rules, I’m guessing you really need to be at 6 or so. It’s recommended for 4 or up, so even by those standards N would have another year.
The game play is divided into two parts. In the first part, you spin a spinner to see what kind of track (curve or straight combined with one of three colors) you get to place on your section of the board. Then, once you’ve built track that connects the starting line to the finish line, each spin determines how far to move your game piece. (Candyland style).
The game is very well constructed; the tiles are thick, solid plastic and have a little button (more like a square nipple, actually – not quite sure what to call it) on top that fits into a hole on the game board, so that the tiles actually stay where you place them. Other than the spinner pointer coming out of the box broken (which I’m going to guess is a fluke), this seems to be very solidly put together.
Right now, N is simply happy to place the tiles on the board, and after a day or two playing with it, he’s starting to make patterns with the tracks (big brother J is helping, too). We’ll have to see if he progresses to the point where he can make a long enough connected path of tracks to follow the game rules, but in the mean time, he’s enjoying placing the tiles and driving the character pieces along it (although humorously, he keeps taking them out of their plastic ‘feet’ and instead drives them in the slots formed between the rows of tiles.)
Overall, I’d recommend this for your older Thomas fans – at least 5 or 6 years old – unless they’ve shown they can sit through games like Candyland and you can picture them doing that and more.
(But, of course, it has no noise – always a plus!)
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Rose on Toy review: Matchbox Pop-Up Pl… rose on Toy review: Thomas Making Trac…
February 27, 2009 at 12:12 am
if you like board game.
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The Empire Builder game is so much fun! It takes a long time to play.
The Empire Builder : http://lookhottoys.blogspot.com/2009/02/empire-builder-train.html