With this playset, kids can actually drive Thomas the Tank Engine, toot his horn, switch tracks, link him to other trains, and engage in all manner of Usefulness, the chief currency of the Island of Sodor. The Thomas-shaped plastic playset straps easily over standard keyboards (not ergonomic ones or laptops). A red throttle moves Thomas forward or backward along the track. A green lever switches tracks to change direction. A yellow whistle noisily announces Thomas's arrival and also helps him link and uncouple with other trains. Finally, Thomas's smiling face is a button that can be pushed to get hints and friendly patter. These four simple controls make this an inspired CD-ROM that will suit a wide range of ages. Toddlers will love simply throttling Thomas around the tracks, while older kids will enjoy games that encourage spatial skills, decision making, and problem solving.
The four main games are wonderful, involved exercises. They all involve Thomas being helpful: finding "Important Supplies"; locating the "Missing Mail Truck," then helping to sort its mail; rescuing stranded passengers in "All Aboard," then making sure they are properly ticketed and delivering them safely to their destinations; and rebuilding an avalanche-damaged track in "It's a Landslide!"
These games are somewhat complex: in the landslide game, kids must switch tracks, couple Thomas with the Troublesome Trucks, haul rocks up mountains, signal Harold the Helicopter to unload the rocks, then deliver the empty trucks to James for hauling away. Thomas's water supply must be watched and replenished during this strenuous work. And after the rocks are in place, there's still work to do! Only after kids go to another screen to collect flatbeds and track pieces from Cranky the Crane, then deliver those parts to the mountaintop, is the job done. Phew!
Also, if players abandon a game without completing it, they can't access any of the four mini games (which are mazes and races), and Sir Topham Hatt will chide in his chipper manner: "There's still a lot of work to be done!" This is not a CD-ROM for the lazy, and fortunately, the folks who made it didn't use any shortcuts either. Older systems without a lot of storage space may have trouble digesting this graphics-heavy program, but for us the program chugged along like Thomas himself, and the action on the screen corresponded smoothly with whatever control was being used on the playset. "Builds a work ethic" isn't one of the features mentioned on the box, but this diligent program and playset could put youngsters on the right track. (Ages 3 and older) --Anne Erickson
All of our testers- both boys and girls- enjoyed this new playset from Hasbro (Infogrames). Just strap the playset onto the keyboard, load up the program, and kids get to play with Thomas' throttle and whistle and even choose which tracks he should take. From an engine-eye view, children drive through the island of Sodor. Track-side signs help kids locate their destinations where they find work orders from Sir Topham Hat. The damage from a landslide must be repaired, Bertie's passengers must be delivered, and mail must be sorted, all by using the playset controls. Success isn't easy to come by as there are sometimes several steps involved. For instance, to help Harold fix the bridge, Thomas has to first load up trucks, drive up the mountain and help a helicopter transfer the bridge' s foundation. Just like in the television show, Percy and the other vehicles grumble, and tell Thomas that he's too small to accomplish the job. Three- and four-year-old children struggled before learning how to redirect the train on the tracks, and how to make the repairs isn't always obvious. All things considered, though, as long as a grown-up's around to occasionally lend a hand, this is another solid playset.
Title: Thomas & Friends Railway Adventures Playset
UPC: 076930994931
Customer Reviews:
Great fun for Thomas fans!! [E. Bader]
My son just received this for his 5th birthday. At first when he opened this up, I thought..."Oh no, not another disapointing computer game." I was afraid it was going to be either too difficult for him to understand, confusing, or just too stupid for it to be worth his time. Well, was I wrong. He has played this game almost every day for two weeks and it continues to challenge and excite him.
The game challenges my son to complete several tasks as the engineer of Thomas. My son is learning to listen carefully to the directions and makes sure to follow them exactly to complete the tasks. Some of the directions are a little confusing, but with a little help from Mom or Dad we can get him back on track. The best part of the game is the boost in confidence and independence in him that we can see. I would highly recommend this game for any Thomas fan of age 4 or older.
Great fun for our 4 y.o. boy (and his dad)! [lawyerwhocooks]
Our son loves this game so much (he received it for his birthday two days ago), we can hardly get him to do anything else! Even adults will enjoy assisting the child "drive" Thomas and complete the chores given to Thomas by Sir Topham Hat. Your child will see the stations, the other engines, listen to Thomas speak to him (or her), and even see Thomas from above at certain points (e.g., entering a station). Most views are from "inside" Thomas, and I think it's a particularly nice touch to see Thomas' firebox burning. Warning: The gamepiece only fits on regular keyboards, not ergonomic ones (i.e., those split-looking keyboards). I recommend this product highly if your child is a Thomas fan. PS - it will install on Windows XP, which I understand has been a problem for some other Thomas games.
Must have for thomas "FANATIC" kid []
My 4 and half year old lives for Thomas and has for two years now. Nothing interest him more then Thomas and evey conversation leads back to Thomas or trains eventually. If you have a kid anything like mine then this is a must have!
There is nothing I can say negative about this toy. It introduces computer skills while allowing him to play with his favorate pal. I have been able to seg-way into other computer pre-school games with a more learning emphasis, by use of this fun toy. I like to play it myself.
The graphics are great. The instructions simple but the tasks are not. Your child will need help if he has no computer skills or isn't a good listner. But once he has done the task once, he be able to do it by himself again soon and with the log on screen, his adventure will be just a bit different each time.
Every time a child masters a tasks he is able to print out a certificate with his name on it.
Just great. Love it. The only problem I've had with my son is getting him off the game at bed time. There are tears and he says, "I miss Thomas."
GREAT PRODUCT! [Marsha Salome]
My child loves this game! Even my husband and my 9 year old love it! I did not have to finish a task to be exit, however. Just press the escape button and you will be taken to the credits. From there, however, you have to push the CTRL and ALT and DELETE buttons at the same time. It was ask if you want to end task and you say yes. Then you are out of it. That is about the only gripe I have. Otherwise, great product and well worth the money! (There was rebate when I purchased mine also!)
Hope this helps! Marsha
The game is good [Thomas stansfiled]
Im going to get The Thomas game on christmas eve by santa when it going to be christmas coming soon amazon is having a next year sale Thomas and friends buliding a new line.
Great activity [Chad Chesser]
My parents purchased this product for my 4 year old son. He is familiar with the workings of a train because of my father's "H&O" train layout, and learned this quick. After the toutorial he was on his way with the rockslide adventure. He completed the entire thing with minimmal input from me or his mother. After that he was a pro! He had a great time.
We ran this on a WinXP computer without any problems at all.
Great Product! I hope hasbro makes more games to work with the controler.
Works Great on Win XP..Kids LOVE IT!! [A. L. Sullivan]
This is the best running game yet! We put it on a Win XP computer and it runs great and is easy for my 4 yr old to use. The game gives you three options for loading the software, so you can load the entire game (takes alot of disk space) or choose one of the other two options for a smaller install and you have to put the CD in while playing. when putting the game control box on the keyboard you have to be careful exactly which key it goes on, it is one key over from what you think it goes on, but once you figure out exactly where it goes, its simple each time to strap it on. It is the best game for kids we have bought so far!
Great game for my 3 year old! []
This was a Christmas present for our Thomas-crazy "just turned 3" son and he has loved it! I place the set on our keyboard and he completely takes it from there. He quickly mastered all of the games, but he still enjoys going back and trying them again and again. We have quite a collection of children's software, and this ranks among the best so far for his age group. I suppose from reading the other reviews, you simply need to make sure that your computer and keyboard are compatible with the game and that your child enjoys challenges that require a little more attention to details.
Good game [Lisa]
I read all the reviews on this Thomas Computer game and dispite the bad ones I still purchased it for my four year old son who is crazy over anything "Thomas the Train". It has never locked up on me and I had no troubles at all installing it on top on my keyboard. (although you do have to get it perfectly in the right spot which can be a little tricky) Once installed it doesn't shift or fall off the keyboard and the program works just fine. My son loves this game. It is by far a favorite of his and he has quite a few computer games in his growing collection. He reaches for it time after time. My 6 year old daughter plays with it and she seems to like it as well so it's not just for the little boys out there! The graphics are real cute and they love driving the trains, dropping the passengers off at the station and doing the different jobs involving the railroad. I would say this is a good game for any child between the ages of 3 and 7. In my opinion, any child under 3 years of age are to young for computer games anyway and any child older then seven will find this game to be to babyish for them. One downfall to this game that I had read in another review which is true....it is hard to exit the game. You have to complete the job in order to do so which is a bit of a pain and a little time consuming. Other then that I rate this game 5 stars because ANY toy that can keep my kids entertained for more then 30 minutes and that is played with again and again and again.... I feel was a good purchase and money well spent.
WONDERFUL COMPUTER FUN!! []
My 2-1/2 year old son absolutely loves this computer game. The control board that nests on the keyboard it very easy to use and the best part of the game because it's easy for a little one to control. My son highly recommends this products to all Thomas the Tank Engine fans!!
All Aboard!! [Christin Maddix]
This was the only thing that my 3 yr old son wanted for Christmas! He plays with it religiously almost everyday! He loves that he gets to drive the train and interact with other characters from the series as well. It really is a wonderful game and worth the money! Especially for a child who has Thomas on the brain night and day like mine does!! The effects and detail on this game are truly remarkable.
Thought-provoking game with steep hardware requirements []
This is the most interesting and innovative game I have seen on the market in about two years -- innovative in terms of the fusion of various types of simulator games and problem solving games. The playset controller is extremely well laid out and friendly. I did not have any trouble placing it on my keyboard, but if it turns out you had trouble, you might buy a budget keyboard for $5. Would it be worth the $5 just for this game? I think so. My kid likes the idea he can pull the whistle control and cause the locomotive to couple with a railroad car. The controller also serves other tasks in different parts of the game -- sometimes it is used to sell tickets, other times it is used to get water from a water tower. I won't give away any more spoilers because I think your kids will enjoy discovering the different facets of this game on their own. I run this game on a PII-400 with 64MB and a TNT-Ultra-64MB card. It does halt for a few seconds on some occasions, so I think you need a relatively fast processor and video card to make the game work. It has caused the OS to hang once or twice after about 40 minutes of play, but nothing catastrophic. If you can run Mechwarrior 3 on you machine, you can run this game okay. The mood of the game is incredibly cheery and expansive because it has nice bright colors, nice puffy clouds and blue skies; and the environment appears realistic because when you turn your train around the sun appears or disappears. You also select your own path on the track. You can either choose a task or just putter around the country side. If you don't choose the right path, you don't get anywhere, so thinking about objectives is crucial. Some game sections play little movies. Other game sections require that you do some trial and error testing to understand how controlling the track switching works. It is a rather demanding game because you must get certain tasks down in a certain logical sequence. I watched this game slowly improve my 5 years old's motor sequencing skills over a period of about a half hour as he learned to how to drive the train and then to use controls to unload mail sacks from the mail train. A bit of parental coaching helps. And keeping an open mind is helpful because the user has to sort of get accustomed to the virtual environment. It's not quite like just pressing a key on a keyboard because the playset controller is like a vehicle simulator. So I can't say enough about this "game". Well there is one thing: There is a feeling of a motion rush, and there is zero violent content. And finally, you don't get to play the "games" in the game until you finish your work to be done. Talk about infusing work ethic.
The 6-yr. old loves it as much as the 3-yr. old! [Amy Haynie]
We got this for my 3-yr. old son as his first computer game. This is the coolest game I've ever seen! He loves moving the "troublesome trucks" around & doing different jobs - then he prints his achievement certificates from Sir Topham Hatt. My 6-yr. old has actually asked to play this game over some of his own! It is easy to figure out the strap-on controls. We have a growing library of computer games & this ranks right at the top!
My daughter's favorite []
I rate this 5 stars based on how much my daughter likes it relative to other software. The keyboard-top module makes the difference.
My daughter (4-1/2) received this for Christmas, and has enjoyed it immensely. She's been a huge Thomas fan since she was two, and already had the Railway Festival and Trouble on the Tracks games. Those were diverting for a while, but this one has captivated her. She'll spend as long as we let her driving along, carrying out tasks. It's very mechanical-- not a great deal of creativity or strenuous problem-solving involved-- but she enjoys it a great deal.
I view it as a good complement to her other favorites: Freddi Fish, PuttPutt, and Dinosaur Hunter, which involve some problem solving. Sometimes you want to stretch your mind, sometimes you just want a nice day in the country, loading barrels at the harbor.
A huge hit with my 4 year old [Jody]
I don't know that my son is any more or less computer savvy than the next kid, but we bought this for him for his birthday, and after spending 30-45 minutes playing it with him, he played by himself for HOURS. We couldn't get him away from it.
We were afraid we were going to have trouble with it, because we couldn't get the Tonka Digs and Rigs to work with our computer, but once we figured out where to place the controller on our apparently not-standard keyboard, it never needed a single readjustment while he was playing.
3 year old son's favorite toy [Niels Anderson]
The playset controls are easy for children to use but still require thought and planning to complete the adventures. After assisting my son with the basic navigation and showing him each of the four control's functions, he has been learning and playing with little assistance. There are four main adventures which now take my son approximately 15 minutes to complete. Several smaller adventures, which also require thought and planning to complete, are conquered in less than 5 minutes. Positive verbal feedback as well as "Well Done" certificates which the children can print out in black and white or color. Black and white pictures are useful for coloring later. Only drawback is that the playset controls fit over your keyboard. It doesn't fit correctly on several keyboards I have because they are curved. Flat keyboards work fine.
Best Thomas Game []
Very charming, lots of fun, and good for repeated play. The controls are easier to use than a mouse. So far the only thing that troubled my daughter (4) was finding the right position from which to change a signal. Otherwise she picked it up quickly and proudly taught my wife how to drive Thomas.
There are four scenarios plus several mini-games and places where you can see short videos. It takes a while to do everything. It's also fun to just drive around seeing the Sodor scenery and meeting other engines.
This game is much better than Trouble on the Tracks. ToT involves a bunch of boring jobs that never appealed to my daughter. And the ToT software performed erratically on our old PC (AMD 500 MHz, no graphics card).
The voices are different from the videos, but my daughter doesn't seem to care.
Very Good Kiddie Game [Kevin G. Karagory]
I purchased this software for my almost four son who is a Thomas fanatic. I had to help him out the first few times he tried to play the game. After about two weeks he was able to play it on his own for the most part.
The graphics are much more than I had expected for a kiddie game. You can travel around the track endlessly if one wants. You stop at various stations to complete tasks necessary for one of four games chosen. The game doesn't automatically take you to the correct station necessary to complete a task. You need to remember which destination is next and switch the track accordingly. I've been quite shocked that my son is able to remember where to go and switch the track to get there! Once the one game is completed the player is able to switch into a special siding and play reward game.
I own Microsoft Train Simulator but I really like this game a lot. Not having to remember which keystrokes to press is a VERY nice touch. To bad MS Train Simulator doesn't have a keyboard attachment. The playset will fit easily onto any normal square keyboard without any difficulties.
In closing, I thought it would take my son a long time to master the game. The only negative I can think of is that it only has four games. But my son keeps playing them over again and doesn't seem to mind. It's still challenging and enjoyable for him. I guess that leaves lots of room for sequel software. It is an excellent game for little kiddies.
If you have a Thomas fan...this is what you need! [Nancy Rader]
This is my three year old son's favorite game. He does not have any problems understanding how to use the controls. It is wonderful that it helps with listening and following directions. Most of Thomas friends are in the game from helping to be able to stop and chat with them. This is the only game that he has so far that I give a total thumbs up on. The only drawback that we have had so far is getting my son to quit playing.
great fun [E. Griffin]
I first purchased this at our local Costco several years ago and was disappointed when we tried to play it. HOWEVER, since then, we have gotten a new computer (old one was from 1998) and the game plays terrifically! My son (4 1/2) loves it and while some of the activities are beyond him right now, there are plenty of others to entertain him.
Very good playset with fun [Chih Chiang Shen]
I bought the playset last Christmas. My 4 years old daughter loves this game and have much fun. The game can be play and have fun without language gap. She learned to drive the train to places in the game, and know many things about the train after I explained to her. I'm looking for other adventure courses for the playset, but no luck. I hope the manufacture can continue to make the series.
Hours of babysitting [Adam Morgan]
My 3.5 year old boy, who also plays with the wooden trains, likes this game. He received it a month after his 3rd birthday. It took him several weeks of playing a few hours a week to completely master the game. Inspite of his current mastery, he still would play it for longer than we will allow. He needs almost no supervision or assistance to play. He opens the CD-ROM drive puts the game in, clicks the appropriate box, and would play for an hour.
The keyboard attachment confused my wife. She was unable to discern the correct manner of velcroing it at first, prior to be shown by me. I was able to do it with a few manipulations. My wife now has no problem attaching it. My son cannot attach it.
We like the keyboard attachment due to the abuse it takes instead of our mouse and keyboard, but are dissapointed that the other two Thomas games do not accomadate the attachment.
Its a big hit! []
Great game that my 5 year old loves to play. Cleverly designed Thomas engine controls sit atop a STANDARD keyboard are easy for a child to use. Nice graphics and variety of activities, developes memory and decision making skills, all without any violence! The only downside is I want my computer back! Seriously, the game requirements are such that it will probably run on your old computer if you have one. If not, they can be had for little expense. Now where did I put that old one?....
My 5 year old loves it, but what would you expect [john s palmer]
I had been wondering why this wasn't available, now it is. Uses a plastic overlay for the keyboard and is good at explaining itself. Pretty easy for him to use. Only problem is it has hidden games which are apparently open after you finish the tasks, but he wants to play now. I would reccomend it.
technical problems []
Great adventures and fun but seems to have technical problems if child presses bottons for a long time, which what most kids do. the speech of the cd becomes slightly impaired.
Railway Adventures [V. Huynh]
I have no problems whatsoever with the keyboard issues like others here. However I find that the game is too hard for a 3 or 4 year old to figure out how to work it. The Tonka Rigs and Digs was much easily. Kids these ages don't need something this hard. They only want to get at it and play.
Fabulous Game with Software Bugs []
Thomas is my 3 1/2 year old's favorate game! He loves driving the train and completing all of the tasks. It is a 5 star game with 1 star software quality.
The program crashed every time while trying to enter my sons name (until I entered only one letter). Turns out there are several more situations that will crash the game. I'm running Windows 98 in a pretty high end system, so I'm sure that it's software quality.
Salvageable, but still too hard for kids [Theodore D. Sternberg]
My first impressions were not good. The game console didn't work with my keyboard. Once I found a suitable keyboard, the game itself seemed like a bunch of frustrating dead ends; I couldn't find anything, go anywhere (except the pointless laps around the island), or get anything done.
I would have gladly chucked this game, but for my Thomas-crazed 4-year-old's insistence that we persevere. We do the landslide repair pretty competently now. We can do the mailbag sorting game too, when we can get there (some days it seems we're doomed to go around and around the island).
I suppose that if I, or any of the many other frustrated reviewers, spent an hour alone with this game, we could figure most of it out. The problem is that so far I've only played this game while competing for the controls with said 4-year-old and distracted by his impatience with my ineptitude.
Considering the age of the typical Thomas fan, this game is unsuitable for use as a baby sitter. You'll need to learn the game, and then probably always be there to help your kid with it. Ultimately, maybe that's not a bad thing.
Vague instructions, difficult to exit [Christina Walton]
My 3 year old son enjoyed "Thomas & Friends: The Great Festival Adventure" and "Tonka Dig & Rigs," but this game is too complicated for him to play. I even get frustrated when trying to help him due to vague intrustions. Worst of all, it is extremely tedious to exit the game.
Disappointed []
My 4 year old son loves Thomas. He has some difficulty understanding railway adventures but he liked playing...however, my husband & I were disappointed in the quality of this program...During play, the game has frozen up & also is choppy when the characters are speaking...I don't feel it is worth ...
Extremely disappointing []
We bought this for my five year old last year, and it was just a miserable experience from the beginning. The playset that straps onto the keyboard is not always cooperative, and once that issue is addressed, the software itself is difficult to follow for my son or for me! He became extremely frustrated after a few tries and it wound up being a very costly mistake. Avoid this one!
Nice Game - Didn't work! []
The CD loaded fine. I strapped the plastic device to the keyboard as indicated and although the "pegs" that come down from the device to activate the keys did come down,for some reason did either not match up or did not protrude far enough to activate. When I removed the device and pushed the keys individually, the game would run. Maybe it was just this one and does not happen to others. I had also purchased the Tonka Dig N Rigs Playset which offers the same concept and it works fine...
Very Disappointing []
BEWARE! I am very disappointed. My son loves trains and Thomas, and when I ordered this I thought he would love it. Everything is properly installed, but the playset will not work. I see on the Infogrames website that the FAQs say to use the keyboard if the playset won't work, but what fun is that for a 4 year old - he wants to drive the train! I know it is not the configuration of my keyboards - I have tried it on 2 keyboards. Both times, the playset will press the keys enough to type the characters when I have it in Microsoft Word, but it will not respond when it is in the Thomas program. Do NOT show this to your child until you are sure it will work! I'm sure glad we tried it before Christmas! I sent an email to Infogrames (mfgr) on 12/22/01 - as of 1/19/02 still no response. And once you've opened the software, no refund!!
Frustration []
OK, so it's the day after Christmas and I sit down to play this game with my 5 year old son. He plays for awhile, but keeps getting stuck - so I try. I had a horrible time with it too. We couldn't get the track to move where we wanted it to go, couldn't get to the other games, etc. Although my son is 5, he's been playing on a computer for 2 1/2 years already and I'm no computer slouch myself.
I found the game poorly programmed with marginal graphics compared to other products. If I had to do it over again, I'd pass on the fancy set-up for the keyboard and software to purchase another Jump Start or Rescue Hero game.
Just one moms thoughts....
Beware! [hgrif]
My 5 year old son is a Thomas fanatic. We had purchased the Great Festival Adventure, which he really enjoyed, and so decided to try this game. The plastic keyboard topper did not fit our HP keyboard properly, (unlike Tonka Dig N Rigs and Workshop), and as a result often times the controls would not work at all, causing my son great frustration. Until they can rework the key top to be truly universal, this is a definite DON'T BUY.
