Thomas & Friends Building the New Line

List Price: $19.99 Discount Price: $16.95

Accessories:
PC Gamer (1-year)	Games for Windows: The Official Magazine	Pimpjuice Premium Energy Drink, Extra Strength Formula, 8-Ounce Cans (Pack of 24)

Customer Reviews:

skip this one [Posted on 2003-10-19]
My son is also an avid Thomas Fan and we bought this since he had played the Great Festival Game several times. We run Windows XP and couldn't get the game to load properly. When we finally got into the game there wasn't much to do. The Great Festival Game is a much better deal.

WONDERFUL FOR SMALLER HANDS [Posted on 2005-04-19]
I have a 3 year old daughter who LOVES Thomas. When I saw this available on computer, I jumped on board. She loves this game! When I tell her we can't play with it today, she gets very upset. Because the graphics are big, it is easy for someone with small hands whose fine motor skills are still developing to play this game. I would strongly recommend this to anyone especially if they are working on fine motor skills. I just wish they had more Thomas products for an iMac.

Thumbs down [Posted on 2005-09-14]
My daughter loves trains and is adept with many software packages, but this game is just annoying.

The layouts are too simple. You can "choose" but they're all really small. You can only put a certain number of plants on the layout. You can only put one cargo item on the layout.

She would enjoy just watching the train run, but it doesn't just run - there are always mishaps - things spilled on the track, stuff that has to be done. They're difficult to understand and kind of boring - having to click every rock away. I can see the point but a "no disasters" mode (a la the original Sim City) would be an improvement.

The decoration feature is similarly lame, and it doesn't do anything. It should at least let you watch the train go around the track with your decorations.

In general the interface is clumsy and unintuitive. There are many games that my daughter can play all by herself - but when she plays this one she constantly needs my help to figure out what to do. And I don't really enjoy clicking on boxes one at a time.

Geotrax (plastic train toys) is less expensive, easier to use, more fun, and still works when the power goes out.

Would be better if it would stop talking [Posted on 2007-01-14]
Attention to all makers of children's computer games: please, please, PLEASE do not make games where there a long, dull instructions that cannot be skipped. This would have been an 'ok' game if it weren't for the directions that are repeated every single time you play the game. Maybe there is a way to skip past the directions, but I haven't found it yet. The kids I work with get annoyed and lose interest by the time the directions for each new activity are repeated.

Pre-schoolers love this game [Posted on 2007-12-12]
Perhaps the adults who have reviewed this are reviewing it for themselves. Yes, it is a little slow, but I have grandchildren from age 2 through 6 that can not wait to play it again. They love selecting the track layout, seleting the engine, bulding the track, encountering the obsticles during the game, and finally taking the train to the grand opening.

This game is by far their favorate. I get a little board watching it, but then I have held them on my lap for literaly hundreds of iterations of the game by now. I have all the lines of Sir Topen Hat memorized, so yes, it is time for me to move on, but they still love every moment of it. We wore the last CD out, so I am definately purchasing the second CD so we can start playing it again.

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