Review and Giveaway: Thomas Great Race Game

We are really beginning to have quite a collection of games and my son is only three. However, the biggest issue is that we also have a one year old in the home as well. Thus many of the games that would be fine and fun for Dozer are just not good to have hanging around just yet. In fact, we already have a collection of games growing in the gift hidey spot that have been gifted to us and I just do not feel comfortable with yet. However, the Thomas Great Race Game is not one of these games and Dozer has asked to play it several times since opening it.

Click on Read More to read the full review and find out about the giveaway.




This is the first Thomas the Train item we have had in our home. I know, I know we have a three year old boy how is that possible. Truly I do not know, but Dozer just does not seem very aware of Thomas and he just calls this game the train game. This is a relatively easy game to set up and get going. I thought at first the game was too difficult to put together for a three year old. I was greatly mistaken as I had put it altogether for Dozer then gone upstairs to put Badger down for a nap and when I came down he had fixed the trains in a different configuration and was playing happily. It was kind of cute from upstairs I could hear him saying "What are you doing at the bottom of the hill?" "I am coming to help you." Funny stuff.

That leads to my next point which is this game does lend itself to being played in a variety of ways. However, it is an easy game to initiate and let the child play on his own. It really is a very simple game and if it did not have the sliding action of the train I do think it might be too simple to keep Dozer interested.

The premise of the game is that you count colors or items on the cards and you get a piece of coal with a 1, 2, or 3 on it, whichever the card you are playing with at the time has on the back. You can see the pieces of coal to the left of the cards on the table in the above picture. The pieces of coal are then pushed into a track behind your color train and it pushes the train up the track and when your train gets to the top of the hill it slides down to the finish line. It is very easy to play this cooperatively versus winning and losing. Dozer automatically played the game this way, once his train was at the bottom of the hill we would focus on the next color until it also won.

The game is well made and the colors and graphics are nice and bright. If you have a train or Thomas lover this game would be great. Also, I think this could be a good first game for a two year old since Dozer could count to at least three by the age of two, which is all the game requires, and also only basic color knowledge.


Some game stats:


Age: 3+, I definitely feel this could be played with a two year old though.


Number of Players: 2-4


Skills: No real reading required. The cards have very simple questions on them asking for how many green tickets etc, but you can really make up any question, like instead of the green tickets it could be the blue tickets or instead of how many ferris wheels the question could be how many people. So, really a kid can use their own noggin and play the game just fine.



Price: $24.99 directly from Briarpatch, or check it out on Amazon for $19.94 .


Full Review on a four **** scale:

Functionality **** - Very easy to set up and explain and let play on his own.

Price ** - $25 seems a bit high for such a simple game that I feel would be out grown pretty quickly.

Overall Rating *** - I liked it, Dozer liked it, Badger likes the pieces and colors. I think it will be played with a good amount.

The winner of the Thomas Great Race game was Carla. (cpullum) - Congratulations Carla! We hope your family enjoys the new game.

Would you like to win a Thomas Great Race game for your little engineer? Go visit the Briarpatch website and let us know one other game from the entire Briarpatch line-up that your family would enjoy playing. Come back here and leave us a comment about your favorite and you will be entered for a chance to win one Thomas Great Race game from Briarpatch. All entries must be received by midnight on Tuesday, January 13, 2009. We will choose one winner using random.org. Please, only one entry per household and you must be 18 or older to win. If you feel comfortable, please leave us your email so we can contact you, but if you don't, please remember to check back here on the 14th to find out if you won! Please read our giveaway rules and thanks for reading!