Customer Reviews
Pre-schoolers love this game 
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.
Would be better if it would stop talking 
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.
Thumbs down 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.
WONDERFUL FOR SMALLER HANDS 
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.
skip this one 
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.
I wish I could install this so I could see what it is about. 2003-08-21
The Island of Sodor comes to life on tracks you design and build! There is plenty of work to be done and surprises around every turn! Includes three places on the Island to visit: The Farm, the Quarry and the Docks.
My 2 1/2 loves it!! 2003-04-07
My 2 1/2 loves this game. Once he learned to use the mouse. He could play this game for hours. I bought Jumpstart Toddler to help him practice using the mouse. Now that he is a pro he can play Thomas for hours by himself. This game works on our OS-Windows 2000.
Is that it? 2003-02-18
As others have mentioned, there really isnt a lot here. Despite the appeal of the Thomas characters, my 2 1/2 year-old was bored very quickly.
We also have a very well-worn copy of Thomas and the Great Festival Adventure, which actually has puzzles and seems to teach something other than just mouse skills. I was expecting something of at least that quality as was very disappointed.
Also I should mention that whilst the interminable instructions are being recited, the mouse cursor is hidden. This caused a great deal of confusion as my son couldn't work out why the mouse wasn't working all of a sudden.
In short, a regrettable purchase (I will check the reviews next time!)
Not impressed 2003-01-31
My son is 3 1/2 and a Thomas crazed child. He seems to like this game and has been playing with it consistantly for the last few weeks. However, the game is not very impressive, as other reviewers have already stated. It's very limited and does not do nearly as much as the game that comes with the Thomas attachment for the keyboard. (He has that one too) If you are debating between spending the $40 on the other game or getting off cheaper with this one, get the one with the attachment. That has at least 5 times more content to it and will last alot longer. Plus my son loves getting to actually drive Thomas. This game is a short lived Thomas fix for those children who love Thomas. It's not a bad game, there just isn't very much to it. My son had completed the three locations and the 5 track layouts in less than an hour (on both levels) I know I was bored to tears with it after 10 minutes.
It will help a child learn mouse skills (since it's a mouse driven game, the one with the attachment does not use the mouse at all).
Lots of fun for pre-schoolers 2003-01-30
My son received this as a present for his 4th birthday. He has all the other Thomas games and likes it as much as all the others. He likes being able to choose which train he wants to drive.
