Image by David Mark from Pixabay
Children love trains. I often wonder why. Don’t get me wrong, trains are cool. But some people have a life-long obsession with trains.
I recently saw the film A Good Person where Morgan Freeman’s character has a miniature replica train table in his basement. After seeing it, I told my husband that I wish we had a set up like that. It would be so cool to see the trains go back and forth around the miniature town.
My son loved trains when he was little. Now he’s into his car and buying every “cool” accessory known to man to add on to his car. He used to play at his train table for hours on end when he was a little boy. I miss those days.
There is a fun new family friendly game now available that brings the world of trains to life. It’s called Crazy Trains.
Here is a brief synopsis of this fun entertaining new game.
Punch your ticket to ride the rails from the safety of the kitchen table in this truly crazy Family Game Night board game called, aptly, Crazy Trains™: The Game of Loco-Motion! ($24.95).
In about 20 minutes, players can take a circuitous route with the not-so-helpful aid of Curly the Conductor to their final destination, New York City. Unlike the railroad stops of that other iconic board game, players do not get $200 when they pass GO. Instead, players become the Engineer of a 4-car train in this fast-paced race and chase style game!
“Crazy Trains is the exciting new family board game where everyone can enjoy the thrill of riding the rails,” began the glowing write-up from Mom’s Choice Awards. “Bringing new competitive board game components into the realm of nostalgic railroad culture, Crazy Trains combines quality construction, train-themed game pieces and specialty dice with compelling colors and graphics.”
Along the way a new generation is introduced to traveling by train with vocabulary words ranging from Railroad Crossing and Collisions to Train Depot and Arrival Track. No two games are ever played the same as parents or grandparents compete with the kids – each conducting their way to fun!
I was sent a copy of the game to review. I didn’t play it with my family (my kids are young adults), but I did bring it to work with me, where I know for a fact some of my boys LOVE trains. It came as no surprise to me that they were excited to play this game once I showed it to them.
The game comes with adorable train pieces in different colors (one colored set per player). I think it’s the game pieces themselves that were a big hit with my boys at work. They loved to line the pieces up in tandem, just like a real train.
The object of the game is to move your train from the departing depot to the center of the board (New York City). It might sound easy, but it’s not. There are special situations along the way that can, to coin a phrase, “derail” your attempt to be the first player to get there to win the game.
To play the game, each player takes turns rolling two dice – one is a “conductor” dice and the other a “coal” dice.
The player whose turn it is must follow the “conductor” dice, and move the number of spaces on the “coal” dice. You can move more than one car if you want to split it up on the “coal” dice. For example, if you roll a four you can move one car three spaces, and another car one space (or two and two).
If your piece lands on a spot already occupied by another players piece, it’s considered a “collision,” and the original player is sent back to start and the other player can stay in that spot.
Rather than try and explain the “conductor” dice, here is an image with each option’s description.
I will be honest, the first few times I played this game with my “work kids” it was a bit confusing for them. They understood about the “coal” dice (moving spaces) and how they could split up the moves between train pieces. It was the “conductor” dice that took them a bit to master. Once they got the hang of it, I was able to leave them to play the game on their own (it was mostly my kids 5-9 who played with this game, although I did have an 11 year old play a few times). Thankfully most of the kids can read, so they were able to refer to the booklet if they forgot what an option meant.
I do have two little boys (both 1st graders) who I think made up their own play rules. I’m not entirely sure, but whenever I walk past them playing the game, it seems like they are not playing as intended. They seem to focus more on the “coal” dice than the “conductor” one. I suppose it’s okay. As long as they are having fun, which is what the game is all about.
I keep the pieces in a Ziploc bag s they stay safe and don’t get lost.
The board folds up nicely into the box.
Overall I am very pleased with the game. The kids at work seem to really enjoy it. Plus I like how its subtly teaching them about division (if they choose to divide the “coal” dice amount between trains).
If you are interested in learning more about this game, visit CrazyTrainGame.com. You can also check out the game on social media. All of those links are found on the bottom of the brand’s website.
Kimberly
*I received a free product sample to review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.
