I have loved trains ever since I watched Thomas the train when I was little and I want to be a train engineer when I grow up. I was excited when I was asked to play a board game called Crazy Trains and write a review.

Over Memorial Weekend, another Young Reporter named Francis and I played the game. We laughed and had a blast playing the game. We played it several times. “The game is fun, but you had to use a lot of math skills and strategy,” says Francis.

Each player is an engineer. First you pick which color of train cars you want. I picked green because it’s my favorite color. Then you roll the Coal Dice to see who goes first. The highest number gets to go first. You start the game at the depot that matches your train cars and the goal is to arrive in New York City.

When it is your turn you roll the Coal Dice along with a Conductor Die. This is where the game gets tricky. There are decisions you must make because the Conductor Die allows you to do different things. You can also have a collision. This is when two cars land on the same space. When that happens the first car in the space has to go back to the train depot and start again.

The game is made by Horn Entertainment and takes about 30 to 45 minutes to play. It is for ages 7+ and 2–4 people can play at a time.

This game was definitely fun and I will play it over and over again. I taught my family to play the game. The challenges that came with playing the game at home were with my little sister—she is 4 years old and doesn’t really understand how to play and she doesn’t know math yet. I suggest that families who love trains and know math really well would be good at the game and love the game.