Thomas and his friends Molly, Percy and James lay tracks from their sidings to the main line, so they can travel over the bridge and into the train shed. The first engine to enter the roundhouse wins. The game includes 72 track pieces that insert into the game board, four engine tokens and spinner and game rules. No reading is required. “While color matching is an integral part of the game,” Lisa Orman, public relations representative for Briarpatch Inc., told TDmonthly. “Preschoolers who master the concept of sequencing will have an edge in this game.” Launch date: 2007.

Intended for two to four players, this game challenges children to use their eyes to quickly spot objects. No reading is required. The game comes with 48 cards, one action die, four picture dice and instructions. “Beloved and well-known imagery from the I Spy license comes together with a fast-moving card game that requires no reading,” Lisa Orman, public relations representative for Briarpatch Inc., told TDmonthly. “[It also] hones quick eye-hand coordination and recognition skills.” This game is a winner of the Spring 2007 National Parenting Center Seal of Approval Award. Launch date: March 2007.

In this game, one to four players put on the included 3-D glasses and enter the magical world of I Spy. They read the rhymes and explore the 3-D tiles to find the floating objects and solve the riddle. Players can create game boards by laying down the tiles in different patterns. Briarpatch VP of Sales Alex Fazio told TDmonthly that “the optical 3-D illusion aspect of the game play that directly ties into the themes of the Scholastic I Spy books,” sets the game apart and makes it ideal for specialty stores. This product received a 2007 iParenting Media Award for Outstanding Products and an Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award. Launch date: March 1, 2007.

Red and green apples are placed on “crates” in one of eight rows at the top of an elevated game board. By strategically moving apple crates and using Newton’s law of gravity, each player aims to be the first to get all of  their apples to fall to the bottom row, while blocking their opponent’s apples. In the race for gravity to do its job, players move crates vertically or horizontally, and even line up crates to build bridges to move apples into new rows. “Kids young and old will really ‘fall’ for the concept behind Newtown’s Apples,” said Briarpatch VP of Marketing George Schimpf. Launch date: April 10,  2007. 

Players turn up one card at a time, keeping an eye out for matching cards. Players compete to be the first to call out the name of the matched object. The player with the most cards wins. Launch Date: 2006.

Players can choose one of four double-sided boards in this skill-building game. The object is to be the first to spy the object on the board that matches the card turned over, ring the bell, and capture cards. The game includes different rules for three to four players and an advanced tournament game. For 2006, it was named a Top 100 Best Children’s Product by Dr. Toy and received the Dr. Toy’s 10 Best Games Award. “This is the I Spy game that Pavlov would like best…and the payoff is fun for the whole family,” George Schimpf, vice president of marketing at Briarpatch, told TDmonthly. Launch date: May 2006.

This delightful go-everywhere family game will wow kids as well as adults with the thrill of spelling short words up, down and all around the crossword tray. Being imaginative and a good speller of two-, three-, four- and five-letter words will make you worthy of the title “ultimate word nerd.” When you are done playing, simply close the lid on the word tray … all the letter cubes are neatly stored inside. It's new for 2006.

Become the master of Da Vinci's Challenge with this portable card game of secret symbols valued at 1 to 125 points each. Each fast-paced round is played with cards featuring classic imagery such as the Seed
of Life, Flower of Life or Leonardo Da Vinci himself. Players take turns trying to match or beat the last card thrown. Remember to announce "Carta Finale!" (last card) when you have one card left in your hand. Empty your hand of all cards to win. As an extra bonus, these cards can also be played as an add-on to the Da Vinci's Challenge board game.

Sudoku is simple to play, but challenging to master. To play, select one of the 50 puzzles from the enclosed booklet, and place the number tiles, red side up, on the game board. To solve the puzzle, fill in each square on the grid with a black number tile so that every row, every column and every 3 by 3 grid contains the digits 1 through 9. Available Spring 2006.

For the tween Mason in your family, the object of this game is to acquire the most points by constructing various Da Vinci-like designs on the board. Using variously shaped pieces, players are awarded points based on the difficulty of their design, be it a gem, hourglass, or the all-seeing eye. Eventually, players can block other players´ designs and use other strategies to gain an advantage.

“I Spy” a snake, a wiggly worm ... so what´s “In Common?” Things that squirm! Turn over the timer; you have 3 minutes to find the tiles that have something “In Common” and place them in rows on the game board. In Common is the recipient of three awards: Creative Child Magazine Preferred Choice, Dr. Toy´s Best, Smart Play/Smart Toy and Parent´s Choice Gold Seal of Excellence.

I SPY Word Scramble from Briarpatch is a fast-paced game that features an eye-appealing Word Scramble board with 48 interlocking, sliding letters, 2 minute sand timer, and 26 double-sided I Spy call-out cards. Two levels of play provide challenging games for both beginners and more advanced players.

Briarpatch takes Thomas the Tank Engine on a fun-filled railway adventure through the Island of Sodor in the newest addition to its popular Thomas & Friends™ game series – Thomas’ Tracks & Trestles Game. Full of ups and downs, this journey keeps kids on track with a game that promotes visual, matching, memory and manual dexterity skills.