Tom and Jerry Tricky Trap House – play at their peril

N doesn’t have many games but he does enjoy role playing, plus anything that makes him laugh, so I thought he would really enjoy the Tom and Jerry Tricky Trap house from Flair that we got sent to review.

I, of course, remember Tom and Jerry from my childhood, but the show isn’t something that N is aware of.  Not that that stopped N from playing with and enjoying the house and character for his own play.

As soon as he saw the box, N wanted to get the toy set out to play with.  Anything that reflects real life (ie house, furniture, kitchen etc) he loves to play with and replicate real life, so I thought this would probably go down quite well.

The Tricky Trap House is quick to set up for children to play with.  There is quite a bit of cardboard packaging, but you don’t have to build the house which is handy.  The aim of play is to replicate Tom and Jerry’s love hate relationship, and the house is full of traps, set to trap the other character.  Children could play alone, or take a character each.  N just used the house as a setting for the characters to play and explore.

There are lots of features – trapdoors, holes, as well as furniture like chandeliers, sofa and fridge which can cause some damage if Tom and Jerry aren’t watching out.

N found it really funny to play.  He loves the shower with the drop on the floor, the falling chandelier was a favourite (although he’s still not grasped the fact that the button isn’t a push down one, but a push along button!), and he enjoyed getting Tom to play the piano.

The house opens up, and shuts up compactly which is good for moving it from room to room.  I found there was a knack to this as you needed to ensure all the additional parts like the chandelier were out of the house, and the trapdoors shut. It would be hard for a child to do.

I did find it a bit flimsy after all the strong wooden toys that N has, in fact after a short while playing with it, N managed to break a leg off the piano.  That didn’t seem to worry him, and he’s been playing with it again several times today.

According to the fridge pictures on the box, there should be cheese and various other foods in, but we just had 2 ‘drinks’.  Not that N would get concerned about that.  He just finds the fridge hilarous everytime I pop it open with the button.  He doesn’t get quite the same effect strangely, so I’m not sure what he’s doing when he presses the button.

There are 10 traps in total and the house is set up to be a replica of the house from the tv cartoon.  Tom and Jerry are included, but you can also use the Flair character collection figures in the house as well.

Yes, for us there are some downsides – how long it might last as it doesn’t feel that strong, but overall N seems to enjoy playing with it, and it’s provided a great deal of creative play for him.  It’s something he’s happy to play alone, but will also like to get feedback from me and tell me about what he’s playing.

The set is aimed at 3 years plus.  N’s usually quite good at looking after his toys, but if you’ve got a child who destroys things quickly, I would avoid this until they’re a bit older.

You can watch N explore the Tricky Trap House, and hear some of my thoughts on video below, and it’s available from Amazon if you have Tom and Jerry fans.

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Disclosure: we were sent the Tom & Jerry Tricky Trap House to review. All words and opinions are my own. *Affiliate link