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| Players | 2-4 |
|---|---|
| Playing time | < 15-21 minutes |
| Random chance | Complete |
| Skill(s) required | Color recognition |
Candy Land (also Candyland) is a simple racing board game. The game requires no reading and minimal counting skills, making it suitable for young children.
Due to the design of the game, there is no strategy involved - players are never required to make choices, just follow directions. The winner is predetermined by the shuffle of the cards.
The race is woven around a storyline about finding King Kandy, the lost king of Candy Land. The board consists of a winding, linear track made of 134 spaces, most red, green, blue, yellow, orange or purple. The remaining pink spaces are named locations such as Candy Cane Forest and Gum Drop Mountain, or characters such as Queen Frostine and Gramma Nutt.
Players take turns removing the top card from a stack, most of which show one of six colors, and then moving their marker ahead to the next space of that color. Some cards have two marks of a color, in which case the player moves the marker ahead to the second-next space of that color. The deck has one card for each named location, and drawing such a card moves a player directly to that board location. This move can be either forward or backward in the classic game; backward moves can be ignored for younger players in the 2004 version of the game.
Before the 2006 version, there were three colored spaces marked with a dot. Two of these spaces were designated as "cherry pitfalls" and the other was situated in Molasses Swamp. A player who lands on such a space is stuck (all cards are ignored) until a card is drawn of the same color as the square. In the 2006 version, dot spaces were replaced with licorice spaces that prompt the player landing on it to simply lose the next turn.
The game is won by landing on or passing the final square and thus reaching the goal of the Candy Castle; the official rules specify that any card that would cause the player to advance past the last square wins the game, but many play so that one must land exactly on the last square to win. The 2004 version changed the last space from a violet square to a rainbow space, meaning it applies to any color drawn by a player, thus resolving any dispute about exactly who wins the game.
As of 2013, Candy Land is being sold by Hasbro with a spinner instead of cards. The spinner includes all outcomes that were previously on the cards.
The game was designed in 1949 by Eleanor Abbott, while she was recovering from polio in San Diego, California. The game was bought by Milton Bradley Company (now owned by Hasbro) and first published in 1949. Hasbro produces several versions of the game and treats it as a brand. For example, they market Candy Land puzzles, a travel version, a personal computer game, and a handheld electronic version.
Candy Land was involved in one of the first disputes over internet domain names. An adult web content provider registered candyland.com, and Hasbro objected. Hasbro obtained an injunction against the use, and eventually gained ownership of the site.
A December 2005 article in Forbes magazine analyzed the most popular American toys by decade, with help from the Toy Industry Association. Candy Land led the list for the 1940-1949 decade. In 2005, the game was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame at The Strong in Rochester, New York.
At least four versions of the Candy Land board game were made. The first dates from 1949. This version, and other early versions, had only locations (Molasses Swamp, Gumdrop Mountains, etc.) and no characters. A board copyrighted in 1962 shows a track layout different from the more recent versions. One further revision was made before characters were introduced. The next version of the game, from the 1980s and 1990s, introduced the characters such as Mr. Mint and Gramma Nutt, has the modern track layout, and ends with a purple square.
Some of the characters and place names were changed in 2002. Queen Frostine became "Princess" Frostine, the classic Molasses Swamp was changed to Chocolate Swamp, Princess Lolly was changed to Lolly, and the character Plumpy was removed entirely.
A VCR board game version of the game was made in 1986. Hasbro released an electronic version of the game for Windows in 1998. An animated 2005 feature, Candy Land: The Great Lollipop Adventure, was produced and later spawned a DVD game version of Candy Land.
The "Give Kids the World: Village edition" of Candy Land was produced by Hasbro especially for the Give Kids The World Village, a non-profit resort in Kissimmee, Florida for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families. In this version, traditional Candy Land characters and locations were replaced with the venues and characters of the Village, such as Mayor Clayton and Ms. Merry.
There are licensed versions of Candy Land with characters such as Winnie the Pooh, Dora the Explorer and SpongeBob.
| Title | SKU # | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Candy Land | 1949 edition | |
| Candy Land | 1950s edition | |
| Candy Land | 1962 edition | |
| Candy Land | 1967 edition | |
| Candy Land | 1978 edition | |
| Candy Land | 4700 [UPC 32244-04700] | 1984 edition |
| Candy Land | 1985 edition | |
| Candy Land: VCR Board Game | 1986 | |
| Candy Land: A Child's First Game Comes to Life | 1998 | |
| Candy Land: 50th Anniversary Collector’s Tin | MB1001 | 1999 |
| Candy Land | 04700 | 2002 edition |
| Candy Land | 04700-G C-1827A / 0544700RGB [UPC 32244-04700] | 2004 edition |
| Candy Land | 0544700SGB [UPC 53569-44124] | 2010 edition |
| Candy Land: Winnie-the-Pooh Edition | 41051 | |
| Candy Land: Collector’s Series Game Tin | 41605 | |
| Candy Land: Dora the Explorer | 42588 | |
| Candy Land: Deluxe | 42743 | sold only at Toys R Us |
| Candy Land: DVD Game | 42328 | |
| Candy Land: Dora the Explorer with Memory Game Tin | 53678 | |
| Candy Land Castle Game | ||
| Candy Land: Fun of the Run | 114866 | portable |
| Candy Land: Give Kids the World: Village Edition | ||
| Candy Land: Classic Edition | 1189 | published by Winning Moves |
| Candy Land Adventure | video game |
Characters depend on the version of the game.
The Candy section of Toys "R" Us in New York City's Times Square maintained a Candy Land theme until losing their license for the characters in 2006. The theme included a colored pathway that mimicked the board for the game, several Candy Land characters, and candy-themed shelving and ceiling decorations.
Some people believe that Candy Land inspired Dylan Lauren (daughter of Ralph Lauren) to create the Dylan's Candy Bar store, also located in New York City, but it was in fact the popular movie Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory that inspired her to start a candy store, although characters from the Candy Land game can be seen all around the store.
At the Downtown Disney Marketplace in Florida, there is a reference to the rules of Candy Land on the ceiling of The Toy Store. The rules have been altered slightly with some humor and sarcasm added such as rule #6 which says "Play as above until someone reaches the multi-colored space near the castle or someone 'loses their cool' and overturns the gameboard."
Music video for Katy Perry's song California Gurls features a world of candy-themed board game named Candyfornia heavily influenced by Candy Land.
On 5 February 2009, Universal Pictures announced plans to film a movie based on the Candy Land board game. Etan Cohen, a writer for comedies Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa and Tropic Thunder, was hired to write the screenplay. Kevin Lima, who directed Enchanted, was set to direct. However, in 2011, a new screenwriting team was designated, composed of Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger. They said, "We don't see it as a movie based on a board game, although it has characters from that world and takes the idea of people finding themselves in a world that happens to be made entirely of candy where there are huge battles going on. We are going for real comedy, real action, and real emotions at stake."
On 31 January 2011, it was announced that Columbia Pictures, Happy Madison, and Adam Sandler were in final negotiations to develop the film, with Sandler both starring and co-writing the screenplay with Robert Smigel.