Candy Land game

A simple race game that requires no ability to read or count, Candy Land has become something of a cultural icon in the U.S., where it is often the first board game played by children.

The game was designed in 1949 by Eleanor Abbot, while she was recovering from polio in San Diego, California. The board consists of a winding, linear track made of about 140 spaces, most of which are one of the six rainbow colors. The remaining few spaces are named locations such as Peppermint Stick Forest, Gingerbread Plum Tree and Gum Drop Mountain or characters like the evil Lord Licorice.

Players take turns removing the top card from a randomized stack, most of which show one of the 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 his or her marker ahead to the second-next space of that color. Finally, the deck contains one card for each named space, and drawing such a card moves a player directly to that space, either forward or backward.

In general the race is straightforward, woven around a simple story line about finding a lost king of candy land. The game takes longer to complete than one would expect, because the location cards are forever sending back players who are about to win, and adults may find they are losing patience the second or third time through the deck. Young children, however, seem to have an endless fascination for the game, and a surprising endurance to play to the finish.

The game was bought by Milton Bradley Co., which still produces it today.