Candy Land

1 Overview

Candy Land is a classic children's race board game for 2 to 4 players published by Hasbro. Players draw color cards and advance their gingerbread token along a winding path through a colorful candy kingdom. There are no dice -- movement is determined entirely by card draws. First player to reach the Candy Castle at the end of the rainbow path wins.

Candy Land requires no reading, no counting beyond basic colors, and no strategy. It was designed in the 1940s by Eleanor Abbott for children recovering from polio in the hospital -- a game they could play while bedridden. It remains one of the most popular first games for children ages 3 to 5.

2 Components

• Game board (winding colored path through Candy Land)
• 60-card color deck (single-color and double-color cards, plus picture cards)
• 4 gingerbread person pawns (red, blue, green, yellow)

3 Setup

1. Unfold the board and place it between players.
2. Shuffle the color card deck and place it face-down near the board.
3. Each player chooses a gingerbread pawn and places it on the Start space.
4. Youngest player goes first.

4 Gameplay

1. On your turn, draw the top card from the color deck.
2. Single-color card: move your pawn forward to the nearest space on the path that matches that color.
3. Double-color card: move your pawn forward to the second space of that color (skipping over the first matching space).
4. Picture card (character card): move your pawn to the named location on the board -- regardless of direction. If the location is behind you, you move backward.
5. Your turn ends after moving. Pass the deck to the next player (or leave it in place and have the next player draw).

5 Special Spaces and Characters

Character cards send you to specific named locations. In modern editions these include:

Some editions have sticky spaces (Licorice) where landing causes you to miss your next turn. Other editions have gone back and forth on including these. Check your specific edition.

6 Winning

The first player to reach or pass the Candy Castle at the end of the path wins. You do not need to land on the castle exactly -- any card that moves you into or beyond the final stretch counts.

7 History

Eleanor Abbott designed Candy Land in 1948 while recovering from polio in San Diego. She invented it to entertain children in the polio ward who were bedridden. She sold the game to Milton Bradley for a nominal sum and reportedly never profited significantly from it -- one of the more bittersweet stories in board game history.

Milton Bradley published it in 1949 and it became one of the fastest-selling games in American history. It has sold over 40 million copies and remains a consistent top-seller today.

8 FAQ