Customer Reviews

Candyland - The World of Sweets Board Game

5 star:		(67)
4 star:		(36)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

...there are several good reasons why "Candy Land" is the first board game children learn to play:

First, the game does not require children know how to read. They do not even need to know their numbers as they do in "Chutes and Ladders." Movement is based on a child being able to recognize colors and symbols. What could be easier than that?

Second, the game is based on luck (or chance or divine intervention or however you want to characterize it), which means it is a great equalizer. This is a game where a kid has the same chance of winning as their parents, older siblings, grandparents, babysitters or whoever. Children are not going to be interested in playing a game they cannot win, which is why "Candy Land" is where they begin instead of "Monopoly" or "Trivial Pursuit."

Third, the game teaches the basic skills of board games. The hardest lesson kid have to learn with this game is to...take turns. Yes, this might be one of the first times in their young lives when kids are confronted with the regiment of structure that will afflict them the rest of their lives. But from board games like "Candy Land" to sports like baseball, structure and rules are a basic consideration. Strategy and tactics come later, but learning to take turns comes first (and I could argue is a basic lesson in civil behavior).

Therefore, I would respectfully submit that "Candy Land" remains the ideal choice for the first board game you play with your children. Just pick a card, move to the appropriate square, and proceed to have a great life.

Length:: 1:15 Mins

I remember playing Candyland as a child, so it is another game that has passed the test of time. It is simple, and it does not require reading skills, so very young children can play the game. It is good for practicing colors and for taking turns and following rules. I do feel that the game is a little long, especially for the 3-year old kids in the recommended age range. Some of the rules, like getting stuck until a certain card is drawn, makes the game rules a little more difficult to follow, so in that way I would recommend it more for a 4-6 age group. A 3-year old can play it with a lot of supervision, but some of the rules are hard to understand at that age - especially when they can draw a card but can't move their game piece! The game is very inexpensive, and therefore the quality of the actual game is not great. I agree with another reviewer that a "classic gold" edition with wooden pieces and a durable box would be a wonderful option for someone who would like the game to last. It would also be nice to have a nice spot to put all of the cards during the game and for storage. Despite the length of the game and the durability factor, I would still highly recommend this classic game to parents with small kids, especially those in the 4 - 6 age range.

This classic game was played by myself and my brothers as our first experience with board game playing and it is also my son's first experience with playing board games as well. We began playing Candyland when he was 2 years old and knew his colors well enough. It teaches colors and matching, obviously, but it allows for the parent to teach valuable concepts like taking turns, not being a sore loser, playing by the rules, and other good social skills involved in game play with others. That said, I was so disappointed with the quality of the game itself. The board is OK (although I wish the spaces were large enough to accomadate the gingerbread men pawns that are supposed to fit on the spaces). But the cards are very flimsy. All of our cards are bent up and some are torn. All are dirty. I realize that the price of this game is quite inexpensive and is still a good value for the price. But I wish they had an alternative Candyland game that cost more and was more durable to withstand play for all my child's toddler and preschool years. An ideal game would have a larger board with larger spaces and sturdy (maybe chipboard) cards that are laminated. A plastic "draw-discard" container would also be nice to contain all of the cards during play to get children use to that concept of card play. I would gladly pay more for a more durable version of this wonderful game

I'm not sure how long "Candyland" has been on the market, but I played it when I was a kid and I'm pushing 44. My wife and I bought this game for our then-three-year-old son (he's now four), unsure if it would hold his Nintendo-infatuated attention. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on who is playing with him), it does, so much so that his record at one sitting is 17 straight games. Still a classic of its kind, "Candyland" is easy to learn and fun for kids and adults (sheesh, I'm beginning to sound like a commercial here). One minor complaint: the cards aren't very durable and perhaps need to be made of thicker material to facilitate multiple shuffling and to endure the often rough touch of little hands.

Over 30 years ago, when my parents and I played "Candy Land," I used to get so excited thinking about all the delicious sweets, candies, cakes, and ice creams that were on the cards and the boards. The colors were stimulating, and I spent many happy hours with my father and mother over this board game.

Now that I have my own children, I have enjoyed watching them (ages 2 and 4) play "Candy Land" again with me. The game has not changed much, and it is still as colorful as I remember. I see that it makes them happy and I understand the educational value of this game better as a parent.

It teaches taking turns, color recognition, counting, matching, hand-eye coordination, along with providing a chance for quality time with parents. I wouldn't reccommend leaving young children alone with the game. It is best to play it with at least one adult (even a grandparent!), for supervision and guidance.

I loved this game as a child, and I love it now as a mommy. I have six kids, and I've noticed that my girls generally like this game better than my boys.

It is very colorful, and the movements across the board are based on the color of the card one chooses from the deck. If you pick a blue card, you move to the next blue square.

The game is spiced up by the addition of "special" squares and "special" cards... you might get one of these cards that moves you to the beginning of the game!! Or it might move you from near the beginning to the end!

It is a bit more unpredictable than Chutes and Ladders because of these cards.

It's a great tool when the kids are learning their colors, and also just for teaching the idea of taking turns and as an introduction to board games.

We keep it fun, and if the 3 year old really insists on going to a green square when he has a yellow card, well, we let him.

I recommend this one for preschoolers and the mommies who love them.

It drives me nuts when manufacturers try to "girl-ify" or "boy-ify" classic toys--heaven help us if a toy appeals to both genders instead of being sugary pink or aggressive black and purple (I see they have a Spiderman version of Candyland now *sigh*). Candyland originally had bright, primary colors and SIMPLE, appealing graphics that emphasized the candy--the "ice cream float" card had an ice cream bar, and the graphic on the board was of ice cream "floating" in water. Oh, the fun of landing on a candy space and pretending to gobble up the candy canes or peanut brittle!
This version has some ridiculous "princess" theme going on and lots of pastel colors to appeal to girls (as if girls need more "princess" toys in their lives). and the nice simple graphics and concepts have given way to cluttered graphics and all this "king of whatever" and "prince of whatever" stuff. You can't even neatly fit the stack of cards on the mulberry bush anymore.

That said, it's a great game for teaching turn-taking, colors, distinguishing between "one" and "two" spaces, and rules of a game (move forward, slide along a shortcut, stop here until you draw a particular card). My son learned this game in stages starting around age three, and the simpler candy graphics on the vintage version kept him interested enough to finally master all the rules. He is far less interested in this version, which his female cousins have.

I loved this game as a child, and it was with great delight that I purchased a copy for my son. However, I was disappointed with the artwork on the new board. The characters look too cartoonish and the board has lost some of the childlike beauty it once had. I tossed out the new one and went to a second hand store and purchased an older copy.

My husband and I remember Candy Land and were excited to play it with our 3-year-old. What a disappointment. They have ruined the game.

- There is no longer any white space on the playing board. The path used to be made of large squares that wandered through a white/pastel candyland. Now, every inch of the board is covered in super-saturated graphics that make it hard to see the path, for us adults. It's like Where's Waldo but instead you are trying to find the path.

- They have also made the squares smaller and put more of them on the board. Why, oh why, would they make this game LONGER? It's supposed to be a kid's first game. None of us could hang in there for the ETERNITY it took to get to the end.

I am hiding this and going to look at yard sales for an older version.