How To Play Candyland (3 minute guide)

OVERVIEW

Candy Land is a children’s fantasy board game for 2-4 players of all ages that was developed in the late 1940s. It includes a colorful game board with a rainbow path that players must advance through to get to the Candy Castle. They will pass a variety of candy-themed locations on their journey such as the Gumdrop Mountain and Peppermint Stick Forest.

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GAMEPLAY

Setup

Begin by placing the game board on the table in the middle of all the players. Shuffle the deck of colored candy cards and place them face down next to the board. Each player will choose a colored gingerbread man piece to move with on the board and place them behind the starting line.

Goal

The objective of the game is to advance through the path faster than all the other players and be the first to reach the Candy Castle at the end of the trail.

Player Actions

The first player will start by drawing a card from the deck. Some cards will have one colored block which will allow you to move your piece to the closest space that matches the color. Other cards have 2 blocks which allow you to move forward 2 spaces of that color. For example if Jenny draws one blue square, she will move her gingerbread piece to the next blue square. If Tommy draws a double orange square, he gets to pass the first orange square and land his piece on the second.

There are some location cards in the deck that have a pink square with a character on it, which will allow you to move to that location. For example if you draw a location card with the character Gramma Nut on it, you will move your gingerbread piece to the pink square on the board with a peanut on it, right next to the Peanut Acres.

Some squares on the game board are connected to shortcuts like the Rainbow Trail that will allow you to move your piece over the bridge and skip a large section of the path. If your piece lands on one of these spaces, you are allowed to take the shortcut.

On the other hand, some spaces have a picture of licorice on them. If your piece lands on one of these spaces, you will be stuck on that square until you draw the same color your gingerbread man is standing on. For example if Anna lands on a blue square with licorice, she cannot move from that space until she draws a blue card, it could take several turns to get back in the game.

How to End the Game

The game ends when one of the players gets to the purple square at the very end of the Rainbow Trail that leads to the Candy Castle. Once they reach this point, they will be greeted by King Kandy and crowned the winner.

Tips for Playing with Kids

While playing Candy Land, it is customary to allow the youngest player to begin the game since there is no dealer to determine who should be the first player. To speed up the game and make it more interesting for younger children, players can draw 2 cards on their turn instead of 1 and choose which color they would like to advance to. With the ability to choose to land on a space that is closer to the finish line, the game will feel more like a race to the Candy Castle.

Strategies

If you are able to draw the Queen Frostine card early in the game and advance to that section of the board, you will have a significant head start against the other players. Although players are not able to look at the cards before they draw them, it is rumored that if you draw more green cards you will advance across the board quicker than you would with other colors.

Variations of the Game

Variations of the game Candy Land include the Canadian Version and Disney Princess Edition, as well as the Portuguese, Spanish, French, and German Editions.