Candy Land

Draw a card, match the color and follow the trail to the end. No reading required - just try to avoid going backward.

Draw a card with a color on it, move to the next space with a matching color, and follow the candy trail to the end. Candy Land gave little kids a board game they could play without needing to read the cards or figure out a strategy. Learning to wait for your turn could be harder than actually learning the game.

The familiar card-based board game also had picture cards that sent you to particular places on the board, which was great if the destination was ahead of you and took you closer to the finish line, but not so great if you were already past it.

Candy Land was invented by Eleanor Abbott, who designed games for children. Friends encouraged her to send Candy Land to Milton Bradley for consideration, and Milton Bradley introduced the game in 1949. The colorful path and simple rules gave even very young children something they could easily play together.

Candy Land was a staple in our house growing up, and when I had kids of my own. It’s a quick, easy game to learn, and even very young children can play with very little assistance or instruction required.

The scenery and characters have changed somewhat over the years, and so have some of the rules. Hasbro’s 2025 edition uses colored candy tokens drawn from a pouch instead of cards, and adds a new version of cooperative play. So the new box may look a little different from the game you remember, but it’s still essentially the same game - follow the colors and try to be the first to finish.