This copy of the game was donated to the collection in 1980, but according to Whitehill it was originally made available in the United States by the Milton Bradley Company in 1949. This copy has a 1962 copyright date on it.
The board is 46.8cm long x 39.9cm wide, and is made of cardboard. The game is for 2 to 4 players, thus there are 4 differently colored wooden pawns used by the players on the board. Play is based upon a deck of 50 specially printed cards, 4.5cm long x 6.6cm wide. On the cards (pictured lower right side of the board), are colored squares indicating the number of moves along the board's colored track a player may take. Some cards contain illustrations - girngerbread house, ice cream floats, lollypop woods, etc. The same illustrations are found on the board, and the ones on the cards indicate that a player may move to the illustration on the board.
All players enter their pawn on the multi-colored track at the "start" sign on the lower left corner of the board. The cards are placed face down on the playing surface, and each player takes a card and moves their pawn as indicated on the card. Players alternate, moving one after the other, regardless of the position of their pawn on the board. The intent of each player is to arrive at the end of the "track" before any other players.
Candyland is classified as a Racing Game. The general concept of the game - a race around a track on a board, based upon chance factors (the deck of special cards) - has a long history dating from an ancient Egyptian game and the European "Goose Game". Although these earlier games were of great interest to adults, Candyland was always intended as a children's game. It is still being made and sold today by Hasbro, Inc. in the United States, and copies are readily available.
Last update March 4, 2010