A simple race game that requires no ability to read or count, Candy Land has become something of a cultural icon in the U.S., where it is often the first board game played by children.

The game was designed in 1949 by Eleanor Abbot, while she was recovering from polio in San Diego, California. The board consists of a winding, linear track made of about 140 spaces, most of which are one of the six rainbow colors. The remaining few spaces are named locations such as Peppermint Stick Forest and Gum Drop Mountain, or characters like Queen Frostine and Lord Licorice.

Players take turns removing the top card from a randomized stack, most of which show one of the six colors, and then moving their marker ahead to the next space of that color. Some cards have two marks of a color, in which case the player moves his or her marker ahead to the second-next space of that color. The last space of the (modern) track is rainbow-striped, so that one doesn't have to draw a specific color to reach the end. Also, the deck contains one card for each named space, and drawing such a card moves a player directly to that space, either forward or backward (backward moves are possible only in the classic game, they are ignored in the modern game). Finally, there are three colored squares marked with a dot. A player that lands on such a square is stuck (all cards are ignored) until a card is drawn of the same color as the square.

The race is straightforward, woven around a simple story line about finding a lost king of candy land. The classic game takes longer to complete than one would expect, because the location cards can send players backwards. Adults may find they are losing patience the second or third time through the deck, but young children seem to have an endless fascination for the game, and a surprising endurance to play to the finish.

At least two versions of Candyland have been made. In the older, classic version, the board ends with a purple square. The rules specify that any card that would cause you to advance past the purple square wins the game, but many people play you must land exactly on it. In the modern version, there is a rainbow color square at the end to make the rule visually explicit. Also, the rules for the modern game specify that a character card resulting in a backward move should be ignored, resulting in a much shorter game. Finally, some of the characters are renamed in the modern version - Queen Frostine is Princess Frostine, for example.

There are other versions, as well. A picture from the Elliott Avedon Museum, copyright 1962, shows a different layout of the track.

Mathematically, Candyland is a particular instance of a Markov Chain.


Corporate history
The game was bought by Milton Bradley Company (now owned by Hasbro). Hasbro produces several versions of the game and treats it as a brand. For example, they market Candy Land puzzles, a travel version, a PC game, and a handheld electronic version.


Internet name
Candyland was involved in one of the first disputes over internet domain names. An adult web content provider registered candyland.com, and Hasbro objected. Hasbro was able to obtain an injunction against the use.