Why I Hate Candy Land (and What to Play Instead)

I said it in our very first podcast: “Getting stabbed in the face is better than CandyLand!” Although I may have exaggerated a tiny bit, I’ve gotten some push back over the years from listeners who do play Candy Land with their kids.

Candy Land has a Good Side

Never thought you’d hear that from me, did you?

Kids love the candy theme and the fun characters. Who wouldn’t want to harvest candy canes with Mr. Mint or jump in the Chocolate Swamp with the friendly monster Gloppy?

It’s also a good tool to practice color matching. The colors are clear and bright, and the counting only goes up to 2.

At its core, Candy Land helps young children practice taking turns and follow directions – but this is true of most games, so it’s not a strong selling point for me.

But Candy Land is Hard and Uninteresting

Drawing a single card isn’t an easy task for a 3-year-old. Neither is following a set path. Ever watch a 3-year-old walk outside? They don’t follow paths, they make their own. So why are we trying to make kids do that here?

Candy Land is also too long. At 134 spaces to travel, a typical game is going to require more than a dozen turns to get a player to the end of the board. Especially in a 4-player game, kids (and adults!) lose interest because there’s nothing interesting happening when it’s not your turn. There’s barely anything happening even when it is your turn.

There’s barely anything happening even when it is your turn.

There are no choices to be made. Simply draw a card, and move to the space indicated. Many other games for young children at least let them choose how to roll a die (should I throw it in the air, or gently onto the table?) or spin a spinner (do I flick it or push it?)

Even the shortcuts and penalties in Candy Land are completely out of your control.

Most young kids can’t handle being penalized when they deserve it. But whether it’s losing a turn in the licorice swamps or being sent backwards to a special pink candy space they had already passed, being penalized when you did nothing wrong is the worst.

Forget it. Flip the table time.

But What Can We Do?

So, now that we’ve laid out all my concerns with the most popular board game for preschoolers, what do we do? Should we just consign Candy Land to the trash and wait to play games until our kids are older?

Of course not! There are several options available to the discerning parent:

Tweak the Rules

If your kids love the idea of Candy Land, but you hate the inevitable meltdowns, you could try adjusting the rules a bit.

Hasbro, the current publisher for Candy Land in the United States, acknowledges some of the difficulty presented by the classic Candy Land rules. In the official rules on their website, they suggest two updates:

1. Younger players move only forward, never backward. If you draw a pink picture card that would send you back, discard it and draw a new card. (Editor’s note: Publisher recommendations to ignore key mechanics doesn’t send a comforting message…)
2. “Older” players draw two cards and pick one to use on their turn. This is the easiest way to introduce some choices and strategy if you already have Candy Land.

Or, Play an Easier Game

“How could it get easier than Candy Land?” you may ask, even as you can’t dread another trudge through the Lollipop Woods.

Look for games that:

• Require simple physical tasks like rolling a single die.
• Use durable equipment (dice, tokens, thick cardboard) rather than drawing or flipping those easily-destroyed cards.
• Keep it short! Even 15 minutes is too long for a kid who hasn’t played games before. Turns should take less than 30 seconds, unless all players are engaged on every turn.
• Keep all players on equal footing. Shortcuts or penalties are not fun when you’re just learning how to play!
• Don’t combine challenging mental tasks into a single “action” (like color matching with counting).

Our Recommendations

We’ve played a few games that we find work just as well as Candy Land with toddlers and preschoolers, if not better. Some are intended for young children and some aren’t, but all of them are easily enjoyed by kids under 4 years old.

To practice taking turns:

• Don’t Break the Ice (from Hasbro). It probably needs an adult to re-assemble the ice blocks each time, but kids love it.
• Monkey Around (from Peaceable Kingdom) lets kids get their wiggles out as they fill the “tree” with monkey cards.
• Activity dice such as these ones on Amazon. Take turns rolling, but then everyone can do the action.

For color matching:

• Rhino Hero Junior (part of the My Very First Games line from HABA). The rules include three modes of play: color matching, then stacking, then memory. Of course, the most fun is knocking the tower down after you build it!
• Here, Fishy, Fishy (also from HABA). Use the magnetic fishing rod to pick up chunky wooden fish! Once you’ve got that skill, add color matching – pick up a “toy” token the same color as the fish, and try to fill your toy puzzle first.
• Try Dragomino (from Blue Orange) for a slightly more advanced color matching experience, and work on introducing the scoring rules as your children get a bit older.

To practice basic counting:

• First Orchard (also from HABA’s My Very First Games). Roll the die and pick a matching-colored fruit. Try to collect it all before the raven reaches the end of the path. Count how many spaces the raven has left!
• Acorn Soup (from Peaceable Kingdom). Identify ingredients needed for a recipe, then count them as you drop them in the “pot”.
• Or just roll dice and count the numbers! Preschoolers find this activity very engaging, especially if you have large or unusual dice.

Taking turns is too difficult right now? Try some simple games where all players play simultaneously.

• Happy Salmon (from Exploding Kittens). Try to match another player’s card, and then do a silly activity. This is intended for older kids, but no reading is required once you’ve reviewed what the possible card actions are.
• Maze Racers (from FoxMind Games). Two players each create a maze with magnetic pieces on a whiteboard, then swap and race a marble through the maze their opponent created. This also works well as an individual toy.

Does playing games stir up big emotions? Try The Color Monster (based on the picture book) and work together to help the Monster sort out his feelings.

Lastly, if you’re not completely convinced and still love the feel of a traditional move-forward game like Candy Land or Chutes & Ladders, there are some shorter and more engaging options we’d recommend:

• Unicorn Glitterluck: Cloud Crystals (from HABA). Roll a die and move your unicorn through the clouds collecting pink crystals – the board is 25 spaces long and there are opportunities to gift crystals to other players, keeping it from being overly competitive.
• My First Castle Panic (from Fireside Games) encourages kids to work together, matching colors AND shapes to defeat monsters as they slowly work up the path to the castle.
• Hoot Owl Hoot (from Peaceable Kingdom) is… very much like Candy Land, except it’s shorter and cooperative. You’re trying to get ALL the owls to the nest before the sun comes up

Follow these guidelines to a better game playing experience for your little ones, or take a look at our top games for three year olds. Happy playing!

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