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Not too long ago some friends of mine asked me to babysit their kids (3 & 5 years old) by playing Candyland for a few minutes. The kids impromptu made up vario

Not too long ago some friends of mine asked me to babysit their kids (3 & 5 years old) by playing Candyland for a few minutes. The kids impromptu made up various rules about skipping turns, going in reverse, teleporting, yadda yadda, based on the board artwork around the Candyland track. It was basically playing Calvinball[1] with the Candyland board as a backdrop. I suspect that most children, after playing it once and realizing it contains 0% game, just go ahead and say to themselves, "no problem here," and fueled by the fabulous aesthetics, fantasize their own personal Candyland game in their own heads. [1]https://calvinandhobbes.fandom.com/wiki/Calvinball https://calvinandhobbes.fandom.com/wiki/Calvinball

pantaloony 6y ago
It’s good for teaching very young kids how games run. Turn-taking, rule-following. Not knowing what the next card will be holds their interest long enough to get them used to those things, at least.
- Waterluvian 6y ago
  To both your points. One of the proudest moments of fatherhood, “dad that’s a dumb rule. Can we change it?” Chutes and ladders. My three year old asking why he had to fall down the chute again since he already did. New rule: chutes are one time only. My son then ran into a problem: remembering which chutes have been exhausted. I let him put stickers on them. Next time we play he will run into a new problem: all the stickers.
  - javadocmd 6y ago
    You invented "Chutes and Ladders: Legacy".
    - Waterluvian 6y ago
      Hilarious and genius. I’m going to pursue this angle with him.
- Someone 6y ago
  Also: setbacks. I think it’s essential for young players who still have to learn what a game is that they have zero influence on drawing cards that move them backwards, as the disappointments will, over time, be equally shared between all players.
gdubs 6y ago
It’s funny because in recent years I’ve heard it pointed out many times how brain dead Candyland is, but oh my god I loved playing it with my cousins growing up. Tangentially — during the pandemic we’ve started doing family games before bedtime with our 4 and 6 year olds, and memory games have been a huge hit. It’s fun to see the kids go on a hot streak and kick our butts a fair amount of the time.

pantaloony 6y ago

It’s good for teaching very young kids how games run. Turn-taking, rule-following. Not knowing what the next card will be holds their interest long enough to get them used to those things, at least.

Waterluvian 6y ago
To both your points. One of the proudest moments of fatherhood, “dad that’s a dumb rule. Can we change it?” Chutes and ladders. My three year old asking why he had to fall down the chute again since he already did. New rule: chutes are one time only. My son then ran into a problem: remembering which chutes have been exhausted. I let him put stickers on them. Next time we play he will run into a new problem: all the stickers.
- javadocmd 6y ago
  You invented "Chutes and Ladders: Legacy".
  - Waterluvian 6y ago
    Hilarious and genius. I’m going to pursue this angle with him.
Someone 6y ago
Also: setbacks. I think it’s essential for young players who still have to learn what a game is that they have zero influence on drawing cards that move them backwards, as the disappointments will, over time, be equally shared between all players.

gdubs 6y ago

It’s funny because in recent years I’ve heard it pointed out many times how brain dead Candyland is, but oh my god I loved playing it with my cousins growing up. Tangentially — during the pandemic we’ve started doing family games before bedtime with our 4 and 6 year olds, and memory games have been a huge hit. It’s fun to see the kids go on a hot streak and kick our butts a fair amount of the time.