Two young children's board games that have withstood the test of time are Chutes and Ladders (originally Snakes and Ladders, and still known by that name in other countries, but apparently Americans don't like the idea of kids sliding down serpents) and Candy Land. I can only recall playing the latter once, in kindergarten, and being upset when I ended up getting sent back a considerable distance. But that's actually what both of these games have in common, aside from the fact that literacy isn't required. I guess the lesson for kids is that, no matter how successful you are, one little thing can ruin everything. Maybe the American banking industry should have spent more time playing these games. In Chutes/Snakes, the spaces specify what bad things you're doing that result in taking a slide--breaking a cookie jar, tormenting a cat, blowing up a bus full of nuns--but Candy Land has no such embedded moral lessons. I guess life in a country made of candy is just random, which I suppose makes a certain amount of sense.
The Wikipedia article on Candy Land has some interesting information on different versions of the game. I guess it would have been around 1983 that I played it, so the version with the characters would have been available, but I think I can only remember the locations. I do find the character changes over the years interesting. Apparently, in this decade, Frostine was demoted from a queen to a princess, and Lolly totally lost her royal title. Maybe in the next edition, King Kandy will change to a democratically elected president. Also, the fat green Plumpy no longer graces the game board.
Also worth noting is that Hasbro (which now owns Milton Bradley) sued an adult site called candyland.com over the domain name, and won. The domain name now redirects to Hasbro's page on the game.
Incidentally, I have to wonder if Candyland has any diplomatic relations with the food-related people of Oz. Maybe the reason that the Marshmallow Twins haven't appeared in an Oz book is that they're busy working as ambassadors to King Kandy's court. {g}
