Manufacturer: Hasbro
Price: around $18
Buy this Toy at: Amazon for $17.97
The first board game I ever played was Candy Land. Back in the day, my brother and I played a lot of board games, especially Monopoly, Clue, and Life; pretty much all the top games from Hasbro. Hasbro has always been the leader in board games, and their Candy Land game, recommended for younger children, is a classic board game, dating back 60 years. For 60 years, children, like me, have experienced Candy Land as their first game.
Now that I’m the parent, I’m always looking for games the kids will want to play together. With a teenager and a five year old to consider, it can be hard to find something both of them will enjoy. While the original Candy Land is enjoyable for the youngest, the teenager can only stomach so much time playing the game. When Hasbro decided to release a new, 60th anniversary version of Candy Land, I figured this might appeal mostly to the five year old, but what I didn’t expect was the teenager would be into playing this game, too.
For the older kids in your house (and mine) the appeal of this game is the construction of the game board. Our teen loves to construct pretty much anything he can put together. He was all in, when it came to helping the five year old construct the board. We try to play our games at the table, so we didn’t have to worry about the board falling apart. The kids played this game together. The five year old was primarily excited about all the new characters and locations that are available in this new version of one of his favorite board games.
The best part is that the boys worked together to build the various game boards they played with before each game. They found some pretty creative ways to construct the board. The board can be shorter, it can be extended for longer game play, and there are some fun new locations to explore across the board, such as Chocoslovakia and The S.S. Neapolitan. While this board set up isn’t ideal (you can’t pick it up and move to a new location or play on carpeted surfaces) it does offer an alternative to the static board games with repetitive objectives that have you going the same route over and over again. With this in mind, it is easy to see why the creative nature of the board is more of a benefit than a hindrance.
Positives and Negatives:
While, overall, the new Candy Land game, Candy Land: Sweet Celebration, has many positive features that make it worth the purchase, the game isn’t perfect. There are a few negatives that are a detriment to this game. The main problems have to do with the construction of the game board. While this is an innovative concept for Candy Land, and board games in general, the construction of the pieces make the board fall apart and the entire construction process may not be easy for younger children, who love the original Candy Land.
Positives:
-new spin on old classic
-ability to make your own game board – design a new board for every game
-play as new characters
-experience new locations
-same theme as children’s beloved classic game, Candy Land
-appeals to older audience as well as younger
-fun for the whole family
Negatives:
-game pieces used to make the game board don’t always hold together
-game is limited to play on hard surfaces
-game construction may be confusing to younger children
Pricing and Availability:
The retail price for Candy Land: Sweet Celebration is set by Hasbro as $19.99. You can pick up a copy of this game, online, at Amazon for $17.97. This is pretty close to the price I found for this game at other retailers, both online and off. This is a board game. Most board games cost around $20, so the price of Candy Land: Sweet Celebration is no big surprise. If you are buying this for a birthday or holiday gift, you are probably expecting to spend this amount for a Hasbro game. However, it might be a little much to pay for one of those every day presents.
Requirements and Instructions:
Everything you need to play Candy Land: Sweet Celebration is included in the box. This game is recommended for 4+. It requires 2-4 players. There are four new pawn pieces that you can play as. These are Lolly, King Kandy, Princess Frostine, and Mr. Mint. Lord Licorice serves as a fifth pawn and is moved around the board to block the path of those playing and prevent them from getting to King Kandy’s castle.
The game also includes a cardboard, color spinner, 16 treat tokens (each player has to earn four of them to proceed to the castle), 5 different sweet locations, and 36 pieces to make the board. These paths are double sided, so you and your children can make a variety of different board game setups. With these things, all you need is players and you’ll be off to the races!
Durability:
This is one of the areas where I feel not having a traditional board game is a problem. The traditional board games are made of hard, plastic material. The board pieces in the Candy Land: Sweet Celebration game seem to be some kind of plastic, but they aren’t nearly as hard as the regular board material. Kids who play rough or intentionally try to bend the board pieces could do so. The game isn’t so breakable that just playing with the pieces will make them bend or rip, but you can’t expect to continuously bang or throw these pieces and have them hold up.
When the board is put together, the pieces easily come apart, but you can just pop the pieces back together. They pop off if you play on a surface that isn’t hard. This can be a bit frustrating, but as long as you aren’t jerking the board around, this won’t be a major problem. The kids didn’t have much to complain about, but then again, they were sitting at a table the entire time.
Ease of Use:
For an adult or older child, this game is a piece of cake to use. For younger children, who will definitely want to play, the gameplay won’t be a problem. However, four and five year old children may not be able to put the game pieces together without some help. I didn’t find this to be a huge problem for the five year old in our house, but he also had the teenager there to help and supervise what he was doing. You should involve younger kids in the design process, but you may not want to make them put the pieces together on their own.
Fun Factor:
The best part of this game is how fun it is. The boys loved playing with the new game pieces. The game is very bright and vibrant. The boys played numerous games, and when the older one grew tired of playing, the youngest wanted to continue so I had the chance to experience the new game myself. This may be a new version, but the entire point of the game remains the same. You are taking a trip to King Kandy’s castle and the trip is a candy filled adventure!
Bottom Line:
Whether Candy Land: Sweet Celebration is worth the purchase or not is going to depend on your child/children and your frustration level. If you prefer to play games on a bed or carpet area and not a table, you will be disappointed with Candy Land: Sweet Celebration. If you prefer to take the board out of the box and start playing, as opposed to spending some time building a board, Candy Land: Sweet Celebration won’t be for you.
Despite being recommended for children 4+, the building of the board might be too complicated for 4 and 5 year old children and they may grow impatient waiting to play the game. However, if you have older children and younger children, Candy Land: Sweet Celebration is the perfect way to get all of them involved, bonding as they help build the board and explore the domain of King Kandy together.
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Technorati Tags: Candy Land: Sweet Celebration, Hasbro, Board Game, Children, Candy Land, Toys, Review, Holidays, LI Kids
Written by Dominick Evans – Visit Website
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Dominick is in his late 20s. He lives in Michigan with his life partner, Ashtyn, their 14 year old son Robert, and their Shih-Tzu, Oliver. Dominick is a writer and the head editor for both LI Kids and Literary Illusions. He enjoys composing music and is an aspiring director/screenwriter. In his free time he enjoys spending time with his family, playing and watching sports, playing video games, watching movies, and singing.
