Candy Land Game Rules

Contents and setup

• The game comes with a colorful game board, four gingerbread pawns and a deck of 64 cards. Open the game board on a flat surface and let each player pick their own gingerbread pawn. Shuffle all the cards and place them on the table face down. Place your pawns on the "Start" space in the order in which you will start. The traditional rule states that the youngest player goes first.

Objective

• Between two and four players compete on a multi-colored game board with the gingerbread pawns. By drawing cards from a deck, the goal is to be the first to reach the Candy Castle, marked by a rainbow space at the end of the path.

Cards

• There are three different types of cards you can draw from the deck: a card with one color block, a card with two color blocks or a picture card. When you draw a card with one color block on it, you will move your gingerbread pawn toward the Candy Castle onto the first color space that matches your card. If you draw a two color block, move your pawn forward to the second colored space that matches your card. If you draw a picture card, move your pawn to the picture space that matches your card. In the classic version, players had to move their pawn either forward or backward to land on the space, but the newest version instructs players they can ignore backward movements. For example, if you draw a card with a picture of Candy Cane Forest you will move your pawn forward to the Candy Cane Forest picture space, but if the Candy Cane Forest is behind where your gingerbread pawn is, you don't have to move there. After each draw, your turn is over and you place your card into the discard pile.

Movements

• Always move your pawn in the direction of the Candy Castle. Two or more pawns can occupy one space at the same time.

  If you land exactly on the yellow space below the Gumdrop Pass or on the orange space below the Rainbow Trail, you can take the shortcuts immediately. If taking the Gumdrop Pass, move your pawn to the green space above the Pass, and if you're taking the Rainbow Trail, move your pawn to the purple space above the trail. These are the only two shortcuts on the board.

  If you happen to land on one of the three licorice spaces, your pawn will be stuck there and you miss one turn.

Winning

• The goal of the game is to find the lost king of Candy Land by landing on the Rainbow space at the end of the board. After you twist and turn your pawn through the 134 colored spaces, you've won the game.