
Candy Land was invented for polio wards (2019) - EndXA
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/07/how-polio-inspired-the-creation-of-candy-land/594424/
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tylerjwilk00
Candy Landy is more deterministic algorithm than a board game. Young children
are mostly oblivious to this though.

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dwighttk
Is life Candy Land, or more like Life?

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082349872349872
I wonder if Candy Land might have had anything to do with Dick's Can-D? (he's
said Perky Pat was directly inspired by his kids' Barbies)

[https://books.google.ch/books?id=jdBEAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA122&lpg=P...](https://books.google.ch/books?id=jdBEAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA122&lpg=PA122&dq=perky+pat+philip+k+dick+barbie&source=bl&ots=kXbiVjU2ug&sig=ACfU3U0WOXzXz5WKD91i9QSvaPj71deBgg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjm9LT8g8jqAhXai1wKHXe3BhQQ6AEwBXoECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=perky%20pat%20philip%20k%20dick%20barbie&f=false)

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JKCalhoun
> What makes it so appealing? The answer may have something to do with the
> game’s history

Or maybe, you know, it's about candy.

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russfink
I reference Candyland when explaining finite state machines to non-technical
adults: state plus card determines new state; card by itself? Nope.

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katzgrau
Yes, pure luck, but that's kind of the fun of it.

One minute you're cruising to a win and the next minute you pull the "Plumpy"
card and you're back near the start of the board while everyone laughs their
ass off.

Such is life sometimes

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dehrmann
Some of my degenerate gambler friends will shuffle a deck, cut it, and the
high card wins. At least it cuts to the chase.

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mpettitt
It seems to be a very uniquely American game - being from the UK, I've never
seen a copy in person.

From what I can tell, I'm not missing much - I think my kids would hate it,
since they're happily playing Ticket to Ride and Splendor already.

It does make me wonder if there are equivalent "ubiquitous" games in other
countries, that are essentially unknown outside of that country - can't think
of one for the UK, although I suppose you could find regions where Merrills
was universally known and played.

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lilyball
If your kids are playing games like Ticket to Ride then I suspect they’re
significantly older than the target audience for Candy Land. Candy Land is
intended for kids 3+.

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ed25519FUUU
Reading that article really puts the fear of Polio during this period into
perspective, and honestly makes the coronavirus look like child’s play.

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vanderZwan
It also puts into perspective why the antivaxxer movement is so vile,
regardless of what the individual people in it might have as their
motivations.

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User23
Calling people vile is terrible persuasion. If you actually care about
vaccination rates, you should come at it from a more empathetic perspective.

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a1369209993
I don't think they're _trying_ to persuade; I think they're complaining. I'd
call politicians or slave traffickers vile as well, despite that I don't
expect them to be at all discouraged by it.

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pharrington
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)

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pantaloony
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.

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Waterluvian
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.

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javadocmd
You invented "Chutes and Ladders: Legacy".

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Waterluvian
Hilarious and genius. I’m going to pursue this angle with him.

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gregmac
I'm not sure if there's a name for this type of game, but it's purely luck
based (pick a card, move to that spot), and.. I kind of hate it. Unfortunately
my 5 year old doesn't.

I found a variation that makes it tolerable though: pick two cards each turn,
then choose one. Adds the tiniest about of strategy, and makes it not 100%
luck.

Hopefully useful to anyone else whose kid was gifted this game.

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airstrike
I was having a similar argument with some relatives about the game Sorry! the
other night. Yes, you get to pick which piece you want to move after drawing a
card, but 90% of the game's outcome is determined entirely by chance

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clwk
Sorry has enough decisions for children to discover that it’s not just luck,
though. You certainly can play to lose if you want to, for example.
Discovering that there is strategy within what seems mostly luck is actually
useful for learners.

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airstrike
Sure, but when 5/6 people around the table are over the age of 30, it seems
like a silly game to play...

