Candy Land (2002) is a core entry in the popular board game series. The previous major revision was three years prior when the 1999 version and the 50th Anniversary edition were published. The next major revision would be the 2010 version of the game. The 2002 version was notably also rereleased in 2004 with slightly different coloring.
History[]
This edition is the first major revision to the now classic characters introduced in The Legend of the Lost Candy Castle, and a new booklet abandons the old text. The board remains roughly consistent in its layout but several characters have changed a lot. It is also the busiest Candy Land board yet with almost no space wasted.
The first noticeable change playing through is that the Candy Land Kids have expanded their roster to be more diverse. Plumpy has been removed entirely, and the "Gingerbread Plum Trees" are now just the Gingerbread Tree. After 50 years, the game finally concedes that plums are no longer considered candy, although they do still appear visible in the tree. This sentient smiling figure will later be given the name Mama Gingertree.[1] The Gingerbread Kids apparently spawning from their mother tree can be seen scattered across the board eating things and causing mischief. Mr. Mint, now appearing more like a man in silly clothes and less like a terrifying half-human mime creature, hangs out with his cute new pet the Snow Beaver. Jolly is now some sort of dinosaur, a significant change from whatever it is they were before. Lord Licorice has apparently lost his castle and now resides in the Licorice Forest. He twirls his mustache in case it is not clear enough that he is evil. Gloppy now resides in the Chocolate Swamp and is a "Chocolate Monster." This is another example of the board changing with the times as probably no one would recognize molasses to be candy in this age.
The women of Candy Land seem to have been de-aged across the board. Gramma Nutt looks noticeably younger and more full of life conversing with her new dog Bazz. The former "Peanut Brittle House" has now been simply renamed "Peanut Acres." Peanut brittle, once a popular confection, has now fallen out of favor and been relegated to specialty stores. The estate behind her appears like a cool club house but shows no signs of candy architecture. Queen Frostine has been de-aged to Princess Frostine, and her appearance now looks more like a Disney Princess or Barbie. She skates across Snow Flake Lake, possibly a frozen-over version of the Ice Cream Sea, but it feels worth pointing out that snow flakes are not candy. The former Princess Lolly has been demoted to simply Lolly, apparently now a fairy with wings and not a member of the royal family.
King Kandy himself appears jollier than ever, with a new Candy Castle design that more closely lives up to its name. The structure seems composed of various hard candies including a gumball machine, no longer the ice cream based fortification of previous versions. There are some interesting fluctuations in the weights of several characters. King Kandy here has gotten noticeably rounder with an almost spherical belly sitting on top of his tiny legs. Gramma Nutt is looking thicker than cement and it works for her. Frostine and Lolly seem to have both slimmed down a good deal, with spindly arms and tiny waists replacing the almost muscular physiques of the previous version.
Characters[]
- Bazz (unnamed)
- Candy Land Kids (unnamed)
- Gingerbread Boys and Gingerbread Girls
- Jib (unnamed)
- Mama Gingertree (unnamed)
- Gloppy
- Gramma Nutt
- Jolly
- King Kandy
- Lolly
- Lord Licorice
- Mr. Mint
- Princess Frostine
- Snow Beaver (unnamed)
Locations[]
- Candy Castle
- Chocolate Swamp
- Gingerbread Tree
- Gumdrop Mountains
- Gumdrop Pass
- Licorice Forest
- Lollipop Woods
- Peanut Acres
- Peppermint Forest
- Rainbow Trail
- Snow Flake Lake
Perils[]
- Stuck on a Licorice Space
Notes[]
Plumpy does not appear in the Gingerbread Forest. instead the gingerbread tree and her gingerbread children are there. one of these gingerbread kids could be Jib
The designs of the characters in this edition of Candy Land, Particularly Mr. Mint, Princess Lolly, Gramma Nut, Lord Licorice, King Kandy, Jolly, and Princess Frostine were also used in the movie Candy Land: The Great Lollipop Adventure. So, this version of the board game could be considered a sneak peak of the film.
Gallery[]
References[]
This section is for footnotes and citations.