Candy Land 2025 Board Game Review - Is This The Greatest Of All Time?!

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See my original Candy Land Retro Board Game Review: https://youtu.be/X8jmCePwoxs Subscribe to see more great reviews! https://www.youtube.com/@OldCrappyCouch?sub_confirmation=1 Become a Couch Potato and get access to exclusive content! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHa40rX1psb_WZZf9gagZ_g/join See more great modern board game reviews here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIF7NIZX3RTrlaEamTXL3Wz2z2__ni8yN See more great retro board game reviews here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIF7NIZX3RTo4PlObIh0z54wh2_kA1EBH Today we're taking a look at Hasbro's 2025 edition of Candy Land! Candy Land was invented in 1948 by Eleanor Abbott while she was recovering from polio. Eleanor was a retired school teacher, and came up with the game as a way to help the children who shared her hospital ward pass the time until recovery. Her goal was to make a game so simple that any child could play. Candy Land requires no reading and only a small amount of counting, so any child who can recognize colors and follow simple instructions can enjoy the game. For 2025 Hasbro has seen Candy Land return to form in spectacular fashion. Though the core game play mechanic of using colors to navigate the board remains, the card drawing has been removed in favor of blind drawing tokens from a bag. This simple change enhances the perceived randomness of the game and adds a welcome touch of whimsy as well. The bag is actually referred to in the included story as a magical item that the children use to collect sweet treats along their adventure. That’s right, along with refreshed art, we also get a refreshed story in the 2025 edition of Candy Land. The new story line focuses on a grand adventure collecting sweets throughout Candy Land as opposed to the rescue mission that the children were on to save King Kandy in 1984. Now the kids find themselves accidentally transported to Candy Land while playing in the forest. Their adventure largely consists of collecting sweets and visiting with the friendly denizens of Candy Land on their way to meet Queen Frostine. As part of the magic, the kids’ wardrobes each bear their own unique style themed as their favorite candies. The result of this level of detail is the absolutely adorable character art and figurines for the kids. The sculpts are nicely detailed and are surprisingly sizable. Their generous weight makes them a joy to move about the board. Replacing the cards with cardboard tokens was a great idea. Blind drawing from the “magic bag” is much more fun than drawing from a stack of cards, and feels more exciting too. I feel like I have more control over my move, even if it’s an illusion. The tokens are a decent dimension and subtly lend their shape to wrapped candies. My only complaint is that the cardboard could stand to be just a bit thicker. I had some issues punching mine out due to the lighter weight of the material. Definitely assist your children with this task the first time you play the game. Another addition that bears mention, no pun intended, are the new gummy bears that serve as non-player characters allowing for solo play. Now you can take control of three kid characters at once and race to get them all across the finish line before the gummy bears. It may not seem like the most exciting mode, but this game play mechanic can also be repurposed to allow three children to compete as a team against an NPC. If you wish to remove direct competition from the mix and instead encourage team play, this is a great option to have. I genuinely feel like Hasbro did a magnificent job with 2025’s edition of Candy Land. It definitely makes my list of best modern versions of classic games, and should be on your radar this holiday season! 0:00 Intro 1:11 Game Box 3:00 Pouch of Wonders 4:26 Figurines 4:52 Game Board 9:38 Rule Book 13:09 Reflecting on 2021 14:40 Critical Notes 15:42 Final Thoughts