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Why children's games requiring no strategy and all luck are worthwhile anyway
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Remember Candy Land? Who doesn't? The charming race game, first produced by Milton Bradley in the 1940's, has been and still is an addictive hit for families. With its ultra-colorful feel, simple play, and maze-like visuals, Candy Land helped define children's games and has bolstered healthy developmental interaction for millions.
But why? Does a game that requires no decisions on the part of any players, instead just requiring the draw of a colored card and a move toward the next instance of the color drawn, foster intelligence? What about good sportsmanship? And most importantly, what about such designs is fun for children?
You can't throw very much at the average three- to six-year-old and expect him or her to understand. That's not saying such little 'uns are not bright; they just haven't been exposed to much about this complicated world of ours yet. Correspondingly, quite a lot is still very new to the next generation. A game with no decision-making appears to adults to be too simple to entertain, simply because we understand logical cause-and-effect and the idea of risk so thoroughly.
A child enjoys the race of Candy Land not because it grants rewards in exchange for risk, but because it generates drama and surprise. Who's going to win? What card will be drawn next, and could it send us all the way back to the Molasses Swamp? When the answer comes, they get to go "yay!" if it's good and "awww..." if it's bad, and learn that either way, the game goes on, at least until someone wins. That's certainly an important lesson: don't give up on your goals.
Chutes and Ladders and the Game of Life, too, are examples of family classics that have seemingly sub-conscious educational aspects. Players of the former have to count out the number of spaces their token takes as it snakes around the board, a mild mathematical exercise. The Game of Life is more of a summary of what's to come in future years for a child than even they might realize at first. This writer finds it remarkable that, without owning a copy in his adult life, a memory of that first junction on the path sticks in the brain anyway: "Get Married!" Putting an additional pawn in my little car at that point was always a joy.
As adults, we play board games with our children, nieces, and nephews because we love them and want to help them grow and learn. I'm no developmental psychologist, but I'd venture that there is an additional reason: nostalgia. Truly classic games survive and keep selling in this fashion because adult society wants to pass down and maybe even relive memories like the one mentioned above. Will newer entries to the market continue to be simple enough and yet make a big enough impression on our youth so as to sell for several generations, or even more? We shall see. For now, simply support the industry by trying some classic board games with family. You might even re-discover your inner child.
Have fun, and never lose that competitive spirit!
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