CHEATING AT CANDY LAND REVISITED.. I reminisced here about how I used to throw games of Candy Land when the kids were very young. The Wall Street Journal had a front page story by Greg Bensinger on April 18 about how other parents cheat at children’s games, including Candy Land. They use the same technique that I did, simply palming the winning card and distracting the child.
I wanted to avoid tears, but apparently many parents are motivated to shorten the game. Another popular game for cheating by parents is Chutes and Ladders. One expert in data analytics has done simulations that show that Chutes and Ladders takes less time than Candy Land. There is a 3.4% chance that Candy Land will run more than 75 moves while there is only a 0.76% chance of Chutes and Ladders will last more than 75 turns.
Although the Bensinger article is behind a pay wall, the summary of the article has a pleasing depiction of a revised version of Chutes and Ladders which would lead to a shorter game.