Milton Bradley Encourages Cooperative Instead of Competitive Play

My daughter just turned three-years-old this year, the perfect age to introduce her to the wonderful world of preschool board games. You remember titles like Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders, and Hi Ho Cherry-O from your own childhood right? I sure do. Of course, none of these board games look the way I remember. The art work is periodically updated to keep the games new and fresh for each consecutive generation. You maybe surprised to find that one popular pre-school game was redesigned to encourage cooperative rather than competitive play.

Milton Bradley has updated Hi Ho Cherry-O to include cooperative play. First produced in 1960, Hi Ho Cherry-O reinforces counting and number recognition. Designed for 2-4 players ages 3-6, Hi Ho Cherry-O contained a game board that depicted a cherry orchard of four trees with recessed wholes desinged to hold ten plastic cherries. Using a card board spinner, the objective was to be the first to fill the your cherry picky basket.

Milton Bradley has recently redesigned Hi Ho Cherry-O. Esthetically, each tree is now a different color (representing oranges, apples, ect.), making it easier for the youngest players to distinguish their own pieces. But it's not the color change but a concept change that is most impressive.

The most exciting update is not the redesigned game board but the addition of cooperative game rules (the classic game rules are still included). The new rules are only a minor modification of classic game rules, but a major upgrade in game play philosophy. In the classic game, there is only one winner, in the cooperative game, everyone wins or looses together.