What is Canuckle, a Canadian Wordle Game?

If you happen to be a lover of all things Canadian (geese included), do I have the most wonderful news for you! Canuckle, or the Canadian Wordle, is oot and aboot. Designed to be the Wordle for Canadians, Canuckle has joined a long list of successful Wordle spin-offs to hit the internet.

What is Canuckle, a Wordle game for Canadians?

The brainchild of Ottawa resident, Mark Rogers, Canuckle is a Wordle-based guessing game that challenges the player to guess a five-letter word that in some way relates to Canada. The mystery word could be anything from a word, place, or simple Canadianism – if it’s tied to Canada, it goes.

Mark Rogers words it perfectly when he says, “Every word at the end is going to be related to Canada in some way and it’s got some sort of theme that can be tied back to Canada.”

Canuckle is free to play on any web browser and everyone can have a go at it. You do not have to be a Canuck to enjoy this game. The game’s popularity is highlighted by the sheer number of players since its launch in February 2022. Canuckle has over 2.4 million players who compete to solve the daily challenges and they love it. Read on to find out how you can experience this fun adventure from the comfort of your home.

Where to find Canuckle and how to play it

Unlike Finding Nemo, finding Canuckle is fairly simple. All you have to do is open your browser and type in the link to Canuckle’s website, which is shared below:

https://canucklegame.github.io/canuckle/

You will be greeted by the home page and a pop-up window that briefly explains the rules of the game. Give it a once-over before closing the box and now you’re all set for your first game of Canuckle.

But wait a minute! What if the explanation provided in the window that greeted you earlier isn’t enough? What if you can’t recall the rules, eh? Fret not buddy. Let us recap the rules of Canuckle together and get you going.

Canuckle Rules

Since Canuckle is based on the original Wordle game code, it borrows much of its rules from it. In addition, solving the puzzle will reveal a fun fact about the secret word. Like Wordle, the player gets six chances to guess a five-letter mystery word. The only difference here is that the secret word is tied to Canada in some way or another.

You start by guessing a random word that is Canada-related and based on the color of the tiles, you work your way to uncovering the secret word.

As a tribute to the Canadian flag, letters that are in the correct position are marked in red instead of the Wordle’s trademark green. Letters that are a part of the word but not in their correct position are marked yellow, while letters that are not part of the word are greyed out.

Just like Wordle, a new Canuckle will be out daily so if you failed previously, you will always have your chance at redemption the following day.

Due to the game having a Canadian theme, it will be difficult for players from other regions. However, the fact that most Canucks find Canuckle difficult should give you plenty of hope for success.

How to play Canuckle

Now that we’ve got the rules out of the way, let’s get down to business. On opening the Canuckle website you will be presented with a tileset similar to Wordle. Give it your best shot and think of any word Canadian and enter it.

I entered the word GEESE and it highlights the letter G in yellow, meaning that there is a G somewhere but this is not its correct position

For my second attempt, I tried MANGY and somehow I end up with two letters in the right position. That means the word we are looking for ends in a GY

Now I have four remaining tries to get the correct word. More often than not, your game will also unravel this way. You start with a random guess and slowly work your way in. I hope you are a better ‘Canadian’ than I am because I woefully failed to guess the word even after six tries.

Canuckle allows you to share your statistics on social media platforms by simply clicking on the Stats button here.

On the new page that opens, you will find the links to Twitter and Facebook where you can proudly display your achievements.

How different is Canuckle from Wordle?

Although based on the same game code, there are subtle differences between the two. Wordle primarily sources its daily mystery word from a randomly ordered list of 2,315 words five-letter English words. Canuckle on the other hand has a Canadian theme and as such chooses a five-letter Canadian-specific word for its daily challenge.

Other differences include the colour of the tiles. In Wordle, all correctly guessed letters would be marked in green. However, Canuckle uses red in place of green to denote a correct guess. The remaining colours ie., yellow and grey, remain the same in both.

Other than that, both the games are pretty much the same, with pretty challenging difficulty levels.

Canuckle tips and tricks

Games like Canuckle or Wordle are meant to be played during leisure time or when you are bored and want to engage yourself with an activity. Even though Canuckle has a statistics record of your performance, getting obsessed with only winning takes the fun out of the game. That being said, everyone deserves a win now and again to help us through a particularly bad day or the occasional bragging rights. So let’s have a look at some tips and tricks that might come in handy.

  • Playing in Incognito mode gives you endless opportunities to try and guess the correct word. It is something worth looking up if you want to guess the word but hate being given a limited number of tries
  • The internet is full of solutions to all kinds of problems, Canuckle included. You can simply search for the answers and get the Canuckle right on the first try but where is the fun in that?
  • Accessing the source code of your browser while in the game can reveal all the words that Canuckle uses for its daily challenge.

 As I have mentioned before, Canuckle is a game that should engage your mental faculties and sent you on a fun trip as your try and figure out the right word. Resorting to blatant cheating will take the fun out of it. If you are only obsessed with maintaining a flawless streak through any means possible, I think you are missing the point.

Canuckle also allows you to play in Hard mode, where the player is forced to use the hints in subsequent guesses. To access this mode, all you have to do is click on the gear icon at the top right-hand corner to open settings.

In settings, enable Hard Mode.

You can also choose between light and dark themes, and enable high contrast mode too. Any feedback can be sent through the email or Twitter option present in the settings menu.

If you haven’t tried oot the Canadian Wordle yet, you ought to give it a shot. Canuckle will come to an end on July 1, 2022, according to its creator, Mark Rogers, who said, “We decided we wanted to get all the way to Canada Day. So the last word is going to be on July 1. So, we’ve got a good number of words in store all the way to July 1.”

All the more reason to get stuck in, eh?