The category of word games witnessed an amazing impact due to Wordle. Daily puzzles, simple gameplay, and interesting levels were the factors behind the game being a staple game for millions worldwide. It triggered the creation of several word games. Amongst the top games in Canada, Canuckle has emerged to be not only a popular one but also a successful spin-off of Wordle. This guide will be perfect for beginners who wish to get started with it.
What Exactly is Canuckle?
This game was the brainchild of Mark Rogers. This Wordle-based game will challenge you to guess a 5-letter word and it will relate to Canada in some or the other way. The word can be anything related to the Canadian spirit, be it a place or even a popular Canadian abbreviation. Mark Rogers once described the game in an interview by saying, “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.”
You can play the game for free on any of your favourite web browsers. Also, you don’t really have to be a Canuck to enjoy the game. The game rose to good popularity since its launch in Feb 2022. With over 2.4 million players, Canuckle today provides daily challenges for the players to solve. You will have a fantastic experience enjoying this world of adventure at your home.
Since the time it launched, it has been successful in gaining a large fan following. It received a positive reception from word-game lovers. As per the April 2022 statistics of the Canuckle word game, it has been played in 196 different nations, 1,213 different regions, and 12,166 different cities. It has been played by over 2.9 million users and has 55+ million page views.
Origins of Canuckle
The origin story of both Wordle and Canuckle doesn’t have much difference. Having a great family time led to the creation of both games. Mark Rogers and his family were quite engrossed in Wordle when there was a lot of craze for the game. As days passed, the family thought a Canadian version of the game would be a fantastic idea. This excitement for having a Canadian version of Wordle was also ignited by several other factors.
While watching the 2022 Winter Olympics, the Rogers family were deeply rooting for the victory of Canadian athletes. They had a sense of national pride. So many spin-offs of Wordle were also popping up which made the family feel like having a Canadian version. Mark’s kids were also a motivating factor as they weren’t always familiar with the answers of Wordle. It inspired Mark to create his own game which had words related to their nation for increasing familiarity while playing.
The creation of any game requires humongous inspiration, planning and knowledge. Canuckle’s foundation was also based on these factors. In an interview with wordfinder.com, Mark Rogers explained in detail the process that he and his brother had to go through to turn the idea of the Canuckle game into reality. The engine that powers Wordle also powers the Canuckle game.
A single file of JavaScript powers the whole base of Wordle. Thus, the code behind Wordle is simple, elegant, and complex at the same time. The originator behind those tons of lines of code is Josh Wardle. The Wordle game doesn’t have any login. It runs on a single page with the code behind it. The New York Times bought the copyrights for Wordle. But before this deal, the code was already available out on the internet.
That’s the reason why there are several variants of the game based on the Wordle code. Even Dordle, Quordle and all the latest variants are all using the same code. Canuckle today isn’t something which has been coded from the ground up and thus, Mark Rogers won’t ever claim copyright on it. Mark has made reference to this by mentioning ‘powered by Wordle’. Multiple variations of the Canuckle word game exist now. The Indian Wordle, Indle, is also a result of the popularity of Wordle and Canuckle. Stardle is also one such variation which is based on Astronomy related words. Hockey fans have a fun time while playing Gordle.
When Mark and his brother looked at the Wordle code for the first time, they made up their mind to reverse engineer it. Rogers studied electrical and computer engineering, but he didn’t pursue them for quite a while. In some of his previous jobs, he did some web design. Mark had experience in frontend coding, i.e. creating the presentation layers of a code and looking after its implementation when the code gets published. His brother is an engineer. He is an app developer for IBM and he is thorough with the knowledge of backend coding. Therefore, the skill sets of the duo are complementary.
When Mark looked at the Wordle code, he was able to figure out how to change the words which are running in the game, the title and the colours. The brothers further added a few new features. One such feature is the showing-up of a fun fact after the player solves the word. This gives a bit of Canadiana trivia in the game.
They also changed the way in which some of the different pieces are presented. The messages which pop up after you solve a word and the colour scheme are all Canadian-centric. Understanding the code is important for having the capability to reverse engineer it. Only then it can be modified further to build a new idea. The duo were able to implement their idea very well. They have also published the entire code to GitHub and have given due credit to Wordle by mentioning ‘powered by Wordle’.
If you are interested in Canuckle Word Game, you have either moved to Canada recently or visiting Canada on a vacation. Read our blog on How to Watch HBO Max in Canada with VPN to make your days better!
Where to Play Canuckle?
It is very easy to start playing the Canuckle game. Open your browser and type the below link to the official website of Canuckle: https://canucklegame.github.io/canuckle
After opening this link, you will come across the home page. The pop-up window will explain to you the rules of the Canuckle word game in brief. Take a glance over it before closing the pop-up. After doing so, you will be all set for playing Canuckle.
If you think that the explanation provided in that pop-up window won’t be sufficient for you or if you cannot recall the rules of the game, this article will be a helping hand for you. Check the below sub-topics in this article for checking out the rules of the game so that you can play the game efficiently.
What Are The Rules of Canuckle?
As the Canuckle game is based on the game code of Wordle, the rules are almost similar to Wordle. In Canuckle, you will get to know a fun fact about the word after you solve the puzzle. You will get 6 chances to guess a 5-letter word. This word will be related to Canada in a way. The game begins with you starting to guess a random Canadian word. On the basis of the tile colour, you will get the idea to figure out the mystery word.
In Wordle, the letters in the correct position are marked in green. But in Canuckle, the correct letters are marked in red as a tribute to the national flag of Canada. The letters which are a part of the mystery word but in an incorrect position are marked yellow. The letter which isn’t a part of the mystery word is greyed out.
If you failed in figuring out the word today, you will have a chance to figure it out tomorrow. If you are Non-Canadian, you will find it difficult to play this game due to the Canadian theme. But most Canucks also find this game difficult, so you shouldn’t give up hope in solving the puzzles of Canuckle.
How to Play Canuckle?
We hope that you have understood the rules of Canuckle. After you open the website of Canuckle, you will see a tileset on your screen. This tileset is similar to Wordle. Think of any word related to Canada and enter it. If any letter of that word is highlighted in yellow, it means that the letter is related to the word but isn’t correctly placed. Make use of your second attempt to fit the letters in yellow into the correct position. Now, you will be left with 4 remaining attempts to figure out the correct word.
The game will likely unravel for you this way. You will most probably start with a guess and slowly figure out the mystery words. This game also allows you to share your performance on social media platforms. You can share your achievements by clicking on the ‘Stats’ button. With a new page popping up, you will find links to Facebook and Twitter for displaying your success. You can also switch between dark and light themes, along with enabling high contrast mode.
Canuckle also allows its users to play the game in Hard mode. You can activate this mode by clicking on the gear icon present in the top-right corner. With this click, you will get an option to enable Hard mode.
What Are The Differences Between Canuckle and Wordle?
Even though Canuckle is based on the game code of Wordle, there are some differences between both games. The daily mystery word in Wordle is primarily sourced from a list of 5-letter 2,315 English words. Canuckle chooses a 5-letter word of Canadian theme for its daily challenge.
The other subtle difference includes the colour of the tiles. The correctly-guessed letters are marked as Green in Wordle, while Canuckle marks them in Red. There are no other differences between the games. Canuckle and Wordle both have challenging tough levels.
Tricks for Playing Canuckle
Canuckle is the type of game which is meant to be played when you are bored and want to do a fun activity. Canuckle keeps a statistical record of your performance, but don’t be obsessed with winning as you won’t enjoy the game with just a mindset for victory. However, deep inside, we know that everyone requires a win for going through a bad day. Here are some tricks which will help you to solve the puzzles:
- If you play Canuckle in Incognito mode, you will get endless opportunities for guessing the correct word. This trick is useful for the ones who think that 6 attempts are quite less for figuring out the mystery word.
- For different problems, there are so many solutions available on the internet. You can also use the internet for cracking the puzzles of Canuckle. But by doing that, will you be able to enjoy the game? So think wisely before exploiting this tip.
- If you access the source code of your browser while participating in the game, you can get a list of all the words used by Canuckle for its daily challenge. This trick is suitable for someone who is more interested in knowing Canada-related words for enhancing knowledge than solely enjoying the game.
The Canuckle game is meant for engaging your mental faculties. Playing this game will be like a fun trip when you do your best in figuring out the mystery word. If you use the above tricks, you won’t be able to enjoy the game. You will be missing out on the chance of enjoying an amazing game if you just think about winning the game.
Conclusion
If you haven’t played Canuckle yet, give it a shot for a fun experience. The last daily challenge of Canuckle was on July 1, 2022. Mark Rogers announced long back that the last mystery word in the game will be launched on the occasion of Canada Day (1st July). This doesn’t mean that the game has shut down. You can still take the daily challenge from the Canuckle Archive. Canuckle is expected to make a comeback soon. Till then, have fun with Canuckle’s daily challenge for 20 weeks from its archive!