Kanaate: Daily Kana Word Game

About Kanaate: Daily Kana Word Game

In Kanaate you type Japanese words on a kana keyboard and read the colours: green for a kana in the right spot, yellow for one in the word but elsewhere, grey for one that is not there. The daily 4-kana word gives you eight tries; the daily 5-kana word, marked as harder, gives you ten. A counter above the board shows how many candidate words are still possible.

Once you solve the day's word you see the day's solve rate, the average number of tries, the openers other players chose and your own rank for the day. Results share as a grid of coloured squares that does not give the word away. Players can submit words, and accepted ones become future daily puzzles. There is also a Practice mode with unlimited games and an Archive of past days.

Kanaate is made by Kyosuke Takahashi under the webrara name and came to the App Store in October 2026, with a browser version on webrara.com. It is aimed at learners as well as native speakers: the keyboard shows romaji under each kana, you can type in romaji on a physical keyboard, and each answer comes with its reading, romaji, kanji and English meaning. The app is free with ads, and a one-time purchase removes them.

How to play Kanaate: Daily Kana Word Game

1. Open Today's 4 from the home screen.
2. Type a four-kana word on the kana keyboard and press Enter.
3. Read the tiles: green is the right kana in the right spot, yellow is in the word elsewhere, grey is not in the word.
4. Use the hints to choose the next word; you have eight tries.
5. When you have solved it, try Today's 5, a five-kana word with ten tries.

Screenshots

Tips

• Watch the candidates left counter after each guess to see how much a word narrowed things down.
• Use the dakuten and handakuten keys to turn a kana into its voiced form, such as き into ぎ.
• The home screen shows yesterday's answer with its kanji, which is a quick way to learn a word a day.

Questions