I've never played crokinole, I'm more into strategy board games where you have to use your brain.

Popeyes or Jollibee spicy chicken is indeed the opposite of bland. I was thinking Mary Browns would be like Chesters Fried Chicken, there's only a handful of Chesters in Saskatchewan that I know of but tend not to eat there when there's other options.

Newfie fast food chain where you kiss a fish upon entering and where they serve flipper fin soup?
...I'll pass.

There is a similar game in Quebec called pichenotte or pichenette.

My extended family in Saskatchewan always played crokinole. I'm not sure if that came by way of central Canadian roots a few generations back or not. I always thought of it as a very Prairie game, but maybe those of Ukrainian or Mennonite heritage would think differently (perhaps someone here can comment on that?)

On the other hand, everyone in Ontario seems to play Euchre, while here Kaiser is the similar game found in the same niche, appearing in the same sorts of family gatherings as Crokinole.

I sense a Great Canadian Card and Board Game thread coming soon!

I'd forgotten about euchre - very '80s small town Ontario game.

Prairie Polish-Ukrainian person here. I have heard of crokinole but I don't ever recall seeing anyone in my extended family playing it. I remember seeing people having boards out at the lake, but I never remember seeing anyone actually playing.

Thinking back to when I was a kid back in the 80s, cribbage was the undisputed king of "grown-up" games (at least ones that required anything more than just a deck of cards) in the family although my parents weren't into it at all.

Older Quebec/Ontario relatives had this game. In French it's croquignole. It's an obscure example of a name I learned in French but not really in English one even though I spend 99% of my time now speaking English.

It's phonetically closer but reminds me of French loanwords in English that I didn't recognize at all when I was young like "debut" ("dei-byoo" vs. French pronunciation sounding different enough to me that it took a long time to notice they were supposed to be the same).

I'm a Russian Mennonite from Ontario who lived in Winnipeg for six years. I never saw crokinole anywhere on the prairies. I grew up assuming it was a Mennonite game, but in actual fact it was invented in southwestern Ontario by a German immigrant.

Of course, it's not like crokinole is astoundingly innovative or unprecedened. It's really just a variation on similar games that have been played throughout the world for millennia.

This talk of crokinole and euchre is reminding me of Rummoli, which I think is also a game of Canadian origin. It’s a long time since I’ve heard of anyone actually playing it.