Codenames

2015
Vlaada Chvátil
BGG Geek Rating
7.4
based on 100,594 ratings
BGG Average Rating
7.5
community average
BGG Ranking
#158
all board games
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Players
2-8
Weight
1.26/5.00
Playtime
15 min
Age
10+
🎮

Play Online

Available on multiple platforms

Apple App Store Google Play VASSAL

⚙️ Game Mechanics

How this game works - core systems and player actions

Communication Limits Team-Based Game Deduction Race Memory

📂 Categories

Word Game Word Game Card Game Party Game Deduction Spies / Secret Agents

🎨 Artists

Dávid Jablonovský Filip Murmak František Sedláček Stéphane Gantiez Tomáš Kučerovský Vlaada Chvátil

🏢 Publishers

asmodee Boardgame Space Brain Games Broadway Toys LTD Brädspel.se Cranio Creations Cuaca Cerah Games Czech Games Edition Devir DiceTree Games Enigma (Bergsala Enigma) Fantasmagoria Feelindigo GaGa Games Gaming Library Golden Egg Games Gém Klub Kft. Heidelberger Spieleverlag HeidelBÄR Games Hobby Japan IELLO Kaissa Chess & Games Land of Beautiful Mind (سرزمین ذهن زیبا) Lex Games Liam Games MINDOK MIPL Nordic Games ehf One Moment Games Ponva d.o.o. Pridemage Games Rebel Sp. z o.o. SuperHeated Neurons TWOPLUS Games White Goblin Games

📖 About This Game

Two rival spymasters know the secret identities of 25 agents. Their teammates know the agents only by their codenames — single-word labels like "disease", "Germany", and "carrot". Yes, carrot. It's a legitimate codename. Each spymaster wants their team to identify their agents first...without uncovering the assassin by mistake. In Codenames, two teams compete to see who can make contact with all of their agents first. Lay out 25 cards, each bearing a single word. The spymasters look at a card showing the identity of each card, then take turns clueing their teammates. A clue consists of a single word and a number, with the number suggesting how many cards in play have some association to the given clue word. The teammates then identify one agent they think is on their team; if they're correct, they can keep guessing up to one more than the stated number of times; if the agent belongs to the opposing team or is an innocent bystander, the team's turn ends; and if they fingered the assassin, they lose the game. Spymasters continue giving clues until one team has identified all of their agents or the assassin has removed one team from play.