We are late comers to Codenames, but it was the biggest hit at Christmas this year for our family. If you are not familiar with the game, please read the rest of this post and get it into your game night rotation (once game nights are back post COVID of course). Basically anyone over the age of 8 loves the game and one of the best parts is that you don’t need a certain number of people to play and players can come in an out of the game at ease.
Basics
The game requires people to think through word associations. Essentially, the goal of this game is to crack the secret codenames of designated spies before your opponents crack all of their codenames. There is no limit to the number you can pick, but your teammate must give good clues.
Start by dividing into red and blue teams, selecting a “spymaster” for your team, and setting out 25 randomly chosen codename cards in a five-by-five grid. This setup allows for a new game board each time and ensures a fresh combination of words.
The object is to give a single “clue” word that will lead your teammates to selecting the correct code words. Life experience in the game and helps to make connections between the words. This experience is invaluable for the spymaster – the one giving the clues. Thus, spymasters must be able to read and understand different meanings, uses, and connections between words in order to give effective clues. The spymaster must also think about word clues not to give. If a spymaster gives a bad clue and the team accidentally choses the assassin, the game is over. At times the clue is neutral and an innocent bystander is selected, which just ends the turn.
How to Play
Deal out a grid of 25 words, divide your players into two teams, and designate your spymaster. Both spymasters should be seated at one side of the table, with their teammates sitting across from them. (The codenames are printed in both directions so they can be read from either side.) The blue and red agent cards should be stacked in front of the respective spymaster.
Both spymasters are then given access to a card that designates each word on the grid as an agent belonging to the red or blue team, a boring beige-coloured innocent bystander, or the DEADLY ASSASSIN WORD. You win when all of your agents are marked on the board and you have covered up each of your team’s words.
Each turn, the spymaster says a single word (the word can’t be one that is on the board) followed by a number, for example, “Space 3”. By saying “Space 3” the Spymaster is alerting his or her team that there are three words and they relate to space.
The other players on the team discuss the clue before choosing a word. Often this discussion is the funniest part of the game. It usually seems so obvious to the spymaster, or players on the other team, but figuring out what the clues relate to can be tough. Eventually, the team decides on a word and points to that word, their final selection.
The spymaster then adjudicates the selection, covering the card with one of four tiles. The tile options are, your team tile, the opposite team’s tile, an innocent bystander card, or the assassin card. If it is the assassin card, the game is over. Covering the card with the other team’s color or an innocent bystander ends the round, but not the game. If your team got the right card, then they have the option of picking another card to continue their term.
The game continues back and forth between the teams until all of the colored tiles for one team are used up or someone hits the assassin card.
Recommendation
Codenames is a great game because there’s practically no limit to the size of the teams. It’s a game that’s simple to explain, easy to understand, fun to play, and really draws people in. It doesn’t matter if you start out with just 1 or 2 people on a team. If more people want to join the game mid-stream, it’s super simple to do.
Games go quick and you can switch the spymasters to change it up. For those that have not been spymasters, it is tougher than it looks! The game cards also make the game infinitely replayable. Plenty of double sided cards lead to unlimited rotations.
We have played the regular sized version and the Codenames XXL version and while the regular version is good if you are traveling, the Codenames XXL version is better for big groups. If you are going to buy one, I would get Codenames XXL.
Codenames Bonus!
The game feels like you are actually learning and using legitimate mental skills. Players have to work together and actually think about word associations and relations. So the kids learn while having fun, it does not get any better than that.
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Check out our review of the Sand Sea – an epic adventure by Michael McClellan.
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