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Codenames

2-8 players 15-15 min 7.5 Board Game Geek Rating

In this word-based deduction game, competing spymasters give single-word clues plus numbers to help teammates identify their secret agents among 25 codename cards. Teams alternate turns guessing which cards belong to them based on cryptic hints. Correctly identifying your team's agents allows continued guessing, while wrong choices end turns. Victory comes from finding all your agents first, but selecting the hidden assassin means instant defeat.

Published 2015

Codenames

Get Ready

Setup the game with these step-by-step instructions before diving into your turn.

1
Split into teams
Organize players into 2 teams of roughly the same size, with at least two players on each team
2
Choose spymasters and operatives
Each team chooses 1 player to be their spymaster; the rest are operatives
3
Lay out word cards
Mix up the word cards, choose 25 at random, and lay them out in a 5×5 grid
4
Draw a random key card
Spymasters choose a key card randomly and slide it into the stand between them; any side can be up
5
Distribute agent tiles
Put the 8 red tiles in front of the red spymaster and the 8 blue tiles in front of the blue spymaster
6
Give the double agent to starting team
The four triangles on the edge of the key card show which team starts

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

1
Give one clue (spymaster)
Say exactly one word and one number to your team
2
Discuss the clue (operatives)
Take a moment to discuss what the clue might mean as a team
3
Make a guess (operatives)
One operative must touch one of the word cards to make a guess
4
Reveal the identity
The spymaster covers the guessed word with a tile matching the color shown on the key
5
Continue guessing on correct guess
If you guess a word in your own color, you may guess again
6
End turn on wrong guess
Your turn ends immediately if you guess an innocent bystander, the other team's word, or the assassin
7
Use unlimited clue
Instead of a number, say "unlimited" to allow operatives to guess as many times as they want while guessing correctly
8
Use zero clue
Say a word with 0 to indicate words to avoid, allowing unlimited guesses of other words

Winning

How to claim victory.

1
Cover all your team's words
When your team has no words left to guess, your team wins
2
Opponent contacts assassin
You win immediately if the other team guesses the assassin
3
Avoid the assassin
You lose immediately if your team guesses the assassin

watch & Learn

Let the pros teach you with these top videos.

?️ Codenames explicado y comparado – ¿Vale actualizar tu copia?

?️ Codenames explicado y comparado – ¿Vale actualizar tu copia?

Instructional

How to play Codenames in 3 minutes

How to play Codenames in 3 minutes

Instructional

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FULL rules

Looking for the full details? Grab the complete rulebook as a downloadable PDF.

PDF RULEBOOK

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