Codenames – One Word, Many Agents 🕵️🔎

A grid of words, two spymasters and a lot of "what did you mean by that?" – Codenames is a team word game for parties, families and friends.

In this party game for 4 to 8 or more players aged 10 and up, two teams race to find their agents among 25 codenames on the table. Only the spymasters know which words belong to whom. With one-word clues they guide their team – and steer away from the assassin.

🗝️ One Word, One Number

"Ocean, 3." The spymaster gives one word and a number – how many cards on the table it points to.

🤔 Think Together

The team discusses, argues and touches a card. Right guess? Keep going. Wrong? The turn ends.

💀 Avoid the Assassin

One card is the assassin. Touch it and your team loses at once.

🔄 400 Codenames

200 double-sided word cards and many key cards make every grid different.

Why You'll Love Codenames:

• 👥 Great for Groups: everybody joins one of the two teams.
• ⏱️ Quick Rounds: about 15 minutes, so you can switch spymasters.
• 🧠 Clever Clues: the big moments come from one well-chosen word. More ideas among our family games.

Quick facts

• Players: 4–8+ (rules include a variant for 2–3)
• Playing time: about 15 minutes
• Age: 10+
• Designer: Vlaada Chvátil
• Publisher: Czech Games Edition
• Edition / language: 2025 or 2015 edition – English, Slovenian or German (2015) – choose the variant; the word cards are in the edition's language

Can 2 players play? Yes – with the variant for 2–3 players in the rules.
Do you need English? For the English edition, yes – the codenames are English words.

"Animal, 2…" Split into teams, pick your spymasters and play Codenames together. 🕵️