|
Quantity
|
Out of stock
|
||
|
|
|||
A spy’s life is tough! And working as a whole team is even trickier. What will your team’s spy career look like? Find out in the board game “Codenames”!
About the Board Game Codenames: Word Game
At the start, 25 cards are laid out in a 5x5 grid before the players. These double-sided cards feature a wild variety of words—often ones with multiple meanings. Each team (at least two players per side) picks a captain, the only one who sees which code words belong to their team and which belong to the rivals.
Either way, the game pits two teams—red and blue—against each other. But there’s also a killer word on the field; point to it, and your team instantly loses, deemed “eliminated.” Not exactly the mark of a pro spy, right?
Gameplay
Listen closely to your captain, who gives just one clue to steer you and your teammates toward the right words! Be cautious: rival words often closely resemble your team’s secret agents—don’t let them throw you off! Discuss, decide step-by-step, and be the first to activate all your secret agents on the board!
Sounds Super Complicated and Ultra-Secretive!
In reality, it’s just 20 minutes of playtime! Picture this: a 5x5 grid of words. Team captains know which words are yours—say, “house,” “earth,” “sun,” “horse,” “ring,” “snow,” and “Mars.” The captain clues their team: “Space, 3.” That means three words on the grid tie to “space.” The team must guess it’s “earth,” “sun,” and “Mars” from the list.
Actually, It’s Pretty Simple!
Not quite! Beyond your words, there are neutral words, the rival team’s words, and one “black word”—the killer word—that might also fit your captain’s clue. Take “satellite,” for example. Some might think of TV, while others link it to space first. The fun lies in ruling out words less tied to the captain’s hint.
What Happens If We Pick the Killer Word by Mistake?
Your team’s instantly out—the fastest way to end a “Codenames” game! Every wrong guess also passes the turn to the other team, even if you hit a neutral word. Guess a rival’s word, and you hand them a chance to surge ahead in this spy showdown! Key detail: the team going first has one extra agent (one more word out of the 25) to balance things out—meaning one team always has 8 agents, the other 7. Victory goes to whoever fully activates their spy squad first!
In “Codenames,” both captains and teams need sharp wits to craft and crack clues, relying on intuition and logic. With 200 double-sided cards and 40 captain clue cards, every game is totally unique. And don’t forget: in 2016, “Codenames” was crowned the world’s best party game and still holds top ranks—backed by global ratings and thousands of board game fans who’ve played their share of tabletops!