CODENAMES won the coveted WORLD’S BEST BOARDGAME of the YEAR in 2016 and is a very deserving title. Simple in concept and play, challenging for all ages and FUN! Playable by two persons up to numerous players as teams. CODENAMES is a game for all!
Simple in setting up in that there is a grid with a number of rows and a number of columns, with each spot filled with a word or in some versions a picture. So there could be 25 words in a 5 by 5 grid or 20 pictures in a 5 by 4 grid.
Simple in play in that, there is then a grid card that shows what words/pictures belong to each team or neither and the location of the dreaded “SPY” word/picture in which if your team guess that location – you or your team loses automatically.
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One person is the clue giver and other ones on their team are the guessers. The clue giver can only give a ONE WORD clue and then the number of words that the clue applies. Simple YES? What if the words on your side are WHALE, BERRY, and CHEESE, what clue would you give? Would you say – BLUE – THREE? Do you think your team could get those three with that one word clue? But wait –what if there were other words out there that were not your teams’ like SKY and with the dreaded SPY under the word SAD. All of those words also could work with your Codename BLUE as well, did you think of those? What clue would you give instead to get your team to just guess YOUR words and not the others? When one side gets all their words guessed before the other – WE HAVE A WINNER! Flip the cards over to ones on the other side – draw a new grid card and you are ready to play again!
Editions with pictures instead of Words add more fun and are usually better for the younger ages that might have yet developed a larger vocabulary. Do you know all your DISNEY VILLIANS or MARVEL HEROES?
The play does not last very long and keeps everyone engaged the entire time.
CODENAMES is a wonderful game. There are numerous editions available at many locations, covering many subjects with more to come. – CODENAMES – our one word clue is FUN!!!