CODENAMES (2015)

PLAYERS	TIME	DESIGNER	PUBLISHER
2-8	15 mins	Vlaada Chvátil	Czech Games Edition

Two teams of field operatives race to uncover the secret identities of their agents based on clues given by their Spymasters.

This is done by players guessing Codenames from a 5×5 grid of words based on clues from their Spymaster, who is trying to reveal as many identities in as few turns as possible.

But with innocent bystanders and an assassin hiding out there, it’s going to be tough.

CODENAMES was a game I spotted in the early days of getting into the hobby. And like a lot of those games, I wasn’t necessarily chasing the gameplay, but more the fun experiences I’d seen on YouTube playthroughs.

And the game can be fun. But for me it falls into the same category as CARDS AGAINST HUMANITY, where a good time depends on the people you play with.

The theme of the game slowly fades away as you never really feel like spies, and there’s no real tension other than win or lose.

Most games I’ve played contain a few good early rounds where clever connections are made. But it’s not long before the Spymaster struggles to link anything and you end the game with clues for single words, round after round.

The real fun comes from overreaching your clues leading to one person sure they’ve nailed it, only for them to be completely off base.

In that respect, it reminds me of MYSTERIUM, where the ghost player sees only one logical solution, but the players take something insignificant and focus on it instead.

CODENAMES is far from a bad game. If you have that group who enjoy the more ‘party evening’ gaming, this one fits right in. Don’t take it seriously and you can end up with fantastic arguments like “how did you not connect ‘Shark’ with ‘Water’? (Guilty on that one).

CODENAMES is good for groups and families, but outstays it’s welcome and becomes samey after a few plays. Great for early collections but won’t be hanging around.