How to play Codenames

What you need

• The codename word cards (you deal 25 per game)
• Key cards and the stand that holds one between the spymasters
• Agent cards: 8 red, 8 blue and 1 double agent that is red on one side and blue on the other
• 7 innocent bystander cards and 1 assassin card
• The sand timer (optional)

You need at least four people for the standard game: two teams of at least two. More players simply join a team; there is no hard upper limit, though big teams get noisy.

Set up the game

1. Split into two teams of roughly equal size and skill. Each team picks one spymaster. Everyone else is a field operative.
2. Both spymasters sit on the same side of the table. Operatives sit across from them.
3. Shuffle the codename cards, flipping half the deck now and then so the words mix well, and deal 25 face up in a 5 by 5 grid.
4. A spymaster picks a key card at random and slides it into the stand between the two spymasters. Any side up is fine. Operatives must not see it.
5. The lights around the edge of the key show which team starts. The starting team has 9 words to find; the other team has 8.
6. Put the red agent cards in front of the red spymaster and the blue ones in front of the blue spymaster. Flip the double agent to the starting team's color and add it to that team's stack. Keep the 7 bystanders and the assassin between the spymasters.

Playing Codenames

1. The spymaster gives a clue. One word, plus one number saying how many of the team's words relate to it. Example: your words include NUT and BARK, so you say "Tree, 2." The clue cannot be any codename visible on the table.
2. Operatives discuss and touch a card. They can debate as long as they like. The official guess is the card an operative touches.
3. The spymaster reveals it. Cover the word with the matching card. Your agent: you may guess again. A bystander: your turn ends. The other team's agent: your turn ends and it helps them. The assassin: your team loses immediately.
4. Number of guesses. You must make at least one guess. You can stop any time after that. The maximum is the clue's number plus one. That extra guess is for a word left over from an earlier clue.
5. Play passes. When operatives stop or guess wrong, the other spymaster gives a clue.
6. Winning. The first team with all its words covered wins. You can win on the other team's turn if they touch your last agent.

Straight face. Spymasters must not react, gesture or reach for cards while operatives think. When the touched word is your color, act as if it was exactly the word you meant, even if it wasn't.

Invalid clues. If a spymaster gives an invalid clue, the team's turn ends immediately, and the other spymaster may cover one of their own words with an agent card before giving their next clue. If nobody notices an invalid clue, it counts.

What counts as a legal clue

The rulebook separates firm rules from table decisions.

Firm rules:

• The clue must be about meaning. No clues about letters, spelling or position on the table. "Gland" for ENGLAND is out; so is "B, 3" for BUG, BED and BOW.
• Letters and numbers are fine when they point to meaning: "X, 1" for RAY or "Eight, 3" for BALL, FIGURE and OCTOPUS.
• The number you say after the clue cannot itself be a clue.
• Play in English. A foreign word is only fine if your group would use it in an English sentence ("strudel" yes, "Apfel" no).
• No form of a visible word. With BREAK on the table, "broken" and "breakdown" are out. No part of a visible compound: with HORSESHOE on the table, "horse" and "shoe" are out.
• Words spelled the same count as the same word, even with different meanings. Words that sound the same but are spelled differently are different words. You may spell your clue aloud if asked.

Your group decides: compound words like "pack rat," proper names (always valid as one word; multi-word names by agreement), common acronyms such as CIA, looser homonyms, and rhymes. If you are unsure, quietly ask the opposing spymaster. If they allow it, it is valid.

A sample round, turn by turn

Red starts with 9 words. Some of the grid: AMAZON, BED, NUT, ORANGE, BARK, COMET, MOON, SATELLITE, OCTOPUS, BALL.

Red spymaster: "Tree, 2." (Red's words include NUT and BARK.)

Red operatives talk it over and touch ORANGE first. It is a bystander. Turn over, with NUT and BARK still uncovered.

Blue spymaster: "Sky, 2." Blue's words include COMET and MOON. SATELLITE is the assassin, which is risky, but the spymaster judges "sky" points more naturally to COMET and MOON. Blue operatives touch MOON: blue agent. Then COMET: blue agent. They could take a third guess but stop, nervous about SATELLITE. Good call.

Red spymaster: "River, 3." Red touches AMAZON: red. Then BED, as in riverbed: red. Unsure of the third river word, the operative goes back to the earlier clue and picks NUT. It is red. That makes three correct guesses for a 3 clue, so Red is allowed one more. They try BARK from "Tree" and hit it. Four guesses, four agents. This exact flow is the rulebook's own example of why the plus-one guess exists.

Blue spymaster: "Tentacle, 1." Blue touches OCTOPUS, a blue agent, and stops.

After two rounds Red has 4 of 9 covered, Blue 3 of 8.

Scoring

The team game has no points: first team to cover all its agents wins, and touching the assassin is an instant loss. Many groups play several games and count wins, rotating spymasters each time. Resetting is fast: pull the cover cards off, flip the 25 word cards over and you have a fresh grid.

Two-player co-op scoring (official variant). One spymaster and one or more operatives play against a simulated opponent. Your team goes first. Each time the "enemy" takes a turn, your spymaster covers one of their words, choosing which. If you touch the assassin, or every enemy agent gets covered, you lose. If you win, your score is the number of enemy agent cards still in their stack.

Worked example: you win with 3 enemy cards left. The simulated enemy took 4 turns, so your spymaster covered 4 enemy words, and your operatives accidentally touched 1 enemy agent. Starting from 8 enemy agents: 8 − 4 − 1 = 3. The rulebook's score table gives 3 the line "Your watches are synchronized." The best possible result is 8.

Beginner strategy tips

1. Check the assassin first. Before you say anything, read your clue against the assassin word. The rulebook says so in bold for a reason.
2. Two solid words beat four shaky ones. "Tree, 2" that lands is better than a clever "Wood, 4" that hits a bystander on the second guess.
3. Test against the whole grid. A clue can fit an enemy word better than yours. "Space" might point at SATELLITE before COMET.
4. Operatives: rank before touching. Say your top pick and your second pick out loud. The spymaster cannot rescue you with a look.
5. Use the extra guess for leftovers. If an earlier clue still has an unfound word, the plus-one guess is the time to take it.
6. Stop when ahead. If your next guess is a coin flip and you are winning, end the turn.
7. Give a clue for your hardest word early. If you are stuck, the rulebook suggests clueing your hardest word and thinking about the rest while the other team plays.

Common mistakes and rule disputes

• Continuing after a bystander. Any wrong guess ends the turn immediately, even with guesses left.
• Spymaster reactions. No smiles, sighs or reaching for a card. Operatives should look at the table, not at the spymaster.
• Guessing zero times. The team must always make at least one guess.
• Taking two extra guesses. The maximum is the number plus one, never more.
• Using a visible word. Illegal until that word is covered. A clue that is invalid now may be fine later.
• Rotating the key. The key can go in either way up, but once it is in the stand, both spymasters read it the same way for the whole game.
• Invalid clue penalty disputes. The turn ends and the opposing spymaster may cover one of their own words. If nobody noticed at the time, the clue stands.
• Who wins if the opponent touches your last agent? You do, on their turn.

Variants and house rules

Official expert clues:

• Zero. "Feathers, 0" means none of our words relate to feathers. The usual limit does not apply: operatives may guess as many words as they want, still at least one.
• Unlimited. "Feathers, unlimited" lets operatives guess as many words as they like, useful when several old clues have unfound words. The downside is they do not know how many relate to the new clue.

Official small-group variants: two-player co-op (described under Scoring) and a three-player version where two spymasters share one operative who tries to do a good job for both sides.

Other official games: Codenames Duet (two-player co-op with its own rules), Codenames Pictures (image cards) and themed editions. Use their rulebooks.

House rules (not official):

• Timer for spymasters. Flip the sand timer on every clue. The rulebook suggests the timer for slow players; making it mandatory is a house rule.
• Assassin bonus. Instead of an instant loss, the guessing team loses their turn and the other team covers two words. Gentler for kids.

Teach it in 5 minutes

1. "Two teams. Each has a spymaster who can see this secret map of which words are ours, theirs, neutral, and one assassin."
2. "Spymaster says one word and a number. 'Animal, 2' means two of our words are animals."
3. "The rest of us discuss and touch a word. If it's ours, we can keep going, up to the number plus one."
4. "Wrong color or neutral ends our turn. The black assassin loses the game on the spot."
5. "Spymasters keep a poker face. No hints except the one word and number."
6. "Clues have to be about meaning, and can't be a word on the table. First team to find all its words wins."

For the first game, pick spymasters who have played before or who enjoy word puzzles. It is the harder job.

Ages and group size

Ten and up is a fair starting point. Younger players make good operatives, but being spymaster needs a big vocabulary and patience. Six to eight players is the sweet spot: three or four per team means lively discussion without chaos. Four players is fine but quieter. With ten or more, it still works, but operatives should take turns being the one who touches the card so everyone stays involved. A game runs about 15 minutes, so rotate spymasters every game.

Check yourself

Questions about this game

Sources and edition notes

CGE original word-card Codenames, classic 2015 rules, team format. Duet, Pictures and app differ.

Rules re-checked against the CGE-authored rulebook text (July 2015 edition) October 2026. This records a document check, not a claim of hands-on testing. House rules above are labeled and are not part of the official game.

• CGE: Codenames
• CGE-authored classic rulebook mirrored with full text

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