rules overview video
SETUP Players split up into two teams of similar size and skill. You need at least four players (two teams of two) for a standard game. Variants for two or three players can be found on the back page. field operatives Each team chooses one player to be their spymaster. Both spymasters sit on the same side of the table. The other players sit across from their spymasters. They are field operatives. Randomly choose 25 codenames and place them on the table in a 5-by-5 grid.
STARTING TEAM The four lights around the edge of the key card indicate which team starts. The starting team has 9 words to guess. The other team has 8. The starting team will give the first clue of the game. AGENT CARDS 8 red agents 8 blue agents The red agent cards go in a stack in front of the red spymaster. The blue agent cards should be in front of the blue spymaster. This helps everyone remember which team they are on. 1 double agent The double agent belongs to whichever team starts.
GAME PLAY Teams take turns. The starting team is indicated by the 4 lights on the edges of the key card. GIVING A CLUE If you are the spymaster, you are trying to think of a one-word clue that relates to some of the words your team is trying to guess. When you think you have a good clue, you say it. You also say one number, which tells your teammates how many codenames are related to your clue. Example: Two of your words are NUT and BARK. Both of these grow on trees, so you say tree: 2.
PENALTY FOR INVALID CLUES If a spymaster gives an invalid clue, the team's turn ends immediately. As an additional penalty, the other team's spymaster may cover one of his or her words with an agent card before giving the next clue. She's not sure of the third river word. She picks NUT. This has nothing to do with river. She is guessing a word from the previous clue. NUT is a red word. The operative has made 3 correct guesses for the clue river: 3. She is allowed one final guess.
VALID CLUES We playtested various rules. Some groups like the rules one way. Some like the rules another way. You should experiment to find out what your group likes. FIRM RULES HOMONYMS & SPELLING Some clues are invalid because they violate the spirit of the game. English has a lot of homonyms. For example, night sounds like knight, but these two words don't mean the same thing. Your clue must be about the meaning of the words.
FLEXIBLE RULES Acronyms and Abbreviations Sometimes you have to make judgment calls about what is valid and what is not. Different groups may prefer to play the game differently. Technically, CIA is not one word. But it is a great clue. You can decide to allow common abbreviations like UK, lol, and PhD. And words like laser, radar, and sonar are always allowed, even though they originated as acronyms. Compound Words English has three ways to write a compound word. Greenhouse is one word.
TWO-PLAYER GAME If there are only two of you, you can play on the same team. This two-player variant also works for larger groups of people who don't feel like competing against each other. You will try to get a high score against a simulated opponent. Set up the game as usual. One player will be the spymaster and the rest will be field operatives. The other team has no players, but you still need their stack of agent cards.
