How to Play Codenames: Rules, 2 Players and a Version Without the Box

The rules

Players: 4 or more is the standard game, best with 6 to 8. Time: about 15 to 25 minutes. Needs: 25 word cards, a key that shows which cards belong to which team, and a way to cover cards that have been picked.

This guide explains the rules most people mean when they search for how to play Codenames. Details like the exact card counts or timers may differ by edition, so check the rulebook in your box if you have one.

1. Make two teams. Red and blue. Each team picks one spymaster. Everyone else is a field operative (a guesser).
2. Lay out the grid. Place 25 word cards face up in a 5 by 5 grid.
3. The key. A secret key shows which words belong to red, which to blue, which are neutral bystanders, and which one is the assassin. Only the two spymasters see it. The team that goes first has one extra word to find, which is shown on the key.
4. Give a clue. On your team’s turn, the spymaster says one word and one number. The word links some of your team’s words on the grid, and the number says how many. Example: “Water, 3.”
5. Guess. Teammates discuss and point at a card. The spymaster covers it:
   • Your team’s colour: correct. You may keep guessing.
   • A bystander: your turn ends.
   • The other team’s colour: your turn ends, and it helps them.
   • The assassin: your team loses at once.
6. How many guesses. You may guess up to the number plus one. You can stop earlier whenever you like. You must make at least one guess.
7. Rules for clues. One word only. No part of a word that is on the grid. No gestures, rhymes or extra hints. The number is the only extra signal.
8. Win. The first team to find all their words wins. Or the other team hits the assassin.

A sample turn

The grid includes the words Ocean, Ship, Tooth, Moon, Piano, Key, Crown, Bat, Spy. Your team’s words include Ocean, Ship and Moon, and the enemy words are elsewhere on the grid. Your spymaster says “Tide, 3”.

The team discusses. Ocean and Moon both link to tide, and Ship does too. They guess Ocean, Moon, Ship. All three are correct. They can guess a fourth if they are sure about an earlier clue, but they stop, because a wrong guess is costly.

The skill is in the clue. If “Moon” were an enemy word, “Tide” would be risky, because your team might guess it. A good spymaster checks every clue against the other team’s words and the assassin before saying it.

Playing Codenames with 2 players

The standard game needs teams, so two people have three options:

• Buy the two-player version. The publisher sells a separate co-op version for two. Check the box before buying, because the rules differ from the team game.
• Co-op with a paper grid. One person is the spymaster and the other is the guesser, working together against a limit of turns, for example 9. The spymaster knows which 9 words are “yours” and which 3 are traps. Count how many turns it takes to find all 9. Swap roles and try to beat your score.
• Head to head. Mark 8 words for each player on a secret key, plus a few neutral words and one assassin. You take turns giving clues for your own words, but your opponent guesses them. First to have all 8 found wins. It plays differently from the real game, so treat it as a house version.

For other two-player ideas see games to play on a date.

3 ways to play

1. Buy the official game

Codenames is a trademark of its publisher, and the board game is sold in most game shops and online. The box has the word cards, key cards and a card holder for the grid. If your group will play more than once, it is worth getting a copy. There are also themed and picture versions. Duoo is not affiliated with Codenames.

2. Make a Codenames-style game with paper

You need 25 slips, a pen, and two people who can write a key.

1. Write one word on each of 25 slips. Use nouns that have more than one meaning (bat, bark, spring, crane). A pictionary word generator can give you words fast.
2. Lay the slips in a 5 by 5 grid.
3. On a separate piece of paper, draw a 5 by 5 grid of boxes to match. Mark 9 for the starting team, 8 for the other team, 7 neutral, and 1 assassin. Use letters or colours.
4. Make a copy of this key for the second spymaster, or let the spymasters share a screen they hide from the group.
5. To mark picked words, flip the slip over or place a coin on it. Mark the colour on the back if you want a clean record.
6. Use a phone as a timer if you want turns limited to a minute or two. Use the team generator to split into groups.

That is the whole Codenames-style setup. The only thing the box adds is convenience.

3. Use a phone

You can play a Codenames-style word game on a phone with a free word-grid site or app, with one device for the grid and a second for the key. Check the rules of the one you pick. Duoo does not have a Codenames game. If you like the one-word-clue idea, our Taboo guide covers a related clue-giving game, and the Imposter game is a one-phone game built on single-word clues.

Variations

With 3 players. One team has a spymaster and a guesser. The other team is just a spymaster who plays against the clock. Or one person is the spymaster for both teams, and the two others guess for their sides.

Large groups. Make three or four teams, give every team a different colour, and give each team fewer words to find. Or run two grids at once.

Picture grids. Swap the words for pictures or emoji, and use one-word clues for those.

Themed words. Fill the grid with one topic: foods, movies, places. Clues get harder.

No numbers. A hard mode where the spymaster gives only a word and the team decides how many guesses to make.

Timed turns. Put a one-minute limit on discussion so the game stays brisk.

Tips

• If you are the spymaster, say each clue in your head against every non-team word on the grid before you give it.
• A small, safe clue for two words is better than a risky clue for four.
• If your team is behind, take a bigger risk. If you are ahead, play safe.
• As a guesser, keep a list of words your spymaster has linked before. They often use the same pairs.
• Avoid clues that rhyme, sound like or spell like a word on the grid, even if it is allowed. It leads to arguments.

More to read

More games with secret roles: how to play Spyfall and how to play the Imposter game. For a game with no equipment, see how to play Two Truths and a Lie, and for a bigger list try party games for adults.