Codenames (2nd edition)

Why it's in our library

Codenames (2nd edition) sits on our families-and-adults shelf because it turns a table into two teams leaning over a grid of words, talking through what one clue might mean.

How to play

Split into a red team and a blue team, and each team picks one spymaster. Everyone else is a guesser. Set out 25 word cards in a five-by-five grid. The two spymasters sit together and share a hidden key. It shows which words are red agents, which are blue agents, which are harmless bystanders, and which one word is the assassin. The team that starts has one extra word to find.

Teams take turns. Your spymaster says exactly one word and one number. The word should link to as many of your team's words as possible, and the number says how many it links to. Clues stay fair: no gestures and no hints about where cards sit. A spymaster who is unsure about a clue can quietly ask the other spymaster.

Guessers talk it over, then touch one card at a time, and the spymaster covers it with a tile in its true color. If it is yours, you may keep going, up to one more guess than the number, which helps you pick up words missed earlier. You must guess at least once and can stop whenever you like. A bystander ends your turn. The other team's word ends your turn and goes to them. The assassin loses the game on the spot.

A team wins when all its words are covered, even if the other team uncovered the last one, or when the other team finds the assassin.

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