Codenames is a 2015 board game for 4-8 players designed by Vlaada Chvátil and published by Czech Games. Two teams compete by each having a Spymaster give one word clues which can point to multiple words on the board. The other players on the team attempt to guess their team's words while avoiding the words of the other team. In the 2-3 player variant, one Spymaster gives clues to the other player or players.
In 2016 Codenames won the Spiel des Jahres award for the best board game of the year.
Video Codenames (board game)
Rules
Codenames is a game of guessing which code names (words) in a set are related to a hint-word given by another player.
Players split into two teams: red and blue. One player of each team is selected as the team's spymaster; the others are field operatives.
Twenty-five code name cards, each bearing a word, are laid out in a 5×5 rectangular grid, in random order. A number of these words represent red agents, a number represent blue agents, one represents an assassin, and the others represent innocent bystanders.
The teams' spymasters are given a randomly-dealt map card showing a 5×5 grid of 25 squares of various colors, each corresponding to one of the code name cards on the table. Teams take turns. On each turn, the appropriate spymaster gives a verbal hint about the words on the respective cards. Each hint may only consist of one single word and a number. The spymaster gives a hint that is related to as many of the words on his/her own agents' cards as possible, but not to any others - lest they accidentally lead their team to choose a card representing an innocent bystander, an opposing agent, or the assassin.
The hint's word can be chosen freely, as long as it is not (and does not contain) any of the words on the code name cards still showing at that time. Code name cards are covered as guesses are made.
The hint's number tells the field operatives how many words in the grid are related to the word of the clue. It also determines the maximum number of guesses the field operatives may make on that turn, which is the hint's number plus one. Field operatives must make at least one guess per turn, risking a wrong guess and its consequences. They may also end their turn voluntarily at any point thereafter.
After a spymaster gives the hint with its word and number, their field operatives make guesses about which code name cards bear words related to the hint and point them out, one at a time. When a code name card is pointed out, the spymaster covers that card with an appropriate identity card - a blue agent card, a red agent card, an innocent bystander card, or the assassin card - as indicated on the spymasters' map of the grid. If the assassin is pointed out, the game ends immediately, with the team who identified him losing. If an agent of the other team is pointed out, the turn ends immediately, and that other team is also one agent closer to winning. If an innocent bystander is pointed out, the turn simply ends.
The game ends when all of one team's agents are identified (winning the game for that team), or when one team has identified the assassin (losing the game).
Maps Codenames (board game)
Sequels
Codenames: Pictures was released in September 2016, using images on the cards instead of words. The game uses a grid of 20 cards instead of 25, but otherwise has the same rules as the original.
Codenames: Deep Undercover was released in 2016 exclusively at Target Stores. The game's 200 new cards consisted of sexual references and double entendres, earning it a parental advisory sticker.
Codenames: Duet was released in 2017 as a two player, cooperative version of the base game with 400 all new word cards.
Codenames: Marvel Edition was released in 2017, featuring characters including Spider-Man, Dr. Strange, and others in the Marvel Universe.
Codenames: Disney Family Edition was released in 2017, and featured characters and locations from Disney and Pixar films.
Success
The game reached the 17th (out of more than 84000) position in the BoardGameGeek ranking of games of all time, and first position in the BGG party games ranking.
It won the 2016 Spiel des Jahres (Game of the year), the most prestigious game award worldwide.
Codenames Duet won a Golden Geek award for the best two player game of 2017.
It has been published in 28 languages (Bulgarian, Catalan, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Filipino, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, bokmål Norwegian, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Spanish and Swedish), comprising five different alphabets.
References
External links
- Official game website at Czech Games
- 5:27 Rules Overview video, linked from Official game website, on Youtube.com
- Codenames at BoardGameGeek
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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