BoardGamesBot

What are these weird symbols? They mark locations
where operatives can meet with secret agents.
Only the spymasters know who is hiding where.
YOU CAN
LEARN TO PLAY
FROM THE
VIDEO!
www.cge.as/cnp-htp www.codenamesgame.com

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SPLIT INTO 2 TEAMS.
Organize players into 2 teams of roughly the same
size, with at least two players on each team.
CHOOSE SPYMASTERS AND OPERATIVES.
Each team chooses 1 player to be their spymaster.
The rest are operatives. The orange and purple
spymasters sit on the same side of the table, opposite
their own operatives.
LAY OUT 20 RANDOM PICTURES.
Mix up the picture cards, choose 20 at random, and
lay them out in a 5×4 grid. All cards should be oriented
the same way. Choose the orientation that best fits
your group of players.
SPYMASTERS DRAW A RANDOM KEY CARD.
Each game has one key that shows which pictures
belong to which team. The spymasters choose the
key randomly and slide it into the stand between
them, oriented the same as the 5×4 grid of pictures.
SPYMASTERS TAKE THE TILES.
Put the 7 orange tiles in front of the orange
spymaster and the 7 purple tiles in front of
the purple spymaster. The 4 bystanders and
1 assassin go in between.
GIVE THE DOUBLE AGENT TO THE STARTING TEAM.
The triangles on the top and bottom of
the key card show which team starts.
The starting team has 1 additional
picture to guess, so they get the double
agent tile. Flip it to their color and add
it to their tiles.
SETUP
ORANGE
SPYMASTER
ORANGE OPERATIVES
20 picture cards
(from a deck of 140)
7 orange agents
4 innocent
bystanders
1 double
agent
FLIP

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ONLY SPYMASTERS SEE THE KEY!
The key card shows the secret
identities of the 20 pictures.
The ladybeetle is purple.
The ape with a helmet is orange.
The singing parrot is the assassin.
The sphinx is an innocent bystander.
PURPLE
SPYMASTER
PURPLE OPERATIVES
1 key card
(from a deck of 60)
4 innocent
bystanders
1 assassin
7 purple agents

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Teams take turns, beginning with the team
indicated by the triangles on the key card.
Keep taking turns until one team wins.
ON YOUR TURN
HOW TO PLAY
In our example, the operatives’ first guess is correct, so
they may guess again. They then guess the ape with a
helmet instead of Stegaroo. The key says that card is
also orange. The spymaster must act as though it was
the second picture intended by the clue.
The word must be related to the
pictures you want to give a clue for.
The number tells how many pictures
your clue relates to.
THE SPYMASTER GIVES ONE CLUE.
If you are the spymaster, you start by trying to find
a clue for one or more pictures in your team’s color.
More is better.
Your clue must be 1 word and 1 number:
A good clue for the evolving
apemen and Stegaroo might be
evolution: 2.
In this example,
orange goes first.
THE OPERATIVES MAY MAKE MULTIPLE GUESSES.
The operatives should take a moment to discuss the
clue. (Or, take a moment to think, if you are the only
operative.) Then, one of the operatives must make a
guess by touching one of the cards.
The spymaster covers the picture with a tile matching
the color shown on the key.
If you guess a picture in your own color, you may
guess again. (You get another guess, not another
clue.)
evolution: 2
2
1

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YOU CHOOSE TO END YOUR TURN.
If your turn does not end with a wrong
guess, you can end it voluntarily. For
example, if you are given the clue
glass: 3 , you want to find 3 pictures
related to glass and then end your turn.
Or, if you find only 2 good pictures for
glass and guessing a third seems too
risky, you can end your turn after 2 – or
even 1. You are required to make at least
1 guess.
YOU USE THE “PLUS ONE” RULE.
As long as the operatives keep guessing
pictures of their own color, they are allowed
to guess one more card than the number
specified by the clue. So for glass: 3 , the
operatives can make up to 4 guesses.
You do not need this extra guess on your first
turn. Later, however, you may need to use the
“plus one” rule to guess a picture you missed
from a previous turn’s clue.
→ When your team has no pictures left to guess, your team wins. Often, you will win by
guessing your last picture. But you can also win if the other team guesses your last picture on
their turn.
→ You also win if the other team guesses the assassin.
YOU NOW KNOW THE RULES. GO PLAY!
IF YOU KEEP GUESSING RIGHT, YOU CAN GUESS UNTIL …
WHEN YOUR TURN ENDS, IT IS THE OTHER TEAM'S TURN.
Keep taking turns until one team wins.
OR
A WRONG GUESS ENDS YOUR TURN.
Three things can go wrong:
WINNING
My turn!
If you guess an innocent
bystander, your turn
ends.
If you guess the other team’s
picture, your turn ends, and you
have helped the other team!
If you guess the assassin,
you immediately lose the
game!

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KEEP A STRAIGHT FACE
Spymasters are expected to give away no more information than one word and one number. Do
not preface your clue with additional comments. “I don’t know if you will get this” is a fact that
goes without saying. And “I don’t know if you will get this unless you’ve read The Hobbit” reveals
way too much.
Spymasters must not appear to be focusing on one picture, and they certainly must not touch
any picture cards once they have seen the key.
Keep a straight face while your operatives are guessing, and do not reach for any agent tile until
they make their guess official by touching a card. If they guess a picture in your color, you must
act as though it is the picture you meant even if it isn’t.
Operatives should focus on the table when making guesses. Do not make eye contact with the
spymaster. This will help you avoid nonverbal cues.
Your clue should be one word, no hyphens,
no spaces. If you don’t know whether
your clue is one word, ask the opposing
spymaster. If the opposing spymaster
allows it, the clue is valid.
In Codenames: Pictures, all word play is
allowed. So you can use knight to lead your
teammates to a picture with a moon and a
picture with a guy in armor. But that doesn’t
mean they will get it.
You are allowed to spell your clue. This is
helpful when you want your teammates to
think k-n-i-g-h-t and not n-i-g-h-t, or when
players have very different accents.
You must spell out your clue if someone
asks. In this example, that means you must
spell either k-n-i-g-h-t or n-i-g-h-t and not
reveal that you are trying to use both words.
Your clue must be about the pictures, not
about the patterns that cards make on the
table or the letters in certain words or the
shading of the pictures. Dark: 2 is not a valid
clue for the two darkest pictures. However,
it is a valid clue for things associated with
night, shadows, or darkness.
Singing, funny accents, and foreign words
are generally not allowed. Your group can
decide they are okay, but remember that
using a French accent to give a clue for the
Eiffel Tower is only clever once.
Your group may agree to relax the one-
word restriction. Maybe you would like to
allow multiple-word names (James Bond,
New Zealand) or abbreviations (FIFA,
FBI) or even common compound words
(merry-go-round, scuba diver).
Your group may agree to add more
restrictions to make the game more
challenging. For example, you may agree
to not talk about the shapes of the pictures
(circle: 3 or rectangular: 2).
Tip: Giving a clue for one picture can be
trivially simple, because you can just name
something depicted on the card. To spice
things up, try a more creative clue that
makes your operatives think a bit. But don’t
overdo it. You’re just trying to amuse them,
not to make them guess wrong and lose the
game.
VALID CLUES

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UNLIMITED CLUE
Instead of a number,
you can say your clue
is unlimited. For example, tiny: unlimited.
This allows your operatives to make as many
guesses as they want, as long as they keep
guessing right.
Operatives do not know how many pictures
were intended by the unlimited clue, but
sometimes they can figure it out. If you have
3 pictures left, a clue for 2 or 3 is enough to
guess them all. So, in this case, tiny: unlimited
probably means “guess 1 picture for tiny and
2 pictures from previous clues.”
ZERO CLUE
A clue like reptiles: 0
also allows unlimited
guesses. (Ignore the “plus one” rule.)
The clue means “Don’t guess the picture (or
pictures) related to reptiles.” So if you see a
snake and a dinosaur, don’t guess them.
Next ask “Why not?” Well, if you see other
animals on the board, maybe your spymaster
wants you to guess all the animals that aren’t
reptiles. Or, if it is late in the game, maybe
you can win by guessing every card except
the snake and the dinosaur.
EXPERT RULES
tiny: ∞ reptiles: 0
Special thanks to: everyone who
sparked and shared their creative
ideas for the pictures – whether it
was the artists, CGE teammates, or
my kids. And to all the players around
the world who’ve been enjoying
Codenames for years – your love for
the game gives our work meaning.
Copyright © 2018–2025
Czech Games Edition s.  r. o.
www.czechgames.com
A game by Vlaada Chvátil
Head Illustrator: Tomáš Kučerovský
Illustrators: Dávid Jablonovský, Jana Kilianová,
Martin “Skam” Krejčí, Michal Suchánek,
David Cochard, Filip Neduk
Graphic Design: Michaela Zaoralová,
Radek “RBX” Boxan, Štěpán Drašťák,
Tibor Vizi
3D Assets: Roman Bednář
Co-developer: Alča Chvátilová
Rulebook: Jason A. Holt
Thanks to: Tomáš Uhlíř
Production: Vít Vodička
Project Management: Lea Červeňanská
Project Supervision: Petr Murmak
CODENAMES PICTURES
• Generate new key cards for easy setup.
• Use optional turn timer to keep the pace.
• Download and use for free!
CODENAMES
COMPANION
Enhance your board game sessions!

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Spymasters must keep a straight face. When the operatives discuss your clue, do not react to their
misguided ideas. Do not reach for any tile until they have touched one of the picture cards. If they guess
right by accident, act like that was what you intended all along.
Operatives must not look for spymaster reactions. We recommend focusing on the cards and avoiding
eye contact with your spymaster.
The operatives can guess pictures from a previous turn’s clue, even with their first guess of the turn.
They are also allowed to guess randomly, but they probably shouldn’t.
The spymaster must not tell operatives they are missing pictures from a previous clue. You can’t
even mention previous clues, unless you are asked to repeat them.
The operatives can end their turn early, without guessing all the pictures specified by the clue. However,
they are required to make at least one guess.
REMINDERS AND TIPS
Learn more at
www.codenamesgame.com
COMBINE WITH DUET
For a 2-player cooperative game,
get Codenames: Duet.
Use cards from this game to make
a 5×5 grid of pictures.
Play the game like Duet
with Duet agents and a
Duet key card.
COMBINE WITH CODENAMES
You can play with words and pictures!
Lay out the cards in a checkerboard
pattern.
For a 5×4 grid, use key cards and
agent tiles from Codenames: Pictures.
For a 5×5 grid, use key cards and agent tiles
from Codenames.
Finding enough players for a game of Codenames isn’t always
easy. But now you can play whenever you want with the
Codenames app.
Designed and built by CGE, the app comes packed with features:
○ Explore intriguing new game modes.
○ Collect fun and quirky word cards from categories like fantasy,
history, movies, and travel.
○ Take on daily challenges and prove you are the ultimate secret
agent.
○ Play with strangers. Play with friends. Play anywhere,
whenever you want.
Even when you have only 5 minutes free, the Codenames app is
ready to bring you a game of clever clues and bold guesses. Find out more at: cge.as/cnapp
CODENAMES APP
4.9 ★★★★★

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