If you are new to Codenames, please at the least read the Quick and Dirty rules and the Field Operative rules. (Feel free to read the full rules too though).
If you are going to be a spymaster then you MUST have read the Legal/Illegal clues and the Spymaster rules.
Please note, if you're not in the current game, you must not comment on the game. You may PM me if you have any issues. (You can however post to say that you wish to /in for either the Field Op or Spymaster queue)
Spoiler: RULES
Official Rules:
Field Operative Rules:
- The game will be played to the rules listed here. (The rules are also known to be available in many other languages if you feel more comfortable reading them in one of those—click here, then click on the flag associated with the other language. Just be aware that the game will be played in English.) The rest of these rules are additions and clarifications by me only.
- Too lazy to read? Here's a quick video: https://youtu.be/zQVHkl8oQEU
- Players are split into 2 teams, each team will have a Spymaster and everyone else will be Field Operatives.
- Spymasters are given a grid of 25 words, some words will be Red, some Blue and 1 Bold for the Assassin. Everyone else is given a plain grid of the same words but not coloured in.
- It is the task of the Spymasters to provide clues that link together their teams words for the Field Operatives to guess.
- Spymasters have a list of rules they must follow for what clues are and aren't legal, this can all be found in the booklet.
- The Spymasters will take turns giving a single word and a number, the word is the clue and the number says how many words the clue is related to.
- Upon receiving the clue Field Operatives will discuss what words from the grid they believe are related to the word given.
- They may then start guessing words and the Spymasters will say whether the guess is right or wrong and colour the grid accordingly.
- If the Field Operatives guess the wrong word then turn automatically passes to the other teams Spymaster to provide a clue. Field Operatives may also pass at anytime if they don't want to guess any further words.
- The maximum number of guesses the Field Operatives may make depends on the number given with the clue. You may make 1 extra guess past the number given (ie if the clue is: WORD-3, the Field Operatives may make 4 guesses)
- The purpose of being able to guess 1 extra word is if you're missing words from previous clues, you can pick them up here
- If your team has fallen quite far behind then the Spymaster can provide 2 types of special clues:
1) The Infinite clue, this clue allows your team to make as many guesses as they wish, but you don't know how many are related to the word given in this clue (although at least 1 word is going to be related)
2) The 0 clue, again this clue allows your team to make as many guesses as they wish, but none of the teams words are related to the clue given (this can be used to try to push your team away from bad words)
- The game ends either when 1 team guesses all of their words (in which case they win) or if 1 team guesses the Assassin word (in which case they lose)
Field Operative Rules:
- Guesses must be bolded and/or preceded by the word "GUESS" on a new line to count. (If you wish to pass instead of guessing, the word "pass" must be bolded or by itself on a new line.)
- You can guess more than one codename at a time if you wish so long as they're in the order you want me to process them. For example, if you put GUESS: ALPHA, BETA, GAMMA, and ALPHA is one of your agents but BETA isn't, I can't tell you anything about GAMMA (unless BETA costs you the game).
- Field operatives must make their first guess within 48 hours (2 days) of receiving a clue and then any subsequent guesses within 48 hours of being told if their previous guess was correct (This 48 hours is reset after each guess). After this time, the opposing spymaster may force a pass by submitting their next clue. If a guess is made after the elapsed time but before the opposing spymaster posts a clue then the guess will be valid.
- Field operatives may discuss clues with each other if they so wish, but they must do so in thread—getting help from outside the thread (for example, searching on Google) is not allowed, nor is help permitted from anyone not participating in the current game. (As a matter of fact, when in doubt, you should treat the currently ongoing match like you would a Mafia game.) Further, spymasters are not allowed to give their field operatives any further help than their clues. However, discussion of strategy is permitted in between games (as well as prior to the first game) by anyone regardless of whether they played the last game or intend to play the next one.
- You may not discuss past clues whilst waiting for your spymaster to give a new clue.
- A field operative may post outside of their turn, as long as they make it clear by using an easily-noticed shade of green for their text.
- On the key cards sent to the spymasters as well as in the thread reveal, red and blue codenames indicate that color team's agents, bolded gray indicates the assassin. (Innocent bystanders have no color formatting, but in the reveal, they will be stricken out to distinguish them from codenames not guessed yet.) The locations of each team's agents as well as that of the assassin is random, and the key may or may not correspond to a key card in the actual board game—this is partly because I don't have a physical copy of the game and partly to make it harder for more experienced players of the game.
- Spymasters are not permitted to post in the thread except to give clues or respond to guesses.
- When submitting a clue it should be in the format CLUE - NUMBER. (Remember you can use expert clues using 0 or Infinite as the number)
- You are expected to have read through the Official Rules booklet and know what clues are legal and what aren't (keep in mind that the flexible rules on page 7 are not in play)
- If you feel like a clue might not be 100% legal, you may message the other spymaster and ask for their approval, if they approve then it is a legal clue in any case. If they disapprove but you still think it should be legal, you may message me and I'll make a final ruling on it.
- If you post a clue that is later deemed illegal then turn automatically passes to the other team. The other spymaster also gets to cover up one of their teams words. I will always make a final ruling on this! Opposing spymasters should wait for my approval before covering up a word.
- Your clue MUST be about the meaning of the word
- You can't use your clue to talk about the letters in a word or its position on the table. Gland is not a valid clue for ENGLAND. You can't tie BUG, BED, and BOW together with a clue like b: 3 nor with a clue like three: 3
- Letters and numbers are valid clues as long as they still refer to the meaning (ie: X:1 is legal for "Ray" or eight:3 is legal for "Octopus", "Figure" and "Ball".)
- The number you say can't be part of the clue (ie you can't use citrus:8 to code "Lemon" and "Octopus".)
- You must play in English and use words found in the English Dictionary.
- You can't give clues based on it having different meanings in other languages (ie: Fart:1 is illegal for "Speed" because it translates to Speed in norwegian)
- You can't give clues based on the letters in that word (ie: Hoe:1 is illegal for "Shoe")
- You can't give the same word in another tense (ie you can't use "Broken" for "Break")
- You can't use your clue to talk about the letters in a word or its position on the table. Gland is not a valid clue for ENGLAND. You can't tie BUG, BED, and BOW together with a clue like b: 3 nor with a clue like three: 3
- Homonyms and Spelling
- Same sounding words with different meanings are considered different words (ie you can't use the word "Night" to clue about stuff relating to Knights)
- Words that are spelled the same are valid even if they're pronounced different (ie: Bow:2 is legal for "Theatre and "Arrow")
- Same sounding words with different meanings are considered different words (ie you can't use the word "Night" to clue about stuff relating to Knights)
- Flexible clues (Not in play unless decided pre-game)
- Compound Words: You can't use stuff like: "Rat Pack" or "Mother-In-Law" as these are technically multiple words.
- Proper Nouns/Names: You can use single word nouns such as "George" for "President" or "China" for country but you can't specify such as "George Bush" for "Iraq"
- Acronyms and Abbreviations: You can't use stuff like "CIA", "UK", "lol". You can use stuff like "Laser", "Radar" and "Sonar"
- Rhymes: "Snail" is a valid clue for "Mail" (As it's a saying), it is a valid clue for "Whale" (As they're both animals), but it's not a valid clue for "Scale" because their only association is through rhyme.
- Compound Words: You can't use stuff like: "Rat Pack" or "Mother-In-Law" as these are technically multiple words.
- By default, the flexible rules described on page 7 are not in play. (Both expert clue rules are guaranteed to be in play, however.)
- Any player or spymaster may call out either an illegal clue or a rule break, to do so please put in bold PAUSE GAME and say why you paused the game. At this point nobody should discuss clues or anything. Please then ping me on discord and I'll come and resolve the issue. If you're unsure please pause the game anyway and I'll happily intervene. For illegal clues the opposing spymaster always has the choice to allow the game to carry on.
- If you're not playing, you must not call out any illegal clues, it is down to the players themselves. You also must not talk in the thread, even making jokes as this could influence the current players.
- All players may send prods/reminders to anyone on their team. You can only prod each player once per round and when you do so you must post in the thread that you have done it to avoid multiple prods. A prod must consist of the phrase: "It's our teams turn" and nothing else. If a player hasn't checked in then the game should still continue and the other players should guess words instead.
- It is not my responsibility to prod your players, I will not interfere with an ongoing game unless it is a rules clarification.
- If you wish for a rule to be changed, please PM me and I'll bring it up as a topic of discussion between games. Rules will not change during a game.
- I'm willing to let you pick teammates and even whether you want to be red or blue; just post something to that effect. If you have no preference what team you're on or what team color you get, it will be chosen at random for you.
- If you wish to be the spymaster please put /in as spymaster and you'll be added to the queue. Please note that there may be a couple of games played before yours. You are welcome to be a player in said games whilst you wait.
- You may join the Field Operator or Spymastering queue at anytime (And even both at the same time). However if you do so in the middle of a game, please drop me a PM to make sure I saw it. You cannot join a game in progress unless you're replacing another player.
Spoiler: GAME HISTORY
The team listed first is the first team; the team member listed first on each team is the spymaster. The bold team are the winners.
Game 1: vs.
Game 2:
Game 3: vs.
Game 4: vs.
Game 5: vs.
Game 6:
Game 7:
Game 8: vs.
Game 9:
Game 10:
Game 11:
Game 12:
Game 13:
Game 14: vs.
Game 15:
Game 16:
Game 17: vs.
Game 18: vs.
Game 19: vs.
Game 20: vs.
Game 21:
Game 22: vs.
Game 23:
Game 24:
Game 25:
Game 26:
Game 27:
Game 28:
Game 29:
Game 30:
Game 31:
Game 32: vs.
Game 33:
Game 34: vs.
Game 35: vs.
Game 36: vs.
Game 37:
Game 38:
Game 39:
Game 40: vs.
Game 41: vs.
Game 42:
Game 43:
Game 44: vs.
Game 45:
Game 46:
Game 47:
Game 48: vs.
Game 49:
Game 50:
Game 51: vs.
Game 52:
Game 1:
VashtaNeurotic, Adorabebs, mallowgeno, Charles510
Vijarada, McMenno, Formerfish, CreativeMod1
Game 2:
Formerfish, Felissan, xofelf, 2 718281828459
vs. Charles510, James Brafin, Adorabebs, Flicker
Game 3:
Inferno390, Charles510, xofelf
James Brafin, randomidget, Formerfish
Game 4:
Felissan, Mewtaph, xofelf
Flicker, Charles510, Inferno390
Game 5:
Charles510, Inferno390, Agent Sparkles, Mewtaph
xofelf, Formerfish, Felissan, Flicker
Game 6:
the worst, Inferno390, Formerfish, xofelf
vs. Agent Sparkles, Egix96, Panzerjager, Allomancer
Game 7:
Inferno390, Felissan, the worst, xofelf
vs. Allomancer, Charles510, Panzerjager, Agent Sparkles
Game 8:
Felissan, Gammagooey, Allomancer, Panzerjager
Agent Sparkles, Formerfish, xofelf, Charles510
Game 9:
Allomancer, Felissan, Charles510, Panzerjager
vs. Gammagooey, the worst, Inferno390, Formerfish
Game 10:
Panzerjager, BuJaber, Reundo, Chemist1422
vs. the worst, Flicker, Felissan, Formerfish
Game 11:
Allomancer, Chemist1422, BuJaber, Reundo
vs. VashtaNeurotic, xofelf, Formerfish, the worst
Game 12:
Allomancer, xofelf (who replaces Felissan), the worst, Chemist1422
vs. BuJaber, Panzerjager, Formerfish, Iconeum
Game 13:
Chemist1422, Allomancer, Bujaber, Panzerjager
vs. VashtaNeurotic, the worst, xofelf, Formerfish
Game 14:
Haschel Cedricson, Felissan, Pine, Panzerjager
BuJaber, Ircher, Formerfish, Allomancer
Game 15:
Haschel Cedricson, the worst, Chemist1422, popsofctown
vs. Pine, Inferno390, Formerfish, Felissan
Game 16:
Haschel Cedricson, Pine, Kagami, OkaPoka
vs. Not Known 15, Felissan, Chemist1422, Panzerjager
Game 17:
Inferno390, Formerfish, the worst, Not Known 15
popsofctown, xofelf, OkaPoka, Haschel Cedricson
Game 18:
Not Known 15, Haschel Cedricson, Chemist1422, Formerfish
Charles510, Pine, the worst, Felissan
Game 19:
Haschel Cedricson, Pine, the worst, Not Known 15
StrangerCoug, James Brafin, Formerfish, Charles510
Game 20:
Pine, Charles510, Haschel Cedricson, Chemist1422
StrangerCoug, popsofctown, Formerfish, xofelf
Game 21:
Not Known 15, Haschel Cedricson, Pine, xofelf
vs. James Brafin, StrangerCoug, Formerfish, Charles510
Game 22:
Haschel Cedricson, dweller, StrangerCoug, Formerfish
VashtaNeurotic, Pine, Charles510, xofelf
Game 23:
Haschel Cedricson, KittyMo, Formerfish, and xofelf
vs. Pine, Menalque, Datisi, and OkaPoka
Game 24:
Menalque, Datisi, popsofctown, Formerfish
vs. Haschel Cedricson, Chemist1422, dsjstr, Egix96
Game 25:
dweller, StrangerCoug, dsjstr, xofelf
vs. Menalque, OkaPoka, Egix96, Haschel Cedricson
Game 26:
NotAJumbleOfNumbers, StrangerCoug, OkaPoka, dweller, xofelf
vs. Haschel Cedricson, dsjstr, Not_Mafia, ceejayvinoya, Menalque
Game 27:
Haschel Cedricson, Menalque, xofelf, Not_Mafia, Homura
vs. dsjstr, popsofctown, StrangerCoug, ceejayvinoya, Chemist1422 (replaced Bounce)
Game 28:
lilith2013, Formerfish, Datisi, Xtoxm, Isis
vs. Not_Mafia, enomis, Homura, Bounce, dsjstr
Game 29:
Haschel Cedricson, farren, enomis, lilith2013, xofelf, The worst, CreativeMod1
vs. Knightmare491, Not_Mafia, Hectic, Ceejaynova, Formerfish, Datisi, dsjstr
Game 30:
Hectic, CreativeMod1, VashtaNeurotic, enomis, Not_Mafia, Haschel Cedricson
vs. lilith2013, brighteningskies, xofelf, KittyMo, Farren, Knightmare491
Game 31:
CreativeMod1, Not_Mafia, Pine, lilith2013
vs. Haschel Cedricson, Farren, Knightmare491, xofelf
Game 32:
lilith2013, NotAJumbleOfNumbers, Farren, Sirius9121
Haschel Cedricson, Not_Mafia, PookyTheMagicalBear, Jake The Wolfie
Game 33:
Jake The Wolfie, Xofelf, Lilith2013, Haschel Cedricson, PookyTheMagicalBear
vs. Not_Mafia, Farren, Menalque, Mizzytastic, StrangerCoug
Game 34:
Mizzytastic, Charles510, Chemist1422, Xofelf, dsjstr, PookyTheMagicalBear, Lilith2013
StrangerCoug, Not_Mafia, Menalque, Haschel Cedricson, Noraa, Jake The Wolfie
Game 35:
Haschel Cedricson, Charles510, StrangerCoug, Jake The Wolfie
PookyTheMagicalBear, Sirius9121, Farren, Not_Mafia
Game 36:
Lilith2013, Datisi, Not_Mafia, Charles510, Farren, StrangerCoug, Jake The Wolfie
Menalque, Kanna, PookyTheMagicalBear, tris, Sirius9121, Gypyx
Game 37:
Jake The Wolfie, Not_Mafia, Menalque, Gypyx, tris
vs. StrangerCoug, PookyTheMagicalBear, Sirius9121, Charles510, dsjstr
Game 38:
Sirius9121, Save The Dragons, StrangerCoug, Not_Mafia
vs. Charles510, dsjstr, The Bulge, Farren
Game 39:
CreativeMod1, Save The Dragons, Charles510, StrangerCoug
vs. Tris, Nancy Drew 39, Farren, Sirius9121
Game 40:
Not_Mafia, Xalxe, StrangerCoug, Nancy Drew 39, Farren
Haschel Cedricson, Charles510, Datisi, The Bulge, Sirius9121
Game 41:
Sirius9121, Not_Mafia, Charles510, StrangerCoug
The Bulge, Menalque, lilith2013, Datisi, Nancy Drew 39
Game 42:
lilith2013, Haschel Cedricson, Menalque, Datisi, Charles510
vs. Nancy Drew 39, Not_Mafia, Farren, Marashu, Galaxis
Game 43:
Haschel Cedricson, The Bulge, Nancy Drew 39, HockeyFan, Charles510
vs. Farren, StrangerCoug, Menalque, lilith2013, Not_Mafia, Marashu
Game 44:
The Bulge, lilith2013, Farren, HockeyFan
Charles510, Nancy Drew 39, Marashu, Not_Mafia
Game 45:
Codenames Duet:
Lilith2013/Datisi
Vs Farren/Nancy Drew 39 Vs Marashu/HockeyFan Vs StrangerCoug/Jake the Wolfie Vs VashtaNeurotic/XofelfGame 46:
Not_Mafia, Charles510, Cat Scratch Fever
vs. Nancy Drew 39, Farren, Mizzytastic
Game 47:
Farren, Not_Mafia, Mizzytastic
vs. Cat Scratch Fever, Charles510, Nancy Drew 39
Game 48:
Nancy Drew 39, Not_Mafia, Mizzytastic
Charles510, Farren, Datisi, Cat Scratch Fever
Game 49:
Nancy Drew 39, Cat Scratch Fever, Farren, Not_Mafia
vs. The Bulge, Charles510, Not Known 15, Datisi
Game 50:
BipolarChemist, Nancy Drew 39, Not_Mafia, The Bulge
vs. Tejate Raichu, Cat Scratch Fever, Mizzytastic, Charles510
Game 51:
mallowgeno, Cat Scratch Fever, the worst
Nancy Drew 39, Not_Mafia, Farren
Game 52:
Codenames Duet: Farren/Not_Mafia vs.
Nancy Drew 39/StrangerCoug
Spoiler: PLAYER STATS
Name | Total Games | Number of Wins | Win/Loss Rate | Spymaster | Spy Win | Spy Win/loss Rate |
2 718281828459 | 1 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0% |
Adorabebs | 2 | 2 | 100% | 0 | 0 | 0% |
Agent Sparkles | 4 | 3 | 75% | 2 | 1 | 50% |
Allomancer | 8 | 3 | 38% | 4 | 1 | 25% |
BipolarChemist | 1 | 0 | 0% | 1 | 0 | 0% |
Bounce | 2 | 2 | 100% | 0 | 0 | 0% |
brighteningskies | 1 | 1 | 100% | 0 | 0 | 0% |
BuJaber | 5 | 1 | 20% | 2 | 1 | 50% |
Cat Scratch Fever | 6 | 3 | 50% | 1 | 1 | 100% |
Ceejaynova | 1 | 1 | 100% | 0 | 0 | 0% |
ceejayvinoya | 2 | 2 | 100% | 0 | 0 | 0% |
Charles510 | 29 | 16 | 55% | 6 | 3 | 50% |
Chemist1422 | 11 | 6 | 55% | 1 | 0 | 0% |
CreativeMod1 | 5 | 0 | 0% | 2 | 0 | 0% |
Datisi | 11 | 5 | 45% | 0 | 0 | 0% |
dsjstr | 9 | 8 | 89% | 1 | 1 | 100% |
dweller | 3 | 1 | 33% | 1 | 0 | 0% |
Egix96 | 3 | 3 | 100% | 0 | 0 | 0% |
enomis | 3 | 1 | 33% | 0 | 0 | 0% |
Farren | 19 | 12 | 63% | 2 | 1 | 50% |
Felissan | 12 | 6 | 50% | 2 | 2 | 100% |
Flicker | 4 | 2 | 50% | 1 | 0 | 0% |
Formerfish | 23 | 11 | 48% | 1 | 0 | 0% |
Galaxis | 1 | 1 | 100% | 0 | 0 | 0% |
Gammagooey | 2 | 2 | 100% | 1 | 1 | 100% |
Gypyx | 2 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0% |
Haschel Cedricson | 24 | 10 | 42% | 15 | 7 | 47% |
Hectic | 2 | 1 | 50% | 1 | 0 | 0% |
HockeyFan | 3 | 1 | 33% | 0 | 0 | 0% |
Homura | 2 | 1 | 50% | 0 | 0 | 0% |
Iconeum | 1 | 1 | 100% | 0 | 0 | 0% |
Inferno390 | 8 | 5 | 63% | 3 | 2 | 67% |
Ircher | 1 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0% |
Isis | 1 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0% |
Jake The Wolfie | 7 | 2 | 29% | 2 | 0 | 0% |
James Brafin | 4 | 2 | 50% | 2 | 1 | 50% |
Kagami | 1 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0% |
Kanna | 1 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0% |
KittyMo | 2 | 1 | 50% | 0 | 0 | 0% |
Knightmare491 | 3 | 3 | 100% | 1 | 1 | 100% |
lilith2013 | 13 | 7 | 54% | 5 | 3 | 60% |
mallowgeno | 2 | 2 | 100% | 1 | 1 | 100% |
Marashu | 4 | 2 | 50% | 0 | 0 | 0% |
McMenno | 1 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0% |
Menalque | 12 | 5 | 42% | 3 | 1 | 33% |
Mewtaph | 2 | 2 | 100% | 0 | 0 | 0% |
Mizzytastic | 6 | 5 | 83% | 1 | 1 | 100% |
Nancy Drew 39 | 13 | 6 | 46% | 5 | 3 | 60% |
Noraa | 1 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0% |
Not Known 15 | 6 | 5 | 83% | 3 | 2 | 67% |
Not_Mafia | 24 | 10 | 42% | 4 | 3 | 75% |
NotAJumbleOfNumbers | 2 | 1 | 50% | 1 | 0 | 0% |
OkaPoka | 5 | 2 | 40% | 0 | 0 | 0% |
Panzerjager | 9 | 6 | 67% | 1 | 0 | 0% |
Pine | 10 | 5 | 50% | 3 | 3 | 100% |
PookyTheMagicalBear | 6 | 2 | 33% | 1 | 0 | 0% |
popsofctown | 5 | 1 | 20% | 1 | 0 | 0% |
randomidget | 1 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0% |
Reundo | 2 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0% |
Save The Dragons | 2 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0% |
Sirius9121 | 8 | 4 | 50% | 2 | 1 | 50% |
StrangerCoug | 18 | 10 | 56% | 4 | 1 | 25% |
Tejate Raichu | 1 | 1 | 100% | 1 | 1 | 100% |
The Bulge | 7 | 3 | 43% | 3 | 2 | 67% |
the worst | 13 | 7 | 54% | 2 | 1 | 50% |
tris | 3 | 1 | 33% | 1 | 1 | 100% |
VashtaNeurotic | 6 | 3 | 50% | 4 | 3 | 75% |
Vijarada | 1 | 0 | 0% | 1 | 0 | 0% |
Xalxe | 1 | 1 | 100% | 0 | 0 | 0% |
Xofelf | 24 | 7 | 29% | 1 | 0 | 0% |
Xtoxm | 1 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0% |
Starting Team Wins | Red Team Wins | Blue Team Wins |
20 | 19 | 31 |