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The best Codenames tips are not about being clever. They are about being safe. A spymaster who gives careful two-word clues all game will beat one who swings for a brilliant four nearly every time, because the brilliant four hits the assassin once in five games and that is the game.
This guide covers both roles: the spymaster who gives clues and the field operatives who guess. Most tables have one person who is good at one and nobody who is good at the other.
How does Codenames work, briefly?
Twenty-five word cards in a grid. Two teams, red and blue. Each team has a spymaster who can see a key card showing which words belong to which team, which are innocent bystanders, and which single word is the assassin.
The spymaster gives a one-word clue and a number, say “ocean, two.” The team discusses and touches words one at a time. Touch your own word and you may keep going, up to the number plus one. Touch a bystander and your turn ends. Touch the other team’s word and your turn ends and they get the point. Touch the assassin and you lose immediately.
First team to find all their words wins. The team that starts has nine words to find; the other has eight.
What makes a Codenames clue safe?
Before you think about how many words a clue covers, check what else it might point to. In order:
- The assassin. Does your clue connect to the assassin in any way, even a stretch? If so, drop it. Your team will stretch.
- The opponent’s words. Does it connect to any of theirs? If so, it is a weak clue even if it also hits three of yours, because a wrong guess hands them a free word and ends your turn.
- Bystanders. Less costly, but a bystander guess still ends your turn.
- Your words. Only now count how many it covers.
Spymasters do this backward. They see “apple, orange, lime” and shout “fruit, three” without noticing that “crush” is the assassin and the operatives have been drinking.
A useful discipline: before you say the clue, say the assassin word silently and ask whether your clue could ever lead someone there. The clue “cold” is fine when the assassin is “desk.” It is a disaster when the assassin is “ice.”
How many words should a Codenames clue cover?
Two is the default. Three when it is tight. Four only when you can see that your team will get all four and nothing else fits the clue.
The math of the game favors consistency. A team that finds two words per turn without a miss finishes nine words in five turns, and they keep the initiative because every turn ends on their terms. A team that alternates between a four and a zero finishes slower and loses tempo on every miss.
That said, numbers are not just about counting. A number can also mean:
- Covering old ground. If the team missed a word from a previous clue, give a new clue for two and let them remember that the leftover from earlier is still on the board. Good teams keep a mental list of unresolved words.
- Unlimited (zero or “infinity” in some house rules). Rarely useful and often confusing. Save it for the endgame when the team already knows the board.
- Ending the game. If your team needs three words and you can hit all three with one clue, say three even if it is a stretch. The alternative is giving the other team another turn.
How do you avoid the assassin when every clue is close?
Sometimes the assassin sits in the middle of your best cluster. “Bank,” “note,” “bill,” and “check” are all yours, and the assassin is “money.” Do not give “finance, four.” The team will touch “money” on the third guess while congratulating themselves.
Options:
- Clue around it. “River, one” hits “bank” alone. “Music, one” hits “note” alone. Slower, but you live.
- Clue the other half of the board. Take your unrelated words first. By the time you return, the operatives have seen the whole board and are less likely to leap.
- Give a negative clue. Some house rules allow the spymaster to note that the number is lower than the obvious cluster, which signals “there is a trap.” Check your table’s tolerance before relying on this.
The single most useful habit is to look at the assassin and the opponent’s words first, before you look at your own. Build your clue from what is forbidden, not from what is possible.
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How should operatives guess in Codenames?
Guessing is a skill and it is underrated. Teams lose more games to bad guessing than to bad clues.
| Guessing habit | Why it helps |
|---|---|
| Touch the most certain word first | If you are wrong on the obvious one, the clue was bad and you should stop |
| Say every candidate out loud before touching | The spymaster’s face will not help you, but your teammate’s second opinion will |
| Stop at the number | The “plus one” guess is for picking up an old leftover you are sure of, not for exploring |
| Track unresolved words | Keep a list of words that were implied by earlier clues and not yet touched |
| Count what is left | If the other team has two words left, a safe pass may be better than a risky third guess |
The last point matters more than people think. Late in the game, the opponent’s remaining words are nearly all they will touch, so you can infer a lot about which words are not yours.
And an etiquette note: operatives should never watch the spymaster’s face. It ruins the game, and a spymaster who knows they are being read will give worse clues on purpose. If your table cannot help it, have the spymaster sit behind a screen or look at the key card instead of the operatives.
How do you get better at being spymaster?
Three exercises that help.
- Play the key card, not the board. When you sit down, sort your words into likely clusters before the first clue. Note the assassin’s neighbors. Decide your first three clues in advance if you can.
- Think about your team, not the dictionary. A clue that works for your college roommate may not work for your father-in-law. The right clue is the one this team will get.
- After the game, ask what the team heard. Most spymasters never learn why a clue failed. “Why did you think ‘space’ meant ‘bar’?” is a question that makes your next game better.
Codenames rewards the spymaster who knows the people at the table well, which is part of why it is such a good game for groups who are still getting to know each other. We wrote about using it for exactly that purpose in our piece on Codenames for team building. If your group has graduated and wants a harder word game, see Codenames vs Decrypto.
FAQ
What is the best number to give in Codenames?
Two, most of the time. It keeps your team’s turns productive without risking the assassin. Go to three or four only when the clue is clearly safe.
Can you give a clue that is one of the words on the board?
No. A clue cannot be any word visible on the board, including parts of compound words, in the standard rules. Spelling variants and homonyms are also out. Check with the table on edge cases before the game.
What should operatives do if they are not sure?
Stop. Ending your turn costs nothing. Guessing a bystander ends your turn anyway, and guessing wrong can lose the game.
Is Codenames better with large or small teams?
Two to three operatives per team is ideal. Larger teams argue; a single operative has nobody to check their leaps.
One good clue a week
We play Codenames the first time a group meets, because it tells us more about how people think than an hour of conversation does. The game is the reason. The people are the point. The Ludarium newsletter sends new pieces on games like this and on the lounge we are building in Indianapolis, where there will always be a copy on the shelf. Subscribe and bring better clues to the next game night.
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