Codenames Rules Explained Simply (With Examples)

Codenames-style games look confusing for about ninety seconds — then they click and you're hooked. Here are the rules explained the simple way, with examples.

The setup

25 word cards in a 5×5 grid. Two teams, red and blue. One team has 9 secret words, the other 8, there are 7 neutral words, and 1 assassin word. Only each team's spymaster knows which is which — everyone else just sees 25 plain words.

The clue

The spymaster says exactly one word plus one number. Example: the red words include APPLE and TREE, so the red spymaster says "ORCHARD, 2." That's it — no gestures, no extra hints, and the clue can't be a word visible on the board.

The guessing

The team taps words one at a time. Guess your own word? Keep going. Guess a neutral word? Turn ends. Guess the other team's word? Turn ends and you just helped them. You get a maximum of the clue number plus one guess — the bonus guess lets you pick up a word you missed earlier.

The assassin

One word is the assassin. Touch it and your team loses instantly — game over, no appeals. This single rule creates all the drama: is BANK the money kind (your word) or the river kind (the assassin)? Choose wisely.

Winning

First team to reveal all their words wins. The team that goes first has 9 words to the other's 8 — that's the balance for the first-move advantage.

The three rookie mistakes

One: spymasters giving clever clues nobody understands — clear beats clever. Two: guessers tapping fast without discussing — the debate IS the game. Three: forgetting the assassin exists — always ask "could this clue mean THAT word?" before tapping.

Rules make sense once you've played a single round. Try a free game on WordSpies — no sign-up, and the whole group can join from their phones in seconds.