8 Easy Games Like Codenames & One To Avoid

If you are looking to serve up a game to a crowd of 6 or more Werewords Deluxe edition is a solid choice. If you’ve got a group of 4, I’d lean into So Clover, and if its just the two of you, take a look at Codenames Duet. Lastly if you’ve got a younger players you want to include, take a look at Hues and Cues.

Show Me The Games

Werewords	Decrypto	So Clover	Wavelength
Hues and Cues	Pictures	Insider	Codenames Duet

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If you are here you probably already know all that is great about Codenames – as a game it has set some pretty incredible milestones.

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I suppose that is a long way of saying that Codenames has some chops – and it can be tough to be compared to a game that is so appreciated and loved. But here we are anyway.

Coming up with this list we considered the following:

• Generally “easy” rule set
• Generally geared to groups of 4 or more players
• Some type of puzzle or level of deduction – aka, something to figure out

Werewords Deluxe

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We’ve always been pretty high on the game Werewolf, the hidden role deduction party game, Werewords is a bit of an off shoot of that game. With roles like the Mayor, Seer, and of course Werewolf, players work to uncover a hidden word. Similar to Werewolf, there is a person secretly working against the group. One player is secretly the Werewolf, trying to mislead the group. As time ticks and questions fly, tension builds, making each round exciting. In both games players are trying to guess specific words.

Decrypto

It was a toss up between Decrypto and Werewords for the best overall pick – frankly it is probably splitting hairs. In Decrypto it is not enough to simply guess the “code” of the words your team is supposed to get – in order to really advance, you need to break the code of the opposing team – before they break yours. The premise is simple enough – your “encryptor” (much like the “Codegiver” in Codenames) is going to write down clues in a specific order. In the photo below, can yo crack the code – that is to say, can you determine the number order of the words printed.

As the game progress the other team will get a chance to crack the code first – so its up to the encryptor to keep the codes relevant, but with just enough vagueness that the other team won’t be able to crack the code. The opposing teams will never know the exact words that correspond to the clues – but thats where the game lies – should the clues become to familiar to each other – the other team will start to put it together.

The game is just a bit more fiddly with the rules, which is why we gave the top nod to Werewords.

So Clover

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A great 4 player word association game. The game starts off by passing out gorgeous clover shaped player boards. Then each player will randomly grab 4 word tiles and slip them into place on the board – without being mindful of the words – they should just put them on as much as they can without looking. Then on each side of the clover, there will be two words. The player then will try and write one word -that links those two words together. Notice each word will be linked twice.

wavelength

In Wavelength, players divide into teams and take turns as the “Psychic” guiding their teammates to guess where a hidden target lies on a spectrum. Sounds simple, right? Here’s the kicker: instead of finding words on a grid, you’re navigating concepts like “Hot-Cold,” “Fast-Slow,” or “Fiction-Nonfiction” on a circular dial.

Each round, the Psychic draws a card revealing the conceptual range the players are working with. Below the range is “Hot to Cold”. Then the Psychic spins the white wheel to determine the the target position on the spectrum. The target position is then blinded by a blue shield. The Psychic will give a clue based on the range and where the maximum scoring position is in that that range without explicitly stating it. Below on a Hot to Cold Range, I want my players to move the red dial to where that 4 is. (Of course they can’t see it because it is shieled. I might give a clue like Here’s where the teamwork and strategy come in. Teammates deliberate and discuss where they think the target lies based on the clue, aiming for consensus to adjust the red dial accordingly.

Hues and Cues

To this point we have largely spoken to games that are word based but games still like Codenames – now we are going to take the words out of it and replace them with colors. In a very similar fashion to Codenames one player will give Cues – aka Clues – for the others players to hone in on a color with. The first cue/clue will be a single word, and then players will use their maker to pick the color they think the “cue giver” is trying to lead them too.

Pictures

This game also makes an appearance on our games like Apples to Apples list. In fact their layout is very similar. While Codenames is going to present the players with a grid of words to chose from – Pictures is going to present the players with a grid of – yes you guessed it – Pictures.

Insider

If there was a hidden gem award for this category – Insider would be the winner. Not many people talk about it, but it is solid.

To be complete honest this game is a simply 20 Questions – glorified. But that is also part of the reason of why it is so good. The game play goes a bit like this. One person (the Master) will know a particular word/topic that the other players need to guess. Most other players will be on the Master’s team known as Commons. In 5 minutes all the players basically ask, in 20 Questions style, yes or no questions to the Master and then getting yes, no, or I don’t know response, based on the question.

The whole game is done and over within 5 minutes, making it a great filler game or game where you’ll rattle off 3 or 4 rotations before moving on to the next game of the night. It leans into social deduction far more than any of the other games one the list.

Codenames Duet

Ok, maybe we fudged a bit on our list. But who can blame us. If you have just two players – and you are looking for games like Codenames – well why not just play more Codenames? Codenames Duet is probably your best bet.

Codenames Duet stays true to the original Codenames – the familiar 5 x 5 grid of words as well as the coded card each player will hold. Collectively, you need to reveal all fifteen agents — without revealing an assassin — before time runs out in order to win the game. The “timer” is a unique method of using missed guesses, essentially you have a set amount of misses you can have.

The game is extremely similar to original. I like how one miss for you, could still potentially be a correct guess for your partner. Another nice twist is that they leaned into the whole secret agent theme and created a mini “campaign” you can play to mark your progress. If you’ve played Codenames before, this will take you 3 minutes to fully understand it.

Concept

I wanted this game to work – and it really probably should have worked better. In this game you are putting a variety of indicators on icons/shapes/colors on the board in hopes that they will guess what you are trying to get them to guess. Its a bit like Charades without the acting, or Pictionary without the actual drawing. For instance if I was trying to get you to guess “Father Time” – you can see green marker on the male and a smaller green cube next to a clock. The next round I might put another marker above the male next to the 3 people – representing family – hoping that the guessers will extract – Family – male, could be father, a clock could be time – “FATHER TIME!”

It rarely worked out that way – either the topics to guess were just to abstracted, or the icons we had to work with, just weren’t enough. We ended up being frustrated much of the time.

I guess if I’m being totally honest, the game started to fall apart for me when in the rules it stated:  “During our extensive testing, we eventually abandoned the points system and kept only the pleasure of guessing and being guessed. Feel free to do the same as your enjoyment of the experience will be just as large!” I don’t know what that rubbed me wrong, but it felt like a bit of a cop out – like they couldn’t quite get the scoring right, so they made the game more of an activity than anything competitive. For some that will be perfect – it just didn’t sit well with us.