rules overview video
CODENAMES: PICTURES What are these strange symbols on the map? They code for locations where spies must contact secret agents! Two rival spymasters know the agent in each location. They deliver coded messages telling their field operatives where to go for clandestine meetings. Operatives must be clever. A decoding mistake could lead to an unpleasant encounter with an enemy agent – or worse, with the assassin! Both teams race to contact all their agents, but only one team can win.
THE KEY Each game has one key that shows who can be found in each location. The spymasters should choose the key card randomly and place it on the stand between them, oriented the same as the 5 × 4 grid of pictures. Choose between the two possible orientations arbitrarily, without thinking about it. And don't let the field operatives see the key. The key corresponds to the grid on the table. Blue squares correspond to pictures that Blue Team must guess (locations with blue agents).
GAME PLAY MAKING CONTACT Spymasters take turns giving one-word clues. The word relates to one or more pictures on the table. The field operatives try to guess which pictures their spymaster meant. When a field operative touches a picture, the spymaster reveals who is in that location. If it is one of their team's agents, the operatives may keep guessing locations related to that one-word clue. Otherwise, it is the other team's turn. The first team to contact all their agents wins the game.
Ending the Turn ENDING THE GAME Your team's turn always has exactly one clue and one or more guesses. If the operatives' first guess is one of their team's pictures, they may make a second guess. If that's correct, they may make another guess, and so on. The turn ends • if they guess a picture that's not theirs, • if they choose to not guess anymore, • or if they have already made as many guesses as the number specified by the clue plus one more.
EXAMPLE Red Team starts. The red spymaster wants to give a clue for these 2 pictures: Then it is Red Team's turn again. The red spymaster looks at her pictures and says star: 2. The red operative sees several possibilities: She gives the clue evolution: 2. The red operative sees these 2 pictures: She thinks the rocket ship is most likely to be right, so she touches that card first. The spymaster covers it with a red agent card, so the field operative is allowed to make a second guess.
VALID CLUES Your clue should be one word, no hyphens, no spaces. If you don't know whether your clue is one word or not, ask the opposing spymaster. If the opposing spymaster allows it, the clue is valid. Singing, funny accents, and foreign words are generally not allowed, unless your group decides they are okay. Just remember that using a French accent to give a clue for a picture of the Eiffel Tower is only clever once. All word play is allowed.
ADVANCED CODENAMES Expert players may want to take advantage of two other types of clues described below. And the Assassin Ending is recommended for anyone playing Codenames: Pictures once they have played enough games to understand the basic rules. ASSASSIN ENDING by the spymaster's clue. If they successfully guess all their remaining pictures, they win. Any wrong guess (innocent bystander or enemy agent) ends their turn and causes them to lose the game.
TWO-PLAYER GAME If your team wins, give yourselves a score based on how many agent cards are still left in the enemy's stack: If there are only two of you, you can play on the same team. This two-player variant also works for larger groups of people who don't feel like competing against each other. You will try to get a high score against a simulated opponent. Set up the game as usual. One player will be the spymaster and the rest will be field operatives.
HAVE YOU HEARD OF Codenames: Pictures is derived from the original Codenames game. Instead of pictures coding for secret meeting locations, the original game uses words – the agents' secret codenames. There are some slight differences, but basically, the rules are the same: Two spymasters take turns giving clues consisting of one word and one number. Their teammates try to touch the correct codename cards. Words and pictures use slightly different modes of thinking.
HAVE YOU PLAYED CODENAMES? If you know how to play Codenames, you can play Codenames: Pictures right now. There are really only 2 things you need to know: 1. The key cards are for a 5 × 4 grid, not 5 × 5. 2. Yes, you are allowed to say platypus to give a clue for a picture of a platypus. You can find all the rules for valid clues on page 7, but they really are not that different. Once you've got the hang of Codenames: Pictures, be sure to check out the Assassin Ending variant on page 8.
To generate an endless supply of key cards or to use a timer with voice-over, download the Codenames Gadget for your Android, Apple, or Windows phone. For more about the game and its variants, please visit www.codenamesgame.com.
