Codenames Duet

    $19.95

    Codenames Duet keeps the basic elements of Codenames (give one-word clues to try to get someone to identify your agents among those on the table), but now you’re working together as a team to find all of your agents.

    To start, lay out 25 word cards in a 5×5 grid and place a key card in the holder so that each player sees one side of the card. Each player sees a 5×5 grid on the card, with nine of the squares colored green (representing your agents) and one square colored black (representing the assassin). The assassin is in different places on each side of the card, and three of the nine squares on each side are also green on the other side! Working together, you need to reveal all fifteen agents (without revealing either assassin or too many innocent bystanders) before time runs out in order to win the game.

    Codenames Duet is recommended for 2 players, ages 14 and up.

    (62 customer reviews)

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    • 400 all new words compatible with original codenames
    • New cooperative gameplay
    • Campaign mode to record your progress
    • Variable difficulty to challenge even the greatest spies
    • Great with two players, or more

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    62 reviews for Codenames Duet

    1. Jimmy

      Great cooperative game

      Codenames Duet is easy to learn, but giving clues that work for many tiles is tough! Giving a great clue is very satisfying and failing just makes you want to do better the next time.Games are pretty quick and you can play a standard game or work through the mission around the world. The last missions look really tough.

    2. ciara

      SOOOO MUCH FUN!!!!!!

      We are huge codename fans but wanted something for just 2 people. This game was seriously so much fun! One of the best 2 player games ever.

      One person found this helpful

    3. Sierra

      Super Fun Game

      I was looking for a new type of game for me and my husband that wasn’t the classic style. This game is very fun and the possibilities are endless! We really enjoy it

    4. Mike

      Fun and challenging

      Cooperative game for 2. We’ve played several times now and have yet to win. It’s fun and challenging but not difficult or complicated. You and your partner must guess a total of 15 words from a grid of 25. Think up one word clues to help your partner guess multiple words from that single clue. Be careful though. Too vague of a clue may lead your partner to the assassin and then it’s game over.

    5. anon

      Great variation!

      This is the second version of Codenames I’ve played (the original is the first). The modified gameplay is a lot of fun. As a two player game the cooperative effort is unlike most other games and it actually takes a little getting used to: rather than head-to-head competition, it’s more like a structured conversation. Given there’s no opponent to keep watch, it’s all essentially an honor system as far as rules go. If I had a complaint about it, it’s that I find this version to be somewhat more difficult because of the need to get multiple cards per turn to “win.” Somehow, that seems easier in the standard version.

      5 people found this helpful

    6. ChefKronk

      Challenging and Great Fun!!!

      Bought this game for a date night and it was a huge hit! Having played a few versions of the Codenames game, I was familiar with the overall concept but thought that this version had an interesting twist to it.For those unfamiliar with the concept of the Codenames games, the object of the game is to get your partner to correctly guess words from a 5×5 row of word cards. One player has a card that shows which spaces you are trying to get your partner to guess as well as those which you want them to avoid. The player then gives their partner a clue word along with a number of cards which they hope that their partner can relate it to. The partner then guesses at the cards which they believe the other player is hoping to lead them to through several rounds.The spin in this game is that each person is playing each role in time. While trying to get your partner to guess off of the board, they too are trying to get you to guess off of the board as well. The usual play card is double sided so that each player can see the spaces that they want their partner to guess and avoid in hopes of reaching 15 correct guesses together.The game is great fun! Trying to relate words together while trying to avoid others can be a bit challenging. The real strategy comes in knowing the way in which your partner thinks and which clue words to use to get them to guess what they need to guess.The game also comes with instructions for more challenging “missions”. Haven’t gotten there yet, but sure am looking forward to it.Great fun for a date night or game night with family! Among the best!

    7. Burnsy

      Perfect on a Saturday morning with a cup of coffee.

      Fantastic 2P cooperative implementation of the original Codenames. Great game for couples. The included “campaign” map is rather bare-bones, but it honestly adds a lot to the game’s replay value, giving you increasingly more challenging games to work through. I’d be worried about gifting this to a non-gamer without also sending them a link to a tutorial video online, but the same could be said for a lot of modern tabletop games. On the other hand, this is a wonderful gift for anyone who’s already played the original Codenames. My partner and I play with the cards from the original game mixed in, as well as the Codenames Pictures cards. The mix of pictures and words is super fun.

      One person found this helpful

    8. Ben M.

      Our preferred way to play Codenames

      My girlfriend and I both love the original Codenames, but it’s hard getting a whole group together to play. We happened upon this at a local gaming store and assumed it was just some slapdash rules set to allow a 2-person game. We were pretty wrong about that!You can find way more in-depth rules reviews on the internet (and those are what caused me to immediately order this), but essentially you and a teammate are working against a built-in turn limit to find all the agents. If you’ve played the original Codenames, you know the drill: give a one-word clue to your partner who then has to guess which word(s) on the board relate to that clue. In this edition, all but 3 of your agents are different than your partner’s, and one of your agents is an assassin for them and vice versa, which means you have to be really careful about making assumptions about what is a safe guess.This is our preferred way to play now. Some of the reviews I read on other sites think the difficulty is a little too rough, but we win proabably about 75%+ of our games, and most of our wins are down to the wire. The tension makes it really rewarding to win

      87 people found this helpful

    9. Chloe Owens

      Get it!

      What a fun game! It’s just my husband and I and we are always looking for something good for just two. That is not always easy when it comes to games.Reminiscent of “Clue” and “Password” from the 70’s when we grew up, playing this game also highlights the different ways men and women associate words to life. Very insightful and entertaining. Teams would be great fun!Highly recommend.

    10. BR

      Fantastic cooperative game!

      This is a really fun, versatile, creative, interactive game. I like the level of challenge, and it seems like you can adapt the level challenge to suit your inclination. The nature of the game is cooperative, and doesn’t lend itself to fierce competition. However, as a fun, mentally-stimulating two person activity, Code Names is fantastic.

    11. Daniel

      This game is fantastic.

      We LOVE this game so much. The first time we played, we won! We decided to win the regular way one more time before trying the harder version (with world map scorekeeping). We did not do that. We lost our next 3 or so games, but it was still fun! The game provides fun challenges for us, and the replayability is high. (Just maybe play through all the cards and THEN shuffle them. Don’t shuffle as you go or else you’ll see some if the same ones a lot.) I love it.

      2 people found this helpful

    12. Wendy Johnson

      Fun and challenging!

      My husband and I purchased this game at the beginning of the quarantine and needed something besides tv to fill our time. It has been great fun and always challenging. Each time you play it’s different, never the same! Many times frustrating but we have actually gotten to know how each other thinks better! Great for couples, can play around in less than 10 mins and of course play as many rounds you want. To save a little time, after 1st round, we flip cards. Then replace for round 3 and flip for round 4, etc.

    13. Amanda S

      Great for Fans of the Original Codenames

      Took it camping with my husband. We both enjoy playing the original Codenames with our family, but we wanted a version that we could play with just the two of us, and this was great! The heart of the game is the same as the original, but you cooperate to find all the “agents” instead of dividing into teams. We found it was a blast to play as a couple because we could leverage all of our inside jokes.

      2 people found this helpful

    14. hayls

      Great 2 Player Game!

      My boyfriend is obsessed with board games and while we do have board game nights occasionally and he has board game days with a friend group, the options for true 2 player games are very limited. Codenames is one of his favorites and I’m a word nerd so he’s been trying to get me to play it with him for ages. I hadn’t, but since I bought his for him for his birthday, I agreed to play a few rounds, haha. He got sick of it before I did! It’s a fun, co-op game. Neither of us are super competitive so I really appreciated that you’re playing to win together. We will play it again and again.

      3 people found this helpful

    15. Anne Hauser

      Awesome game

      My husband & I are game lovers & we both rank this one at a top contender. A little challenging to figure out the strategy with the map, but so good. Now that we have figured out how to use the map, we play it even more. Definitely recommend for 2 people, especially 2 people that know each other well. Very entertaining

      One person found this helpful

    16. Booklover

      Tougher than the regular version but a great challenge for 2 people

      We are huge fans of the regular CodeNames but you don’t always have 2 other people around to make play it. : ) So we like the duet version. The words are more challenging than the original, but that adds to the appeal. It’s a cooperative game and we enjoy trying to solve it within the number of moves provided. A solid 2 person version.

    17. Justin L.

      Great 2-player adaptation of a fun board game concept.

      My girlfriend and I love to play the original Codenames when we have board game nights with 6+ people in attendance, but that doesn’t happen as often as we’d like, so we got this game, too. We absolutely love it! It plays similarly to the original since you’re both on the same team, but you are racing against a set number of turns, which can be adjusted for a large range of difficulties. I’ve played with board game novices and veterans alike, and everyone has enjoyed it so far. It’s easy to pick up and play a couple of quick rounds, and we have a lot of fun even when we don’t “win” (which happens most of the time, actually – it’s rather difficult to know what angle your partner is taking with their clues!). I definitely think this game deserves a place in anyone’s board game collection.

    18. Tami A

      Awesome variation of the original game!

      I was a big fan of the original Codenames game. It was one of many games that I used to play with a group of coworkers. The one drawback was that you had to have at least four people to play, which was almost never a problem on Friday Game Day at work, but not a given with my family. Flighty teenagers and preteen can’t always be counted on when it came to game time. This variation resolved that. If only my sister-in-law wanted to play with me, no problem! It has become a hit!

    19. d_art

      Great game for couples, and two group of couples.

      This is a cooperative version of the original Codenames game. The original version is a head-to-head mode played by two opposing groups. This game, however is cooperative where each time tries to help each other without having to spell it out. I played this with my fiancee and I one one side and another couple on the other side. It was a cooperative game, but it’s fun to see how communication works between couples as they relay to the other couple what they are only allowed to say. Quite clever, and highly recommended.

    20. Leah

      Great game for quarantine for two

      This game is so much fun. I have played codenames before and love the game as a group game. I was happy to find this version for 2 given the current pandemic. It’s a great solution to exercise our brains and engage in an activity other than technology based activities while stuck at home. This is something that I would play even if I wasn’t stuck at home.

    21. Gregory J. Hamel

      Better Than The Original; Still Works Great With Teams

      Both the original Codenames and Duet have the same fun word association mechanic at their core, but I find Duet much more enjoyable because it takes away the terribly unbalanced oppositional team mechanics and replaces them with cooperative mechanics.The difficulty of a round of Codenames is dependent upon the random layout of words and your objective card. Sometimes you luck out with a bunch of words that are easy to relate and “death” words that are easy to avoid. Sometimes you get a devilishly difficult layout where you have to rack your brain just to make a tenuous connection between two words without leading your team astray. This randomness in difficulty makes the oppositional nature of the original Codenames very poorly balanced: sometimes one team has a word layout so easy that makes it almost impossible for them to lose right from the start.Duet eliminates the poor balance problem by putting you and the other player(s) on the same team. This shared fate means no team unfairly benefits from randomness: if one side has an easy layout it helps everyone win the game. The inclusion of more “death” words for both sides also makes the core mechanic more difficult and provides some threat of losing even in a co-op game. Due to the random difficulty of rounds I don’t find the “clue limit” mechanic to be compelling and I no longer play with it. We just to try to finish with as few clues as possible.Even though this game is called Duet and designed for 2 players, it works great with teams. Just have two teams of players on each side instead of 2 individuals. Players on each side can discuss among themselves (with paper or phones to keep quiet if necessary) which clues they want to give. It keeps the game moving along faster to have multiple people thinking of good clues and guessing. It is also works fine to have asymmetric team sizes.Bottom line: one of the best word games around that doesn’t suffer from the poorly balanced oppositional gameplay of the original.

    22. ZHP

      Love It!

      I always use a online codename website to play since I thought the board game version has limited cards.However, there are so many combinations and it is so fun! This version can be played by two people but also can be expanded if you change the rule a little bit.

    23. KikiSt4r

      Fun game!

      Codenames is one of my favorite games, and I’m glad I now have a chance to play it when I don’t have dozens of people to play it with. It’s not for everybody (lol, one of my friends get frustrated with it, but my other friends love it). I tried to mix and match too. Like using Disney Codenames with these rules of the game. Haven’t yet been successful at winning though…

    24. Jason Merrell

      Perfect game for quarantine.

      If you’re stuck in quarantine with your S.O. or mom or dad or kid or roommate and you want to take a break from the random crying and panic attacks, this game will keep you from killing each other for about 20 minutes. Luckily, you can play it more than once.

    25. Lindsay

      Great way to do 2 players

      I love that this is geared to both of us being both parts. IF you know the original game this is easy. It is the same concept. Just you both are guessing and have a different set of words you need to get them to select. It is a fun spin. I played with my cousin and what she didn’t like was the verbal talking with someone else. But We talked out loud our train of thought. That way it helped the person giving the clue to get in their mindset at least. And this game can be played with more people if you want. There is a variant. Also I have not tried yet but looks like you can move on to their game board for more challenges. However my husband and I are happy and content just playing the normal rules for now. I love codenames! Also there is an app you can download to play this version too.

    26. Ashiq Chu

      Good gameplay

      First time playing the Codename series, I find the rules were easy to follow, the gameplay interesting and overall very educational. You are required to cooperate with another player to try to win the game. It requires an ability to use words and a certain command of the english language to do well, but you can vary the difficulty in-game.

    27. dakwriter

      Even better than the original Codenames! Plus, just two people can really enjoy this game!

      My husband and I really enjoy playing the original version of Codenames with our friends, so we also bought this version designed to enhance the experience for just two players (or more,) not knowing what to expect. To our delight, Codenames: Duet is even more fun! While the basic theme and method of play are similar to the original game, we like that the way to success is truly cooperative. Whether it’s just the two of us playing or if we’re playing the game with others, the goal of the teams is to identify agents (the good guys) and assassins (the bad guys) so the good guys can prevail. The game is easy to set up and the rules are not complicated, so plays can start quickly. Included is also a way of playing (finding agents in different cities) that extends cooperative play but doesn’t put stress or pressure on any one player like the game Scotland Yard tends to do. Altogether, Codenames: Duet has been designed to provide an experience that encourages discussions of strategy and gameplay that are enjoyable for everyone and it doesn’t take hours to play. We recommend this game for couples, families and groups of people who prefer cooperative play where every player is important and involved rather than cutthroat competitions where people are only in it for themselves and their fellow players are essentially the enemy. With a Codenames: Duet, a relaxing and friendly time can be had by everyone.I pay full price for all of my Amazon purchases and I rarely write 5 star reviews. Codenames: Duet truly deserves 5 stars!

      5 people found this helpful

    28. Kelsiekc

      Great Game for Two Players

      I really love this game. It’s a great version for two players and can be played with more. Since there are only two in my household most of the time, this comes in handy when we want a game to play and can’t use some of our other games that require more players. Great purchase. I am very happy with it. If you enjoy the original, you will enjoy this version.

    29. Adam J. Schaff

      Possibly better than the original game

      I was skeptical that a two-player variant would be anywhere near as much fun as the original, but Code Names Duet is awesome. Plays cooperatively for two-player. A ton of fun. Also, you can use the word cards interchangeably with the regular game.Be careful when buying any Code Names game that you know what size you are getting. The games come in the original (small cards) but they also have a version with larger cards (which might be nice, I don’t know, I haven’t tried it).

    30. Jennifer

      Great two player game

      My husband and I love original Codenames, but we are usually playing games at home with just the two of us. Codenames Duet is a great two-player game option that keeps many of the original Codenames elements in place. We were surprised at how challenging this game is! It’s tough to be constantly both thinking of clues and guessing the other person’s clues. The fact that the assassin clues are different for both people keeps me on my toes- a code that is an assassin for me might be a clue my partner is trying to get me to guess.I highly recommend this for people looking for a great two-player game option.

      10 people found this helpful

    31. MissLemon

      Excellent combination of Codenames gameplay and co-op mechanics

      This is a great cooperative game, which expertly blends the basic Codenames mechanics with cooperative play, while maintaining the pressure of playing against another team as in regular Codenames.The board set up is the same as in the original Codenames — a 5×5 grid of cards with single words. The rest is different. There’s a single set of team cards — 15 green cards that you share between the two players in order to reflect successful guesses (rather than blue and red from the original game). The object of Codenames Duet is to together guess 15 words correctly without running out of time or hitting an assassin (of which there is more than one). There are 11 little tokens that help mark how many turns you have left, and mark wrong guesses (they serve both functions) — the game says to start playing with 9 tokens (meaning you have 9 turns to get 15 guesses) and then add 2 more if that seems too hard (and I suppose you could play with fewer to make it harder).The guide cards, which tell you which words the other player needs to guess, a very different from regular Codenames. Each card is double sided, and has a different arrangement of green (9) , tan (13) , and assassin (3) squares laid out over the 5×5 grid. You set up the card between you in a stand as in the regular game so that you’re each seeing only your side of the card. Each side has a different combo of squares — some will overlap, but you’ll have some squares green on your side (meaning your teammate has to guess those words) that will be tan or black on the other side of the card meaning your teammate has to keep you from guessing those words). You take turns playing Codenames Duet exactly as in the original — you give a single word clue and a number. If someone guesses everything correctly, they take a time token. If they get a word wrong by hitting a tan square, they put a token on the card (but keeping it open, because it might be a clue for the other player), and then the turn ends. In this way, the tokens mark the passage of time — you need to get 15 words between you (that is, use all 15 green cards to cover words) before the 9 (or 11) tokens run out. If either of you hits what is reflected as an assassin in your teammate’s side (and these are different on each side), then you both lose.Overall, this seems like an excellent blending of cooperative gameplay with the basic mechanics of Codenames that are so much fun. If you want to play Codenames but there are only two of you, this is definitely worth getting.

      120 people found this helpful

    32. Peter Guither

      Great companion to regular Codenames game

      Duet is a fine game on its own, but what really appealed to us is that the cards work with the regular Codenames game as an expansion set with all new words. We had gotten tired of the ones that came with the game and now we have 400 more words.

    33. swalker397

      Wonderful cooperative game for newlyweds!

      Got this game on sale for $8 and it has become a staple in my home already. It’s a wonderful game for my wife and I to spend time together avoiding assassins and learning the best clues for each other! Buy this game, you won’t regret it!

    34. HappyBookHugger

      Endless possibilities!

      My husband and I bought this game as something fun to do for our date nights that didn’t involve leaving the house. We really enjoy it! It gives us something cooperative to do and we both enjoy puzzles and riddles, so this is a challenge to try to think of something the other person with understand. It also opens up a lot of conversation, when one of us gives a clue that makes the other scratch their heads a go, “what???” There are also pretty much endless possibilities for word combinations and some of them just crack us up! We would highly recommend this game!

      One person found this helpful

    35. Zerin

      I thought I knew my spouse

      Who picks monkey when I say Russia!? Thanks to this game I have learned so much about my significant other, we can never be spies as we keep getting assassinated. I have not played the original in a long time so I barely recall the rules. Easy game to pick up but I am not a smart man so I struggled a bit, thankfully there’s a video on how to play.

      One person found this helpful

    36. Miranda Foust

      Fun 2 person option.

      We played codenames in a group of 4 at Christmas. My 11 year old wasn’t there. It’s always us two so I was sad she couldn’t play until I found this. So. Much. Fun. It takes a second to figure out but it’s neat to see the way my child’s brain works. There’s an option for more than 2 people, but due to covid we don’t see any other humans.

    37. Plarzoid

      Fantastic Co-op for Two

      Great quick game. With infinite replay ability.I love having co-op games for those times when you don’t want to compete against friends, but want something collaborative. Many party or co-op games break with only 2 players, so it’s great to have something simple and easy for exactly those occassions.This game has the added fun of being better the longer you play with a friend, or the longer you’ve known your friend, so there’s loads of opportunities to revisit inside jokes, trips, anecdotes, etc. Because the games are quick, it’s also fun to post-game chat about great clues and solutions you came up with, or strategize for the next game.Not mentioned much on the box or let’s plays on YouTube, but there’s a mini-campaign / challenge mode in here, too. You don’t need it to play, but it’s great for keeping the gameplay from getting stale after you’ve played the base configuration a bunch.Highly recommend. Easy to set up and be playing in minutes, and is a gateway to the rest of the Codenames series.

    38. Connor

      Fun for 2

      We loved the original Codenames and this Duet version allows for the same general style and enjoyment of gameplay but for only 2 players. Great game.

    39. Customer

      Fun and easy to learn game

      I initially purchased this for the holidays to play with family and friends and it was a total hit. Everybody loved it (young and old) and it is super easy to learn. Two players can easily play or you can have teams. We have continued to play it over the last few weekends. Plus, it is not a long game (from start to finish), maybe 30 minutes to play (at most). It is a fun, collaborative game versus a competitive game. I would highly recommend it.

    40. rjohns227

      The best game ever!!!

      All time favorite game! So after purchasing Codenames and Codenames Pictures, I was hesitant to spend even more money to buy Codenames Duet, even though the 2 previous purchases have been major hits! Well if you’ve been in the same boat, it is SO WORTH IT! So much fun to play 2 person, and has the capability to play with even more if u have company. So many small changes that make this game unlike the original, so fun! Already can’t wait to play again. Major hit you guys!

    41. Lola

      Great co-op version for 2!

      Codenames original is one of our favorite games, but during the pandemic, we found ourselves home alone just the 2 of us almost all the time. We were looking for some 2 player game options and came across this one, so naturally decided to give it a try. It’s still different enough from our regular Codenames game that it doesn’t feel too redundant to have both, and we’ve actually gotten a ton of use out of it over the past year! The co-op approach makes it even more fun for two people. I ended up buying several of them as Christmas gifts for other family members as well!

    42. Jemma

      Great game! I love the original version of Codenames …

      Great game! I love the original version of Codenames and this is a perfect version for two players. I like the world map that it comes with which offers new challenges so it doesn’t seem so repetitive if you’re prone to playing multiple rounds in a row. One of my new favorite games!

      5 people found this helpful

    43. Natalie W.

      Never gets old

      This game has been a godsend for me husband and I during quarantine! We enjoyed the original codenames game with friends, but once COVID hit and we needed some two player games, this has absolutely been our go to. Each time you play it’s a whole new challenge, and we always have a blast!

    44. Ashley Stephens

      A great two-player game to add to your collection

      This is a great two-player game that is not easy to win! My husband and I play this regularly and the replayability is very high with not only the amount of cards, but the different configurations. You can even use card sets from other Codenames games.

      4 people found this helpful

    45. Jo S.

      Perfect 2 player

      My husband and I love games, but have a busy schedule so large group game nights aren’t a frequent option. We also live up north so while it’s just the two of us, we like having engaging entertainment during snowstorms and such. I had this in my cart for a while and finally pulled the trigger. No regret! They did a really great job of still making it as fun as the regular code names but not less fun just because you can play it two players. We are pleased!

    46. Julia

      The best game in our gamekit!

      This is a great game for two. Very easy to learn, understandable and fun. All the game pieces are carefully design to make you smile and have a good time.Can be played with 2-11 people: this is a very good range for any of the games.I highly recommend!

      One person found this helpful

    47. Amazon Customer

      Great game for two!

      Super fun!! My boyfriend and I love this game already. If you’ve played classic Code Names this is very similar in that you are trying to have your partner guess all the words before you are out of turns. Where it differs is that, since there are only two of you, you are playing against the game, rather than against each other, so it’s a very interesting game in that way. It’s a fun bonding game for couples, and the lack of competition makes it a great game for couples who are too competitive against each other – haha ! There is a game mode for more than two players but since it’s just us two in the house we haven’t explored that yet. Overall, great purchase, very fun game!

      2 people found this helpful

    48. AT

      Fun couples game!

      My wife doesn’t like board games. I do. I knew if I wanted to share my passion, it would need to be a cooperative game, easy to explain and play, and fun. This fits the bill perfectly. We have not played the normal competitive version, but we now pull this out at least every other week to spend some quality time together doing something besides watching TV. You can learn some interesting things about people playing this together- my wife didn’t know what disk brakes were, for example…

      2 people found this helpful

    49. Cate R

      Great game for 2 people!

      There are not very many games, other than cards, for 2 people to play together. This is a great option!! It is fun, easy to play, and does not take long to play. We really appreciate that the game requires the players to work together – you either both fail or succeed. Great for couples!!

    50. Dart

      Great for couples

      I discovered this game when a friend had the pictures version for a small gathering. My wife and I loved the style of game and we found this version, duet.Perfect for 2 people, and I like that it’s cooperative.You can get creative with someone you have been with for a long time. Your clues can be places you visited, movies, TV shows, etc. Or you can just follow the rules which are 1 word clues.Another creative twist we did was swap out the word-deck for the pictures-deck from the other game, but still use the same “duet” rules. We just laid out the picture cards sideways so we can both have a decent view of them.

    51. Andrew J Frymark

      Great game

      I love this edition. I can play with just my wife and myself. It is easy to learn, giftable, but I’m not sure about the thickness of this…There are cards used in the game, but the thickness of the box is adequate…Why is this in the ratings?

    52. L. White

      My wife and I love it.

      We got this game as a gift and love it. It has high replay ability. It Is just the right difficulty, and most importantly is a good quality time activity.

    53. Kevin

      A great option for a 2 player version

      We are big fans of Codenames, but find ourselves playing a lot of games just the two of us. The original Codenames has a two player option, so why buy this? In the original game, the two player option is sort of like playing against a ghost team. One player is the code master and the other is the agent and after each turn, you give your invisible opponent a point and start the next turn. That’s fun, but feels more like practice. In this version, which you can mix with your original game for a much bigger pool of agent names (words), each matrix card is double sided and each player has their own secret agent list. You alternate being the code master and being the agent on each turn. There are 15 agents in each game, 6 that are unique to each player’s side of the matrix card and 3 that over lap. There are also multiple assassins that may or may not overlap with each code master. Many innocent bystanders and sometimes even an assassin on your matrix will be a contactable agent on your partner’s matrix, so you have to make sure you completely ignore your own matrix while you are guessing and contacting agents.To shake things up there is a pad of sheets that have a map of the world with multiple cities and a pair of numbers, like Berlin 11-2 or Monte Carlo 9-0. You can play a much more challenging game, working your way around the world. After each turn of guessing and contacting agents, the guessing player takes a timer token, which is a green folder on one side, indicating you completed your turn without contacting an innocent bystander or assassin, or a gray innocent bystander on the other side (I love that two of them are a dog and a snowman). If you contacted an innocent bystander, you place the token on that word card with the arrow facing towards you, indicating that the word is out of play for you, but may still be an agent for your partner. If you guessed only correct words, whether they were the ones your partner intended or not, you place the chip green side up in front of you to indicate that a turn was taken. So here’s what the numbers to mean: in Berlin, you get a total of 11 timer chips (turns) and only two of them are allowed to be contacts with an innocent bystander; in Monte Carlo, you get 9 green folders and no innocent bystanders. If you contact too many innocent bystanders, you might as well have contacted an assassin because your game is over. It adds a lot to the game because you now have a goal to try to get through all of the cities instead of just playing the same game every time. It can be pretty stressful to see your pile of timer chips shrinking while your pile of agent cards doesn’t seem to be shrinking fast enough because you just can’t find a clue that links multiple words together.

      295 people found this helpful

    54. Emily

      Fun and challenging 2-player game

      My husband and I were looking for a fun 2-player game and I came across this one. I had never played any version of Codenames before. We absolutely loved this!! The game truly can stump you and forces you to try thinking like your spouse would. Much more challenging and intense than I expected. Looking forward to trying the other game versions!

    55. Chloe

      Great use of extra time!

      My boyfriend and I have really enjoyed playing this game while stuck in the house during quarantine. The words are different from those in the original version of Codenames and more challenging, which makes the games more fun. The game requires us to work together as a team, which we enjoy. We have loved using the extra map feature to play more rounds and extend the game.

    56. Moxy Allen

      So fun to challenge how we think of words!

      My partner and I do Analog Date Night every Thursday where we have to entertain ourselves without devices for at least two hours. This game has been a great addition; he and I are not competitive, so we love the collaborative element. It’s also really fun to challenge how we think of words to make connections between certain words, and it’s extra thrilling when you come up with something obscure and your partner actually GETS IT!

    57. Ayah Muted

      From competitive to cooperative!

      I’ve bought both the original Codenames and Codenames Pictures, and this was still worth getting because it adds some completely new gameplay elements. Without getting into the rules, the main difference is that you alternate giving clues and guessing to cooperatively beat the game, where each person now has a ‘map’ of clues, and there is a 9-turn limit before you lose. This is a great improvement since each player gets to participate equally, whereas in the original game the codemaster is fixed and does the bulk of the work. The best part is that the word cards look exactly the same as those of the original game, but have different words, so you can mix-and-match to give yourself an even bigger selection and keep things fresh!

    58. Amazon Customer

      Favorite 2 Player Game – Cooperative

      We absolutely love this 2 player game and gift it to all of our couple friends. If you like code names, you’ll love this game. There’s no down time AND it’s cooperative! Absolutely love. While your partner is guessing, you are coming up with the next clues and vise versa. And if you want more of a challenge, take away a few of the turn chips. Highly Recommend

    59. J. John

      Makes us laugh and makes us think – every time

      Fun and challenging! We love the way this makes our brains dig for connections, and it has sparked some really interesting conversations.My husband: When I said “western” I thought you would pick “rope,” not “jail” !Me: “Jail” is more western than rope. Think of all those jails in the western movies. Every western movie set has a jail.Husband: But every cowboy had a rope, and not every cowboy went to jail. Besides, there were jails for centuries before the Wild West.Me: You’re right. (thinking: there was rope for centuries before the wild west too…)You might find yourself yelling and laughing at each other, “How could you pick THAT?” but you will be having a lot of fun! Plus you start to realize how many things are in your partner’s brain, connections they have made, that you never knew.

      41 people found this helpful

    60. adaley4

      Great mind game for Two

      The problem I have with many “fun” card/board games is that they are geared towards LARGE groups. You try playing Apples to Apples with only two people. . . not fun. FINALLY a fun party game that was made for just two people. Talk about FUN. Totally worth the cost. I personally think you should own this version AND the original groups play version (codenames). No remorse of owning both.

    61. Jessi D.

      Challenging and fun!

      Love this game! My partner and I have played this multiple times since we got it 2 weeks ago. It is challenging, but very fun. The map adds a fun challenge as well, so we won’t get bored for a while. And it would be super easy to come up with our own new word cards to keep from repeating too often. I love that this is designed for just 2 people (but you can play as teams if you have more than 2). We have the original version as well and enjoy it with friends… but this Duet version is awesome when we’re hanging out alone at our house.

    62. Bookworm

      Amazing twist on a fantastic game!

      This game is fantastic. A great twist on the original game, which challenges you to complete the board with a limited number of tries, which adds a whole new factor. You and your partner sit on opposite sides of the table and look at two sides of one card. This adds a new element as well by allowing the players to discern (by seeing how many of their words have been crossed off by the other player) to see how many words (that both of you are trying to say) are left. Sounds complicated but is so much fun! I have not tried playing it with more than 2 people, but I assume would be just as fun. Also, you get a whole new set of words to interchange with the original game! 10/10 would recommend.

      One person found this helpful

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