Reviews for Codenames

A Breath of Fresh Air! CGE did everything right with this one. They've not only done a wonderful translation of the board game for the mobile experience but expanded and innovated upon every aspect of the game. They've given you ways to play single-player, with people tangibly, or experience the online version. All of them are equally as fun. There exists a ton of content to explore and unlock by playing as well, which helps incentivize playing more. Wonderful, thank you!

It's a nice game. But there shouldn't be Limitations to the amounts of games at once+the inability to quit games. It's like Scrabble app- even though it's a long game you should be able to quit it. I don't plan on playing tons of games to level up. Which means you lost a player. And people should be able to quit games. Also you should make a version like the tabletop game where the player will only see his color, so there can be two-player games which will take much shorter.

I love the original board game more than my friends care to play it, so this app is a dream come true! I learned of it through the author's blog on BoardGameGeek and was fascinated by the tightly-integrated design of all the game modes. I especially like the special powerup/themed game modes and wish they were playable over the board too. My only complaint is that it's hard to navigate lots of simultaneous games, but maybe that's a sign I should take a break!

I've been playing the online version of Codenames every week at my work for my Friday Funday meeting for years. As someone with a lot of experience playing this game, this mobile version is by far the best. Not only does it include the classic version of the game, there are tons of additional game modes that put a fun twist on the original concept. Despite the server issues I've been experiencing, after playing non-stop for 12 hours, this is easily my new favorite mobile game. Bravo CGE!

The app is pretty great to be honest. There are different options for play, it is a one-off cost (at least for now), encourages a community of players, and the game grows as you progress. I prefer this to the in-person version as it avoids sitting around when someone is stuck. I' to see the ability to add extra words into the regular game and also perhaps the ability to add a flag to your username so people have a better idea of clues to give.

Great even beyond simply being able to play codenames, with some clever and creative modes, and thoughtful progression that can be a pleasant surprise since it's not all revealed up front (often when you feel like something is frustrating, you'll unlock a solution). I also love the one time purchase model that doesn't hammer you with ads/microtransactions. It feels like a lot of love and respect for the players, and it's clear a lot of planning and effort went into making this. Well done CGE!

I started off wondering what the point was to have this as a mobile app. I think I even reached out to support that I wanted a refund (I changed my mind after like 2 minutes). But I played a couple rounds after they didn't respond for a day or so. I keep coming back to this game. I love the leveling up, the game style changes, the unlocking, and other things. Well worth the buy.

Wow. They went far beyond simply bringing this great word clue game from the table to an app, and did a spectacular job with it! I'm completely hooked! The original (smart, insanely successful) Codenames is at the core, plus really creative options that aren't possible on a table. (Nothing extra to buy.) You're matched up to play with english speakers from all over, and can also do clue puzzles by yourself. Friends (both in-app and in life) may set up games with more flexible rules and chat.

I want to rate higher, as I enjoy the app when it actually loads. The server is down at least once a day, usually multiple. This is frustrating in a game where streaks can matter and response times are limited. I don't necessarily have time to keep checking throughout the day to see if I can log in. But don't worry the app will still send push messages to let you know you have stuff to do even though you cannot log in. edit dropped to 1 star. second hour or game being unresponsive today

This app version of Codenames really exceeded my expectations. A lot of different game modes, achievements, and other things to keep it interesting. I kind of prefer it to playing live since I can really take my time on clues if I need to. You have up to 24 hours to make your move, so sometimes the games take a while. The scenario mode is neat: you try to come up with the best clue, they show it to a bunch of people and you see how well yours performed compared to other people's clues.

This reproduction of the instant classic party game is executed exceptionally well here in mobile format. Lots of different game modes, fun collectables and achievements, fantastic multiplayer experience. There are even neat little cut scenes when you level up and earn rewards. Best of all, just pay once and NO ADS anywhere to be found. They knocked this out of the park. If you love Codenames, or just like fun word party games, you won't be disappointed in this. I can't put it down.

Amazing implementation. I originally had some frustrations about how it limited how much you could play. but leveling up mostly alleviates that. I still think 24 hours is too long to give people to take a single turn. Too many games time out because players abandon them. 12 hours would be more than enough. And PLEASE give us the ability to use our word collections in regular mission games, and maybe even daily challenges. The base word list really gets old after you've played quite a bit.

This app... it's not there yet. The website for codenames works extremely well for actually playing codenames, no ads, unlimited games, anyone you want can join a room. If you'd like to play a bunch of weird variants of codenames with random strangers online or by yourself, yeah you can get the app. But if you want a simple user interface without having to pay, go online and don't be tempted by this app, it is NOT what you'd expect. It isn't advertised clearly and you can't get a refund.

Really fun! Just like the board game, but with extra modes and you can pick it up to play as little or as much as you like. 2 issues keep me from giving it a perfect 5: 1) I don't like typing in landscape mode. It would be nice to have a vertical option. 2) If I keep the game running—even in the background—it gets extremely laggy and needs to be restarted. (Pixel 8a) Thanks!

No ads and no IAP. (Though reasonable future IAPs like large word packs would be fair.) It's the board game except you can play dozens of games at once asynchronously. Fun alternate rule modes. Some reviews complain progression is slow, but you unlock nearly every game mode quickly and progression after that is basically just giving you something to grind. The biggest downside is that the core wordset gets repetitive after hundreds of games, should be easy enough to 10x it at least.

Great app! Definitely worth it. As someone who has and enjoys the physical versions of codenames, this app has pass and play and various online modes as well, and you can have multiple games going on at once so you can play while you're waiting for other's turns, and without any micro-transactions.

Edit: Bumping to 5. Quality has increased over past few months. Still some occasional glitches as user base grows, but overall, I play this game more than any other. Love the game overall. There are some fun twists on the board game. Would be 5 stars, but the game gets stuck frequently when switching back to it - says connected, but screen is stuck - requiring a kill and restart.

A brilliant adaptation of the board game, updated to be asynchronous and with tons of variant modes and a progression system. You even unlock the variant modes as options to use in the for-fun games you can invite friends to =) On the day that I downloaded they were having some type of server issue that made the game regularly time out (and then flat-out fail to even log in, as the problem progressed), but it's been smooth sailing in the week since then!

great interface and expansion upon the original board game. trying to get my gamer friends to join so we can play together without having to be physically together. no in game cash grabs. good variety of game options. interesting progression allows one to play new variants as you gain "experience" vs being overwhelmed with them all at once. really love the spymaster challenges where you can see the clues that other people give and how people responded. it's helped up my game.

I actually love the game but the players are an issue. Echoing what other reviews have said, a single game can go multiple days. It's not unusual to have 5 games just idling away. Maybe locking the daily challenges if it's your turn in a game would incentive players to take their turns. Maybe also add a bonus score for timely playing.