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7 games like Codenames
Codenames has two problems, and most "games like Codenames" lists ignore both.
The first is that it's a two-team game, so it's dead on arrival for two players and awkward for three. The second is that the clue-giver has all the information and most of the agency — if you're the spymaster every round, you're playing a different game from everyone else.
These seven fix one or both. They're all word-association or deduction games, and they're ordered roughly from "closest to Codenames" to "farthest".
Quick picks
- Closest to the original: Decrypto — same clue-and-guess spine, with real tension added.
- For exactly two players: Codenames Duet — the official co-op version, and it's better than the original at that count.
- Least stressful: Just One — cooperative, no losing team, no one in the hot seat.
Decrypto
3–8 players · 15–45 min · Scorpion Masqué Closest match
Two teams, four secret words each, and a code you have to transmit without the other team cracking it. The interception phase is what separates it from Codenames: you're not just giving clues, you're defending against someone actively decoding you.
It fixes the spymaster problem by rotating who's encoding, and because your code gets weaker every round, the tension rises instead of resetting.
Just One
3–7 players · 20–60 min · Repos Production
Everyone writes one clue for the same word, and duplicate clues cancel each other out. That single rule does a remarkable amount of work: it stops the obvious clue, and it stops the clever clue too.
It's fully cooperative, so there's no spymaster and no losing side. If what you like about Codenames is the moment a connection clicks, this keeps that and removes the competition.
Telestrations
4–8 players · 30 min · The Op
Telephone, but with drawing. You sketch a word, the next player guesses what it is, the next draws that guess, and by the end the original word has mutated into something else entirely. Nobody needs to be able to draw — being bad at it is the joke.
It’s the loosest connection to Codenames on this list, but it scratches the same itch: the fun is in watching a meaning survive, or fail to survive, the trip between two people.
Wavelength
2–12 players · 30–45 min · Palm Court
Instead of a word grid, you get a dial between two opposites and a hidden target. One player describes something that lands on the target; the table argues about where it lands.
It's not a team game and it doesn't have a spymaster, but it hits the same nerve — one person knows something, and everyone else has to think the same way they do.
Trapwords
4–8+ players · 30 min · Czech Games Edition
It's a word-guessing race through a dungeon, except the opposing team writes down words you're not allowed to say before you start. The forbidden list is the whole design: you get closer to the answer, they make it harder.
Same clue-giving thrill as Codenames, with a nastier edge and a bit more structure.
Cross Clues
2–6 players · about 10 min · Blue Orange
A grid where rows and columns are labelled with words. You say one word, and the team places a token on the square where the two labels intersect. Cooperative, and ten minutes end to end.
This is the one for the end of the night, or for a group that wants the Codenames feeling without the twenty-minute setup and team sorting.
Codenames Duet
2 players · 15–30 min · Czech Games Edition Best for two
The official two-player co-op version. You and your partner each know half the agents, and you have to give each other clues to find all of them before you run out of turns.
If you already own Codenames and only ever play with one other person, this is the version you actually want. It solves the count problem completely rather than patching it.
Which one should you get?
You play with two people most often: Codenames Duet — it’s the only one here built for exactly two.
You want the same game but more competitive: Decrypto. It's the natural upgrade path.
You want the same feeling with nobody losing: Just One, then Cross Clues.
You want the clue-giving high without a grid: Wavelength.
Common questions
Is Codenames good with two players?
The original is designed for two teams, so at two players one person ends up running both roles and the guessing tension disappears. Codenames Duet exists specifically to fix this and is the version to buy for two.
What's the difference between Codenames and Decrypto?
Codenames is about one clue connecting multiple words. Decrypto is about transmitting a code that stays secret over several rounds while the other team tries to break it. Decrypto has more going on and takes slightly longer.
Are any of these playable with kids?
Just One and Cross Clues work well with confident readers around 8 and up. Decrypto and Trapwords reward vocabulary and bluffing in a way that tends to favour adults.