How to Play Codenames Online

EDIT: Czech Games Edition, the company behind Codenames, sent me a nice note requesting me to take down the game and the Github code repository. I did. Maybe I’ll repurpose the core game engine with some small tweaks to the mechanics for a different game. In the meantime, you can check out the list of alternatives below.

My wife and I love Codenames, and we love playing with friends. It’s typically played as a board game, but let’s talk about how to play Codenames online.

Or you can just go straight there and play:

Play Free at playcodenamesonline.com

How Codenames Online Got Started

When my wife and I first moved to Houston five years ago we were far away from family and friends. One of our favorite activities was to play Codenames. Unfortunately, you need 4+ people to play. So, instead of doing the logical thing and making friends in our new locale, I set out to find out how to play codenames online.

I couldn’t find anything, unfortunately. There was a link to a “coming soon” official mobile app that has never actually materialized.

So I set out to build one. After some time tinkering around with it, I had a fully functional but extremely ugly version of Codenames. My family and I played it a couple times and then it gradually faded from memory and was inadvertently relegated to the virtual shelf.

Enter 2020. With the coronavirus going around and everyone working from home, I decided to dust it off, pretty it up, and release it. So I’m pleased to announce you can play for free! Try it!

Here are some screenshots:

Open Source

I’ve decided to open source my implementation here on Github. It would be great to have some people collaborate on improving it.

Specifically, I would love to have some help with the roadmap items, among which are desired visual improvements to make the design stunning.

Alternatives

When I started making Codenames way back when (2015ish) I Googled around for a bit trying to find a good online version, but couldn’t find any - that’s why I started making one at all! Since then, lots of implementations have sprung up, some better than others (and there are some that are quite pretty). I’ve compiled a list:

• EDIT - NEW As of May 5, 2020, it looks like there is an official “beta” version that has been released at https://codenames.game
• https://www.horsepaste.com/ (https://github.com/jbowens/codenames)
• https://www.codenamesgreen.com/
• https://netgames.io/games/codenames
• http://those.codes/
• https://www.cyberspaces.app/cyberterms
• https://codewords.tv/
• https://captnemo.in/codenames/
• http://codenames.roartec.com/
• http://www.codenames.plus
• https://ninjabunny.github.io/KodeNames/
• https://kodenames.io
• http://www.codewordsgame.com
• https://playcodenames.online
• http://kodenym.com/
• https://hackervoiceim.in
• https://cnames.herokuapp.com
• https://en.codenames.me - seems broken
• https://codenames.dport.me/ - Codenames pictures

Go Play

Try out my version, and tell me what you think. Share with your friends.