Games like Codenames

Last checked 28 October 2026

Quick answer: Codenames: Pictures is the same game with picture cards, and Codenames: Duet turns it into a co-op for two. Just One and Hues and Cues keep the one-clue, everyone-guesses feel and are both very easy to teach. Dixit and Mysterium swap words for strange picture cards, and The Chameleon adds a bluffer to catch.

What makes Codenames work is that moment when one clue has to point at two or three things at once, and everyone round the table can see where the clue-giver's head was at. The games here all chase that feeling in a different way. Two are Codenames spin-offs, a few are gentler clue games that suit mixed ages, and a couple bring in picture cards or a bit of bluffing. If you're buying a Christmas present for someone who already owns Codenames, start with Just One or Hues and Cues.

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Codenames: Pictures box: a figure in a long coat surrounded by colourful, layered picture cards

1. Codenames: Pictures

Codenames with picture cards instead of words. Spymasters give one-word clues and their team picks out the right images before the other team finds theirs.

Players: 4+ players
Age: 10+
Play time: about 15 minutes
Our teaching rating: Easy to teach

Why it suits this: Vlaada Chvátil's own picture version. It plays exactly like Codenames, with spymasters and one-word clues, but the grid is odd little drawings instead of words. That makes it easier for younger players or anyone playing in a second language, and the drawings are often harder to link than you'd think. It's 4 to 8 or more players, 10 and up, about 15 minutes, and Czech Games Edition brought out a new edition with fresh artwork in 2025.

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Details last checked 24 October 2026.

Codenames: Duet box: two secret agents on a green cover

2. Codenames: Duet

Work together, giving each other one-word clues, to find 15 secret agents hidden in a grid of 25 words.

Players: 2+ players
Age: 11+
Play time: about 15 minutes
Our teaching rating: Easy to teach

Why it suits this: Codenames as a co-op (everyone wins or loses together), by Vlaada Chvátil and Scot Eaton. You each see one side of the key card, so you take turns giving each other clues to find all 15 agents in 9 turns, while dodging the assassins. It's built for two, but more people can join in and play as one team. It's 2 or more players, 11 and up, about 15 minutes. The 400 words mix in with a normal Codenames box too.

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Details last checked 9 November 2026.

3. Just One

Everyone writes a one-word clue to help one player guess a mystery word, but any clues that match get cancelled out.

Players: 3 to 7 players
Age: 8+
Play time: about 20 minutes
Our teaching rating: Very easy to teach

Why it suits this: The closest thing to Codenames' clue-giving feel with none of the competition. Everyone writes a one-word clue to help one player guess a mystery word, but any clues that match get cancelled before the guesser sees them. So you have to be helpful and a little bit different. Repos Production's current box has 550 new words. It's 3 to 7 players, 8 and up, about 20 minutes, and it's very easy to teach.

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Details last checked 2 November 2026.

Hues and Cues box: a black box covered in a rainbow grid of coloured squares with the Hues and Cues title in the middle

4. Hues and Cues

One player picks a shade from the 480 on the board and gives one-word and two-word clues. Everyone else puts a marker where they think it is. It takes up to 10, so it's handy for big groups.

Players: 3 to 10 players
Age: 8+
Play time: about 30 minutes
Our teaching rating: Very easy to teach

Why it suits this: Codenames with colours. Scott Brady's game has a board of 480 shades, and the clue-giver picks one and describes it in one word, then two. Everyone puts a marker where they think it is, so you get a lot of "how is that sea green?". It takes 3 to 10 players, 8 and up, about 30 minutes, so it's a good one for a big family Christmas.

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Details last checked 22 October 2026.

Match Me If You Can box: rows of cartoon toasters with googly eyes and a speech bubble title

5. Match Me If You Can

A daft party game about thinking alike. Everyone secretly answers an odd question, like the best soup according to a soup bowl, and you score by matching someone. Bet on the others when you don't.

Players: 3 to 8 players
Age: 8+
Play time: 20 to 30 minutes
Our teaching rating: Very easy to teach

Why it suits this: If the fun in Codenames is guessing how someone else thinks, this goes straight for it. Everyone secretly answers a daft question, like what a soup bowl thinks the best soup is, and you score by matching at least one other player. You can bet on who'll match too. There are 300 questions on 150 cards and first to 13 points wins. It's 3 to 8 players, 8 and up, 20 to 30 minutes.

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Details last checked 27 October 2026.

Dixit box: a dreamlike orange sky with a small figure flying on a paper boat

6. Dixit

Describe one of your dreamlike picture cards with a word or phrase, then everyone else tries to spot yours among their own picks.

Players: 3 to 8 players
Age: 8+
Play time: about 30 minutes
Our teaching rating: Very easy to teach

Why it suits this: Jean-Louis Roubira's picture game, with art by Marie Cardouat. On your turn you describe one of your dreamy cards with a word or a phrase, and the others pick a card from their hand to match. You want some people to spot yours, but not everyone. It's the same skill as a good Codenames clue: not too obvious, not too obscure. It's 3 to 8 players, 8 and up, about 30 minutes.

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Details last checked 19 October 2026.

7. The Chameleon

Everyone but one player knows the secret word. Each of you says one word linked to it, then you vote on who's faking. Catch the Chameleon and they can still escape by guessing the word.

Players: 3 to 8 players
Age: 14+
Play time: about 15 minutes
Our teaching rating: Easy to teach

Why it suits this: Big Potato's bluffing game. Everyone but one player knows the secret word, and each of you says one word linked to it. Too vague and you look like the Chameleon. Too obvious and the Chameleon works it out. If they're caught, they can still escape by guessing the word. It's 3 to 8 players, 14 and up, about 15 minutes, and rounds are quick enough to play over and over.

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Details last checked 2 November 2026.

Mysterium box: a misty blue haunted manor on a hill with a horse-drawn carriage on a cobbled street

8. Mysterium

One player is a ghost who can't speak and hands out dreamlike picture cards as clues. Everyone else works together to pin down the suspect, the place and the object within seven rounds.

Players: 3 to 7 players
Age: 10+
Play time: about 42 minutes
Our teaching rating: Takes a little explaining

Why it suits this: The co-op for Codenames fans who want something bigger. Oleg Sidorenko and Oleksander Nevskiy's game has one player as a ghost who can't speak, handing out picture cards as clues, and everyone else has seven rounds to work out the suspect, the place and the object. It won the As d'Or (France's game of the year award) in 2016. It's 3 to 7 players, 10 and up, about 42 minutes, and it takes a little explaining.

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Details last checked 22 October 2026.

Want more games for a crowd? See our party board games and board games for large groups. If it’s only the two of you, try two-player board games. Is Articulate your family’s favourite? See games like Articulate. Choosing between Duet, Pictures, XXL and the rest? See which Codenames to buy. More clue games are on our word games page.

How we choose and check

We pick games for the situation, and ignore hobby rankings and hype. Player counts, ages and play times come from the publisher's own page or the box. If we can't confirm a detail there, we leave it off the card. The teaching rating is our own view from reading the rules, not a publisher figure. Nobody pays us to include a game. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. See how we make money.