Codenames Overview
The Codenames franchise has many iterations ranging from Disney to Marvel. It is a party game that consists of 2 teams that are competing with one another to recall all their agents from the field. There is one captain who can only say a word and a number. The rest of the team has to guess which pictures/words from the grid the captain is referring to. The number helps communicate how many cards the captain took into consideration when giving the clue. There are a few wrinkles in the game where an assassin is in the grid and triggers an instant loss if called upon. This adds an element of risk if the group decides to take a wild risk.
How to play in class (Difficulty: Easy)
Party games tend to be short which would keep students engaged. There is also a focus to the game which would sway them from idle banter. Having teams that are too big would lead to some students doing their own thing. I recommend having groups of 6-10 students per team. If you wish to include the entire class, create a tournament format where you have 3-4 teams competing. You can also choose to have 2 captains per team so it does not put the captain at risk of ridicule if they do not perform well enough.
The word versions of this game can be played without the actual box and on the whiteboard/blackboard. However, I recommend projecting this game via document camera or taking a picture of the grid.
If you are using this game for a second language class, I suggest having 4 dictionaries available and playing the Codenames: Pictures version. For a French class, have a bilingual dictionary so that the game can be completely played in French as the captain would look up the word they are thinking of, pronounce it in French while their teammates would look up the word in their own dictionary. The benefit of playing the picture version is to remove the temptation of saying one of the words on the grid.
Courses you may consider for this game
- Art
- French as a Second Language
Assessment Exemplars
- Grade 9 and 10 Visual Arts
- Grade 9 Core French
- Various Courses as a Study Tool
Teaching With Board Games 