Hi all, we are in the midst of unveiling Board Game Geek’s top 3 games which came out last week and providing our thoughts on each game. We have unveiled 7 Wonders as the Runner Up of Board Game of the Year, as well as the winner for Card Game and 2 Player Game category, which you can read here. Now with that out of the way, we will reveal the next Runner Up of Board Game of the Year. I’m sure many more will agree that this game deserves its place.
Codenames
Codenames – Runner Up, Board Game of the Year
- Winner of Party Game of the Year
- Winner of Family Game of the Year
- Runner Up of Board Game of the Year
Codenames is a 2-8 players game that sees 2 teams, the blue and red, trying to guess correctly the names of all the spies that belong to their team. Before the start of the game, each team appoints a spy master who himself or herself only knows the location of all the spies. They then take turns to say 1 word and 1 number only as a clue for their team mates to guess. Be careful though, as there is an assassin lurking among the spies. Whoever gets the assassin, immediately loses the game.
Author’s thoughts: I gotta admit, I was skeptical when I first got my copy at the end of last year. The game play that was described to me initially, sounded boring and reminded me of Guess Who? It was also that time of year when it was near Christmas and all my copies were sold out fast. (It still holds the record for most games sold in a month.)
Hesitantly, I gave it a try with a group of friends and boy, I was impressed and even had a few laughs, though I was not sure if it was the game or the beer I had that was giving me the tickles. Still doubting the game, I gave it another shot with another group of friends. This time round, I was sold.
This game is WONDERFUL and let me tell you why. This game is by no means groundbreaking but it has 1 thing that works for it and that is it has a high replay value. I have played this at least with 5 different gaming groups, about 3-4 rounds each time and the experience I got is different each time.
Laughter Guaranteed
Have friends with good English? No prob. Bad English? Now there will be some giggles. Terrible English? There will be ruptures of laughter all round the table. See? Codenames work with all groups of friends and family that you play with. Best thing is, it takes only 5 minutes for players to learn and love the game.
And for all the reasons above, I truly believe Codenames truly deserves all the awards it gets. What are you waiting for? Get your Codenames out for your next gaming session and I assure you and your friends will have a blast.