I don't recall seeing any hyphenated words in games I've played recently. I do think they should be disallowed, as it could cause problems similar to allowing multi-word names or titles.

I think numbers are OK.

I have no opinion on numbers...

If folks want numbers to be ok I can change 4 to read

4. Numbers are allowed in written form if they are non hyphenated and not more than one word (e.g. eight, thirteen, forty, thousand, million, etc). However, you can use any number you want in numerical form (e.g. 8, 2001, 3.14159, 911 etc.).

thoughts....?

I can change 3 to:

3. Acronyms (e.g. POG, FBI, NATO, etc) are allowed.

Like both of those changes.

I think allowing numbers is fine but isn't gonna be done much. They're not really useful as clues.

2nd draft... might be ready for a sticky as final version???
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2nd Draft - POG Codenames Rules - January 14, 2019

This post has been prepared to consolidate all rule changes/amendments that are specific to POG Codenames games. There have been several changes in the last two years, but they have not been consolidated into one thread, post or sticky, thus not all players are aware of them.

The original POG Codenames rules (set by rtspurs) are in the link below:

games rules here

The face-to-face Codenames Boardgame rules are in the link below:

codenames game rules


New players should read both links, as what is contained below are only POG amendments, thus they do not repeat the vast majority of the game rules.


1. All clues must be one word only. While proper nouns are allowed, clues like George Washington or Brad Pitt are not allowed. You can use Washington or Pitt if you like.

2. Hyphenated words are NOT allowed. You can’t use Mother-in-law or twenty-three.

3. Acronyms (e.g. POG, FBI, NATO, etc) are allowed.

4. Numbers are allowed in written form if they are non hyphenated and not more than one word (e.g. eight, thirteen, forty, thousand, million, etc). However, you can use any number you want in numerical form (e.g. 8, 2001, 3.14159, 911 etc.).

5. A word (other than a proper noun) is a legal word if the spymaster can find it in the merriam-webster online dictionary. So, even though a word like Sexpionage has a wiki page, it is not yet considered a word by merriam-webster, so it is not a legal POG Codenames word.

6. If a spymaster is in doubt about whether a potential clue is legal, check with the tourney organizer (if it is a tourney game) and/or the other spymaster. But, don’t ask either to bend the rules above.

7. Using an illegal clue. The penalty for using an illegal clue is (1) immediate loss of turn and (2) the opposing team’s spymaster gets to reveal a word of his/her choice.

8. Accidental infractions. From time to time strange stuff will happen. A spymaster might accidentally make a mistake in a board update, a wrong word may be revealed, etc. In these cases the tourney coordinator should resolve the matter. If it is not a tourney game the two spymasters can come to a fair resolution. It may sometimes be the case that the only fair resolution is to restart the game with a new board. However, that is a last resort.




Codenames Long-List rules.

These are additional rules for long list games.

17 reds, 16 blues, 15 neutrals and 2 assassin words.

Longlist Rule 1: There are two assassin words: If an assassin word is chosen, the opposing spymaster gets to flip an unrevealed word of his/her choice. If the same team hits both assassin words, they lose the game.

Longlist Rule 2. For long-list games each team is permitted to pick up to 2 extra words each turn (instead of the normal 1 extra word). For example, if you get a clue of Monkey 2 you can pick up to 4 words. Monkey Unlimited, of course, would still allow you to pick until you are wrong (or you want to stop).

Link to Codenames word randomizer.

Codenames randomizer

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Put a length limit on 4 to prevent spelling things with numbers and directly using binary. I think 13373.141 is legitimate enough, but nobody wants 01000001 (ASCII for A) to be a valid hint for "all A words". At least I hope not. Max length of 7 digits should do it, and don't bother with specifically banning 7-bit ASCII unless people start abusing it.

I'd also add an exemption for 5. If it's a word particular to POG or a word the spymaster thinks everyone would be okay with, then it's legal. You could add an allowance for asking the other spymaster's permission if the former suggestion is too lenient for your tastes.

The above paragraph is all directly in opposition to rule 6, which I think should not apply to rule 5. For the others, it should stick.

7 I think is too punishing. Just forfeiting the turn is enough to more than balance it out, and I'd assume people are breaking the rules only unintentionally.

For the Long-List rules, I'd make it so any team hitting the second assassin word always loses. The first team to hit a word already gets punished massively by the free chosen reveal, and you get to maintain the sense of "assassin word = disaster" for the other team, instead of effectively making it a neutral word to that team.

Everything else looks great, and thanks for writing all of that up and coordinating a master rules list

Can't tell if trolling?

Yeah, i don't know Adam (I don't think?) but I am guessing it is a troll response..

First example shows a lack of codenames rules knowledge, as 01000001 (ASCII for A) is already an illegal clue for all A words anyway.

Adam has played a couple series with us. But yeah, using #s as code would be illegal.

Oh Ok. Thx

Main rules already make the above illegal.

One of the reasons we are using a reference (merriam-webster online) is to remove subjectivity on what it is and is not a word. We really are trying to avoid the.."I think people will be ok with this..." For example, I wanted to use sexpionage a few games ago. It is not a word, so I couldn't. Last thing I want to see is someone else use it (or any non word) and then say ..." i thought it would be ok..."


Yeah, but the team has already seen the illegal clue. Thus they have information, even though they cant use it yet. So, it is penal to encourage spymasters to make sure they are not just tossing out anything out there, and are actually checking first to make sure. We have had to restart whole games because of errors that were not intentional, but were easy to avoid if people just read and followed the rules..So, it i not so much about trying to being harsh about the punishment as it is about getting people to pay attention so they and their team never get penalized.


In a long-list game a 1 word penalty is not an extreme penalty. Others may disagree, but it would seem unfair to me to have both teams hit one assassin word each, and one team loses when it happens and the other doesn't.

BTW, our original rule was that you could hit the assassin twice and still not lose. We felt that the assassin(s) need to have some weight and fear of avoidance, and that if you hit both of them you don't deserve to win.

Thanks for the input. Hope to see you playing more codenames...

In for a new game to spin up

Who wants to play?

Yep

in

In:
Nich
Ibedrummin
Jmurder

Add your name to this list and we’ll go once we get 6 or 8?

I want a game

In

sure

In

hi in

That’s 8

Will someone volunteer to rand us into 2 teams and rand a list to send to spymasters?

Nich
Ibd
Jmurder
Pwns
Irtm
Insanity
D1
inD

Rules STICKY is up.

Will also link it in OP.

If one of you will start a game thread, I'll rand teams and board.

Do you want to pick spymasters, or rand that as well?

https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/5...s-4v4-1733891/

randed spymasters seems fine, but maybe someone doesn't want to

Can we play some more codenames?

ok