Netflix Adds Codenames Party to Netflix Games

Players join a session by scanning a QR code and then playing through their mobile devices; no additional hardware or controllers are required, as with other titles in Netflix's party game collection. Codenames began as a tabletop social game of word association before moving online as a virtual co-op option.

In its standard form, Codenames pits two teams against each other. Each team has a rotating Spymaster who tries to choose a clue that will lead teammates to guess as many goal words as possible. The Netflix edition includes that classic team mode and a version called Case Studies, in which all players guess for pre-made word and clue sets rather than having their own spymasters.

Netflix has also introduced a Codenames option called Party Mode that removes the team structure. In Party Mode, each individual is challenged to come up with a single clue to connect their own unique batch of eight words from the same set of 16 available options. Players earn points both by correctly guessing words from other gamers' sets and by having their own code words successfully identified by the rest of the group when their clue comes around.

The addition continues Netflix's efforts over the past year and a half to build out a roster of family-friendly and party games. Engadget also noted that its staff used to play Codenames at team hangouts, and that getting a group of writers to play rounds of the game is “pretty hilarious.”