Overview
At a glance
Is this game right for my group?
ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.
Harder to teach
High replayability
Highly interactive
Scales well
Deep strategy
How it plays
How does it play?
What are these strange symbols on the map? They are code for locations where spies must contact secret agents!
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Communication Limits
Rules restrict what players may say, show, or reveal while cooperating.
Push Your Luck
Choose whether to secure current gains or risk them for a larger reward.
Memory
Remember previously revealed information, positions, or sequences.
Team-Based Game
Players compete in fixed teams and coordinate toward a shared team result.
Read the full game description
What are these strange symbols on the map? They are code for locations where spies must contact secret agents! Two rival spymasters know the agent in each location. They deliver coded messages telling their field operatives where to go for clandestine meetings. Operatives must be clever. A decoding mistake could lead to an unpleasant encounter with an enemy agent – or worse, with the assassin! Both teams race to contact all their agents, but only one team can win. Codenames: Pictures differs from the original Codenames in that the agents are no longer represented by a single word, but by an image that contains multiple elements.