
The real product. The opinion is still ours.
The Word Game That Recruits Your Friends
Codenames Second Edition from Czech Games Edition: a two-team word game in a small box, well under $50, for a table that likes to argue.
Opens the retailer in a new tab. Same price for you.
Added September 28, 2026 · 0 looks · 0 clicks
Why we love it
Some gifts need a size. This one needs a table and a person who thinks they are clever. One player can see the map. Everyone else sees a grid of words. You say one word and a number. Your team tries to find their agents and not the assassin. Friendships survive. Barely.
We love the Second Edition because it is the current box of the game people already mean when they say Codenames. Refreshed art, a revised word list, the same glorious overconfidence. When we looked it was $24.97, which is a gift under $50 that does not care about a shoe size or a skin type. Four players is the sweet spot. A crowd still works if the crowd can hear the clue.
It fills the part of the night when someone says they want to play a game and means a real one, not a ten-minute cartoon. Bananagrams can keep the tiles. This one wants spies.
The longer story
This is Codenames Second Edition, the English party word game from Czech Games Edition, model CGE00125. Two teams. The listing says about 4 to 8 or more players. One spymaster per team gives a one-word clue. Everyone else guesses. The box includes agent tiles, a double agent, bystanders, an assassin, key cards, a stand, a rulebook, and 200 cards with 400 codenames. It is the 2025 second edition, not Codenames Pictures, not Duet, and not a themed spinoff.
Good for
- A kitchen table, a trip, and a gift you can wrap without asking for a sleeve length
- Mixed ages who like words and would like to feel brilliant for one clue
- Anyone whose game shelf is one party game away from being a personality
Skip it if
- You wanted a quiet solo puzzle or a cooperative game with no loser. Guessing the assassin ends the round
- You needed Pictures, Duet, or an expansion. This link is the Second Edition base game
- The household is mostly toddlers. The box warns about small parts, and the listing recommends it for teens and up
When we looked, the price was $24.97 and the page was in stock, sold by Czech Games Edition. The deal link is the Amazon page for that Second Edition (/dp/B0FJMQB63N) with our Amazon Associates tag threepaths-20. Confirm the edition says Second Edition before you check out.
Similar picks
Neighbors on the shelf, not a “customers also bought” séance.
Play· Exploding KittensThe Deck That Takes the Evening Personally
Exploding Kittens Original Edition: a 56-card game for 2–5 players, ages 7 and up, that lasts about 15 minutes and stays under $50.
Play· BananagramsThe Banana That Starts an Argument
Classic Bananagrams: 144 letter tiles in a banana pouch, a word race for about one to eight people, ages 7 and up.
