Timeline for Is using a distinct pitch or tone in your voice for your hint legal in Codenames? I.e., "colddd" to link "blanket" and "Arctic"
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
22 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Mar 18, 2022 at 13:43 | comment | added | Joe W | @Stef I think you need to remember two things. First the game rules suggest that you play the way that is fun for your group. If that is the way your group wants to play because it is more enjoyable go for it. Second is that my reading of the rules is from how it worked out with my group and how various things impacted our enjoyment of the game. In the end the rules are very clear about playing in a way that is fun for you but the spirt of the rules from my reading is to limit the information that the spymaster receives from the team. | |
| Mar 18, 2022 at 13:36 | comment | added | Stef | @JoeW I don't really have "a group", we tend to play codenames with lots of different people; however we've never found this to ruin the game. In theory I would agree that the spymaster shouldn't be hearing the operatives' discussions if we really wanted to play a very-serious-high-stakes-codenames-tournament; however in practice we found that it doesn't matter, and any rule about restricting discussions would do more harm than good. | |
| Mar 18, 2022 at 12:28 | comment | added | Joe W | @Stef It sure sounded like you where suggesting giving the spymaster instructions by hinting at what you would pick on the next turn if the guess on this turn was wrong. I have never said that discussions shouldn't happen but they should be careful about talking about future plans and other topics that would guide the spymaster as what they should be saying. When my group tried things like that at the start we found it quickly ruined the game. | |
| Mar 18, 2022 at 9:03 | comment | added | Stef | @JoeW I think you are overthinking this and I never suggested the players should instruct the Spymaster; however, I also think discussion between the operatives should be encouraged, as it's what makes the game fun. For this reason I disagree with your "avoid at all costs", if "all costs" translates to "the operatives are not allowed to talk". | |
| Mar 17, 2022 at 17:25 | comment | added | Joe W | I would disagree that saying things "we know the other word for cow, so give us a new clue, and add one" is in the spirit of the rules and should be avoided at all costs. | |
| Mar 17, 2022 at 17:24 | comment | added | Joe W | @Stef I think you are overthinking this and the spirit of the game is to try to avoid the players instructing the spymaster on what clues should be given. | |
| Mar 17, 2022 at 17:17 | comment | added | Andrey | You are definably allowed to say things like "we know the other word for cow, so give us a new clue, and add one" There is also nothing against "we have 2 words left. We will say words until we say word 1, at that moment give us the clue for word 2" but that's not a good time | |
| Mar 17, 2022 at 16:34 | comment | added | Stef | @JoeW: If you say "The clue could refer to word A or word B, let's hit word A" and it turns out that word A was neutral, do you then pretend that the Spymaster has no idea you might try word B in the future? | |
| Mar 17, 2022 at 16:31 | comment | added | Joe W | @Stef We will discuss what we are going to chose based on the clue given but we will not discuss what we might do next turn or on any future turn. All our discussions are about what we think the current clue means. We don't allow discussions about trying a word on a future turn as we don't feel that is in the spirit of the rules. | |
| Mar 17, 2022 at 16:27 | comment | added | Stef | @JoeW Are you saying that if your team has one last word to guess in relation with the clue given, but you are hesitant between two words, you will not discuss it?? That sounds unrealistic of me. We're not trying to bend any rules, just trying to enjoy the game. Discussion between team members appears to be the heart of the game. I've played with many distinct groups of people and never met someone who wanted to forbid these kinds of discussions. | |
| Mar 17, 2022 at 15:30 | comment | added | Joe W | @Stef If I was to make an honest judgment on what you have been saying it appears you are looking for ways to bend the rules so that the spymaster has an easier time giving clues to the rest of their team. All of that can be prevented by the team not taking actions to telegraph what they may or may not do on future turns. | |
| Mar 17, 2022 at 15:29 | comment | added | Joe W | @Stef While I disagree, I have played this game many times and we never had a problem with any of those issues. For starters we don't discuss situations about which words we will try on future turns because we know it will influence the spymaster and in general we don't take actions that will work to influence the spymaster. There is no need to ask the spymaster to do anything if you are not taking actions that will influence what they might do next by telegraphing your actions. When my group plays we keep it at discussing the clue and how we think it relates to the words left on the table. | |
| Mar 17, 2022 at 15:24 | comment | added | Stef | @JoeW There's no good way to prevent that. You can't reasonably ask the Spymaster to put their hands over their ears to prevent them from overhearing the operatives' discussion. You can't ask the Spymaster to leave the room while the operatives are discussing. You can't ask the Spymaster to pretend they didn't hear the discussion and "choose a clue as if you hadn't heard us". How would the Spymaster even know what clue they would have chosen if the circumstances had been different? That doesn't make a lot of sense. | |
| Mar 17, 2022 at 15:22 | comment | added | Stef | @JoeW Furthermore we often discuss future moves. For instance we're hesitating between two words. So we say something like "let's try word A first. If it's not it we'll try word B next turn". That's not intended for the Spymaster, that's intended for the operatives. But of course the Spymaster will hear it - and they would be a fool not to take it into account when they choose their next clue. For instance, they could give us a clue to some other words, and let us hit word B. Or they could give us a clue about the words we're hesitating between, so we'd change our mind and decide not to hit B. | |
| Mar 17, 2022 at 15:19 | comment | added | Stef | "That the discussions shouldn't really involve the spymaster at all and they should just answer if the word they point to is valid or not. " So the players should just propose words without discussing them, and say "yes" or "no" until they can agree on a word? That seems really less fun that the games of Codenames I've been playing. We discuss a lot. That's what makes the game fun and interesting. We explain what we think the clue might mean, whether we think that's a reasonable explanation, etc. We talk we talk we talk. We certainly don't just "answer if the word is valid or not". | |
| Mar 16, 2022 at 21:48 | comment | added | Andrey | I have been in a game where the opposing team made up their own clues, and what cards they go with, until they had a good "hit" and then the spymaster gave that clue to the team. I just don't play with those people anymore | |
| Mar 16, 2022 at 18:06 | comment | added | Joe W | @Stef That the players should not be watching the spymaster to see how they react to what they are saying. That the discussions shouldn't really involve the spymaster at all and they should just answer if the word they point to is valid or not. There are plenty of ways to break the spirit of the game by how the spymaster acts and they should just be giving clues and checking the responses. | |
| Mar 16, 2022 at 17:28 | comment | added | Stef | @JoeW I don't understand what rule you're referring to. The spymaster is of course not allowed to speak, except for giving their clue. But the operatives are allowed to speak. What rule do you propose to "enforce"? | |
| Jul 1, 2020 at 19:01 | comment | added | Joe W | It isn't that hard to enforce and it is a rule so breaking that rule is breaking the rules and not just violating the spirit of the game. They included it for a reason and also included rules about not reacting when players say the names of cards or reach out to them. No matter how you look at it what you suggested is breaking the rules. | |
| Jul 1, 2020 at 18:20 | comment | added | Andrey | @JoeW Yeah, but that 's not a rule that's possible to enforce, if someone wants to break it | |
| Jul 1, 2020 at 17:27 | comment | added | Joe W | "When the spymaster gives a clue, his or her field operatives try to figure out what it means. They can debate it amongst themselves, but the spymaster must keep a straight face. The operatives indicate their official guess when one of them touches one of the codenames on the table." According to the official rules the spymaster can't use facial expressions and gives the clue before the operatives debate anything so what you are suggesting is against the rules as written. | |
| Jul 1, 2020 at 16:43 | history | answered | Andrey | CC BY-SA 4.0 |