Code Names Video Instructions

Materials Needed:

•  16 Square Content Cards per group (words, equations, pictures, etc.)

• 8 Clue Cards per group

• 6 red cards per group (cut squares out of red cardstock paper or print these)

• 6 blue cards per group (cut squares out of blue cardstock paper or print these)

• 4 tan cards per group (cut squares out of tan cardstock paper or print these)

Directions: Played like the board game CODE NAMES

        Students need to split into groups to play the game. Groups of 6-8 work great. Each group will start by laying all 16 of their content cards out in a giant square (4 by 4) facing up. They don’t need to be in the same order as all the other groups in the class. Then they will divide their group in half, one red team and one blue team. Each team must choose one “Clue Giver” per round. The goal of each round is one colored team, blue or red, to correctly guess all of their cards by receiving clues before the other team. 

      To start the game the Clue Givers will draw a Clue card. The Clue Card will show a 4 by 4 grid with colors. They first need to agree based on the Clue Card which part of the board orientents to the rows on the Clue Card. Then, they are going to try to get the remaining players on their teams to figure out which cards were assigned their color. They do this by giving clues on alternating turns to their team. When it is their team their clue can only consist of two words- a word and a number. Example: VERTEX 2. This clue is supposed to tell their team they want them to guess two cards and the two cards have something to with the word VERTEX. Rule: The word included in the clue cannot be related to the position of the board. Example: They can not say CORNER 2 meaning it is two of the corner cards. 

      The players on the team that are not the Clue Givers are the Guessers. The Guessers must then discuss out loud what cards they think the clue was about. The team not playing needs to listen because this will help them decipher, using process of elimination, which cards also must not be theirs. When the Guessers think they have deciphered the clue they tap, one at a time, on the content cards. The Clue Giver can NOT speak but instead places colored cards down on the cards they taped on. Example: They first tap a card that is red on the clue card. The Clue Giver will place a red square over that content card covering it up. Then they accidentally tap on a card that is blue, the other team’s card. Their Clue Giver grabs a blue card and places it over the content card. They inadvertently helped the blue team. 

     Once a team has tapped and covered cards it is the other team’s turn. The Clue Giver says a clue and the Guessers pick cards. This process continues until one team has covered their correct 6 cards that correspond to their color. They are the winners.

FAQs and Tips:

•  This game is fantastic at comparing and contrasting things. If you have time to hold a short discussion at the end it is really fun! Examples: What cards were easy to link and why? What two cards were the hardest to link and why? Etc.

• You can play multiple rounds just pick new Clue Givers on each team and pick a new Clue card.

• This game is sometimes a learning curve if students haven’t played the actual board game before. The first week of school I have my students play a version that isn’t related to content as a warmup, so they are more able to grasp the rules. Then I add in content after that first week.

• Clue Giving tends to be the harder role with more pressure. I warn students of this and let them pick who wants to give clues. Both positions are learning and thinking a TON so there isn’t a benefit of doing one verses the other. 

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