4–16 players · 15–30 minutes · Free
Codenames online, free, for up to sixteen
Shortwave is our free browser take on the one-word-clue team game. Two teams, a 5×5 grid, and one player on each side who can see which words are theirs. Everybody plays on their own phone, so the grid is shared and the key never is.
- No account
- No download
- Free forever
What you get
Shortwave, in full
The key stays secret, properly
The messenger sees the colour of every card on their own screen. Everyone else sees plain words. No cardboard stand, no angling the key away from the table, no accidental reveals.
Sixteen players, two teams
Big group? Everyone joins. Four is a proper game and sixteen still works, because guessing is a conversation and more voices only makes it louder.
One word, one number
Transmit a signal and a count. Your agents tap the words they think you meant. Right, and they keep going; wrong, and the transmission ends.
One card ends it instantly
Nine cards for the starting team, eight for the other, seven that do nothing, and one leak that loses the game on the spot. Rushing is how you find it.
Words or pictures
Play the classic 25-word grid, or switch to a 20-card picture grid where the clue has to bridge images instead of words. Different game, same rules.
Nothing to install
Start a room, read out the five-letter code, play. No app, no account, no email address, no waiting for the slowest person to finish downloading.
Actual screenshots
This is the real thing, not a mock-up
What the messenger sees. Same grid, same moment, on a different phone.
How it works
How to play Shortwave online
Start a room
Tap Play Shortwave. The room opens with the game selected and a five-letter code to share.
Split into two teams
Everyone joins in a browser with the code, then picks a side. Each team chooses one messenger.
The messenger transmits
Looking at the colour-coded grid on their own phone, the messenger gives one word and a number — the number of grid words that word is meant to point at.
The agents guess
The team talks it over and taps the words they think were meant. A correct guess keeps the turn alive; a wrong one hands it over.
Find all your words first
The first team to reveal all of its own words wins — unless somebody taps the leak card, which loses the game immediately.
Questions
Frequently asked
How do you play Codenames?
Two teams sit opposite a grid of 25 words. Each team has one clue-giver who can see which words belong to their side. They give a single word plus a number, and their teammates guess which grid words are meant. A correct guess lets the team keep going; a wrong one ends the turn. First team to find all of its own words wins, and one card in the grid loses the game for whoever taps it.
How many people can play?
Shortwave seats 4 to 16. You need at least two per team so somebody can give the clue and somebody can guess it, and it stays fun a long way up from there.
Can you play with 3 people?
Not in Shortwave — four is the minimum, so both teams get a clue-giver and a guesser. With three, one of you can sit out a round and rotate in, or wait for a fourth.
Is it free to play online?
Yes. No account, no payment, no app. Start a room in the browser, share the five-letter code, and everyone is in.
Can we play in the same room, in person?
That is the case it was built for. The grid is on everybody's phone and the key is only on the messengers', so you can sit around one table without anyone having to hold a card face-down.
How long does a game take?
Fifteen to thirty minutes. There is an optional turn timer if your messengers think for a living.
Is this the official Codenames game?
No. Shortwave is our own word-association team game in the same tradition, with its own word packs. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or licensed by the publisher of Codenames.
Ready in about ten seconds
Tap the button, read out the five letters, and everyone is in. No app, no account, nothing to set up.
Opens a room with the game already selected