Folks, CGE knows how to do mobile gaming. I’d say they’re kind of the masters of it now, given their outstanding previous releases. It’s not just about the highly polished and intuitive interface and functionality of the app, which is impressive in it’s own right. The most noteworthy aspect of the Codenames app is how they’ve ingeniously expanded the appeal and variety of the game. They didn’t just take the Codenames game and put it online. Instead, they looked at how they could actually evolve the game through the opportunities an online platform offers. The result is a highly satisfying and enjoyable experience that doesn’t get old thanks to its variety. And variety doesn’t just mean the many unlockables and achievements that it also sports - variety means the 10+ different twists on the core game. In short, it’s a steal at $5 and one of the best mobile games I’ve played, and I highly recommend it to everyone I know. But be warned - dangerously addictive!

This app is a wonderful digital adaptation of an excellent game. The many little variants they came up with add some fun variety and new interesting decision-making. You should absolutely buy it and play it! So why 2 stars? Because after months of playing on this app and loving it, I suddenly unlocked a feature that I can't turn off and is wrecking my experience; I basically need to stop playing until they hopefully remove this (and then I will happily replace this with a 5-star review; 6+ if I could!). Specifically: you 'collect words' from different categories, and when you collect enough you get a figurine from that category and games related to that category start showing up in your selection of game variants. Since these new variants displace some old options and the app developers recognize that not everyone likes them as much, they sensibly let you 'disable' figurines that you don't want active. I disable them all, so far so good. But then once you unlock your 9th, with no warning suddenly you can't disable them all anymore! So I can no longer reliably play the games I loved anymore :( Note that as a new player you can avoid this problem by just not earning more than 8 figurines, so you should still buy and play this game; just don't make the mistake I did unless you like the collectors missions and want them appearing in your queue forever.

I’ve been a fan of Codenames for years. First the board game, and then the online web page version. But this is the ultimate version. The developers really put all the love and thought into this game. First, there’s basically infinite gameplay here. You can start any number of games as spymaster or operative, so you can always have a game running. And you can collect new words, and earn upgrades to access special new variations of the Codenames format. And the daily challenges are an innovative way to help keep your brain sharp on giving and receiving clues. I also really appreciate the jury system. If a word isn’t in the dictionary you can have a jury vote to accept it. Once you’re high enough level you can help vote on the jury too. This way, the game’s lexicon can grow and evolve as real language grows and evolves. Brilliant. I can’t imaging a more perfect game.

Second Update after several more weeks of play: -Based on years of experience playing iOS games, I can confidently report that this one has the greatest amount of Server Downtime that I've encountered. IMO, the Developers need to prioritize fixing this game play disruption. PLEASE FIX THIS *********** First Update after two weeks of playing this game: -The developers need to fix the regular server connectivity problems I have noticed. Ideally, solo game play would work better if offline play capability were available because the server down time is too frequent (this is the only app during the period that has inflicted this issue on me. ************* ORIGINAL Review: I'd rate this port of Codenames with 5 stars instead of 3 if only the Developer would update the game to allow endless solo game sessions WITHOUT requiring players to wait for the next solo game playing time window to open. BASICALLY, I want to be able to play solo games whenever and for however long I want to play and without having to wait...‼️