If you’ve somehow missed the instant modern classic, it’s a game of picky phrasing: teams take it in turns to guess words on a grid of cards, guided carefully to their hidden spies - and away from their opponents’ - by their clue-giver’s one-word hints. Minesweeper meets Taboo, Codenames has become a fixture of board game collections for hobby newcomers and veterans alike since it first burst onto the scene in 2015. The hit word-guessing game heads online Codenames Online is an official version of the party game, and allows you to play with a number of its expansions and word packs. Whether you’re looking to bring your gaming group’s favourite online during lockdown, find a new group to play with or try something you’ve yet to play, these online board games will let you jump straight in and get playing. Even better, many of them are available for free, too! Many also handle the hard work of remembering the rules and making it easy for new players to join in and learn to play. While board game apps offer a dedicated experience you can take with you on your phone or PC, many online board games don’t require you to download anything at all, providing a slick and polished experience you can load up in your internet browser and start playing in a matter of seconds. Luckily, there are now hundreds of great online board games that can be played over the internet, allowing you and your group to overcome some of the traditional barriers to enjoying a regular gaming session no matter how far apart you are. However, getting your gaming group together on a regular basis - or at all, recently - can sometimes be a frustrating and complicated affair of juggling calendars, travelling and carving out enough time to play something from start to finish. It is a truth universally acknowledged that board games are better in person.

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