Tales from Decrypto

Decrypto is a new game I've seen a few people online describe as a "Codenames killer." That seems a bit over the top to me; I don't anticipate this more complex word game taking off to that degree. But I personally did enjoy it a great deal. Indeed, in my group of friends, it may well kick Codenames off the particular perch it inhabits.

Players split into two teams. Each team is given four words, placed in a reader that assigns a number (from 1 to 4) to each word. Everyone in the team can see the words and their corresponding numbers. Each team is given a sheet of paper to track everything that's about to go down.

The first round is straightforward. One member of a team draws a clue card with three different digits on it in a random order. They then give three clues to three of their four words that, in order, point to that code. Looking right at the words in the reader, the team comes to a consensus on the code.

Once the game enters round 2, things get more interesting. Again, one designated clue giver must give clues to the three-digit code they've drawn. But they can't repeat any clue that's been given previously in the game. And then, before their own team gets to guess the code, the opposing team gets a shot at it. Only if they fail to "intercept" can your own partners guess the code.

The core challenge of the game is this: you must give clues opaque enough to slip them by the opposing team, but clear enough to be grasped by your own team. The first team to intercept two opposing codes wins the game. But if your own team fails to guess a code, they receive a "failure to communicate" token. Two of those, and you lose the game.

As rounds progress, the game gets more and more challenging. As a clue giver, you have to try to come at a word from a new angle to keep things from becoming obvious. As an opposing team, you have to look at all the clues that have been given for a specific word over the course of several rounds and see if you can identify a commonality. If you're getting deeper into things, and your opponents messed up on one of their own clues, then you can try to factor in how it was their wrong guess might have been misconstrued as a clue for something else.

Like Codenames, this is a "Password"-style word game that rewards you for thinking outside the box and considering multiple meanings and associations for words. Improving on Codenames (in my view) is that the role of clue giver passes multiple times during a round, picking up the pace a bit and giving more players a chance to experience all aspects of the gameplay.

It's not that I wouldn't want to play Codenames again, but I'd surely prefer Decrypto whenever it too is on hand. I can see it becoming a staple of large-group game nights with my friends. It's a bit harder to wrap your head around than Codenames, and I do suspect for that reason it may not become the same massive hit. But it seems great for my group. I give Decrypto an enthusiastic A.