Codenames vs Dominion
Side by side comparison of two top board games
Codenames
Codenames is a word-based party game where two teams compete to contact their agents first. Each round, a spymaster gives a one-word clue that can point to multiple words on the board. Their teammates must guess the correct words while avoiding the opposing team's agents and the assassin. Simple to learn but endlessly replayable.
Dominion
Dominion is the game that created the deck-building genre. Players start with a small deck of cards and use them to buy more powerful cards, gradually building an efficient engine. Each game uses a different set of 10 kingdom cards from the available pool, creating nearly infinite variety. The goal is to have the most victory points when the game ends.
Specification Comparison
| Spec | Codenames | Dominion |
|---|---|---|
| BGG Rank | 145 | 102 ✓ |
| Rating | 7.6 | 7.6 |
| Year Published | 2015 | 2008 ✓ |
| Price | 20 ✓ | 40 |
| Min Players | 2 | 2 |
| Max Players | 8 ✓ | 4 |
| Play Time (min) | 15 ✓ | 30 |
| Min Age | 10 ✓ | 13 |
| Complexity (1-5) | 1.29 | 2.35 ✓ |
Codenames wins in 4 categories, Dominion wins in 3 categories.