The words are hidden in plain sight in a 5x5 grid that includes the words of the opposing team, neutral words, and one word that ends the game and causes the team that selects it to lose. One person from each team is the leader, and only the leaders know which words belong to each team. In each round, the leaders give clues for a word that can lead to their team's words. The players of their team try to guess the correct words while avoiding the words of the opposing team, and everyone tries to avoid the card that ends the game. This version also includes cards for a 4x4 game with easy cards to make it more accessible to families and young children.

The Disney Codenames edition combines the successful word game with some of Disney's most beloved characters from the past 90 years. It includes both images and words.