Codenames Party is the latest addition to Netflix Games

The word association game introduces a new Party Mode for streaming subscribers.

Netflix

Netflix has been actively building out its roster of family-friendly and party games over the past year and a half. Today, the streamer got a notable new addition to its library with Codenames Party. As with the other titles in Netflix's party game collection, players can join the action by scanning a QR code and then playing via their mobile devices; no additional hardware or controllers are needed.

The social game of word association began on the tabletop and later migrated online for an option to take the co-op game virtual. Usually, Codenames involves two teams, each with a rotating Spymaster, who tries to pick a clue that will get their allies to guess as many of the goal words as possible. The Netflix edition includes that classic team mode and a version called Case Studies where the all players guess for pre-made word and clue sets rather than having their own spymasters.

Netflix also has a brand new Codenames option called Party Mode that takes away the team angle. Instead, each individual is challenged to come up with a single clue to connect their own unique batch of eight words from within the same set of 16 available options. Players earn points both by correctly guessing words from other gamers' sets and by having their own code words successfully identified by the rest of the group when their clue comes around.

Fun fact: the Engadget staff used to play Codenames at our team hangouts, and getting a bunch of writers to play rounds of this game is pretty hilarious.