What Secret Codes is
Twenty-five words, two different key cards. You each know agents the other can’t see — find them all, one clue at a time.
Your key is not on your partner’s phone in any form, so a clue is the only channel there is. And when you guess, it is the clue-giver’s key that decides what a card turns out to be — your own colours mean nothing on their turn, which is how most pairs lose their first game.
One of your agents is an assassin on their side of the board. You can clue it happily, because your key rules while you are clueing; reach for it on their turn and the game ends there.
Every clue spends one of your nine tokens, and running out is not a loss. It drops you into sudden death — no more clues, keep guessing, and the first card that is not an agent finishes the run. A lot of good games are settled there.
From our tables
150+ games finished
Games of Secret Codes, played to the end on Table Party between 16 August and 24 September 2026.
11 minutes on average
How long a finished game of Secret Codes really takes here, from the first move to the final score.
How to play Secret Codes
- You both see the same 25 words, but two DIFFERENT key cards. Green edges are YOUR agents, red are YOUR assassins — their card says other things about the same words.
- Take turns. The clue-giver writes one word and a number: how many of their OWN green cards it points at.
- The guesser taps cards, and the GIVER’s key decides what happens. Your own colours don’t count while you guess — a word that is red for you can still be their agent.
- Hit their agent and it locks in green: keep guessing, up to one past the number. A bystander ends the turn. Their assassin ends the game, there and then.
- Every clue spends a token. Find all fifteen agents between you before nine clues run out.
- Out of clues is sudden death: no more hints, and one wrong touch loses.
How to win at Secret Codes
Clue two you can defend
A hopeful three spends exactly the same token as a solid two, and only one of them survives meeting a bystander.
Nought opens the whole board
A clue of zero means none of these are mine and buys an unlimited hunt, which is how you clear up the words your partner already told you about.
Nothing is dead until both agree
A bystander only spends the side it resolved against, so a card your partner cleared can still be an agent on your key and still worth cluing.
The half-sure card is worth it
A wrong guess and a voluntary stop cost the same single token, so tap it — unless the word is one they have conspicuously avoided.
Bank words for sudden death
An agent you both already understand costs nothing to collect once the tokens are gone, so leave one or two in reserve.
Questions about Secret Codes
Why did my partner’s guess turn a different colour than my key says?
Because the clue-giver’s key resolves every tap. Yours only tells you what to clue — while you are guessing, it is not consulted at all.
Can a clue be one of the words on the board?
No, and the clue is refused rather than argued about. It stays barred while the word is live for either of you; once a card is finished with on both keys, its word is fair game.
How many agents do we have to find?
Fifteen: nine on your key, nine on your partner’s, and three that sit on both and count only once. The other ten cards are bystanders and assassins.
How many clues do we get?
Nine by default; the host can set seven or eleven. Spending the last one starts sudden death rather than ending the game.
Is Secret Codes free?
Yes. Every game on Table Party is free, with no accounts, no adverts and nothing to buy.
How many people do you need for Secret Codes?
Exactly 2 — Secret Codes is built for that number and no other.
Do we need to download anything?
No. One person opens the site and starts a room; everybody else joins by typing the room code on their own phone. Nothing to install, nothing to sign up for.
Can we play Secret Codes over a video call?
Yes. Share the room code in the chat and play with the call running — everything private stays on each player’s own phone.
