Fake Codenames, no it's not a new edition

Today, we would like to inform you about the situation regarding counterfeit copies of Codenames that CGE has been looking into for a couple of months.

Counterfeit copies of Codenames include components of lower quality, misprints, or even some pieces missing. They harm both customers and the CGE brand as we are not able to guarantee the replacements since it's not really our game.

Unfortunately, this is still happening, so we felt it was time to help people avoid these fake versions.

  • First of all, try to avoid buying Codenames via eBay, Alibaba, and other similar huge selling portals. The majority of cases of counterfeit copies are from eBay sales.
  • Be wary of extremely low or "too good to be true" prices.
  • CGE manufactures Codenames in the Czech Republic, so if anyone says to you they don't have any in stock and it would take some time to arrive from China, it's suspicious.
  • Ideally, buy your games from a local or online game store. If in doubt, ask them who their distributor is.
  • Please note that sample photos of the game could be fake as well. If you have a chance to check the copy before buying, compare the components with the following pictures.

Fake vs Real

Counterfeit copy has a red sand timer instead of the black one, a white card stand instead of the clear plastic, and misspelled words.

Fake vs Real

The cards are blurred on the counterfeit box.