Codenames vs Dominion
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Codenames
Engage in a strategic word game of deduction and teamwork. Give one-word clues to help your team guess associated words before the opposing team. Enjoy a blend of casual fun and deep thinking with turn-based multiplayer matches.
- Turn-based multiplayer
- One-word clue system
- Teamwork and deduction
- Multiple game modes
- Spymaster and Operative roles
- Logic and creativity challenges
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The official Codenames puzzle game from the makers of the award-winning board game. Built on the same clever clue-giving, but made for mobile: nearly 50 rule-bending game modes, daily solo puzzles, themed word collections and a deep meta-game. One purchase. No ads. No timers, no pay-to-win. Optional Duet expansion for two-player co-op. NOT JUST THE BOARD GAME ON YOUR PHONE This is a standalone Codenames game with its own content and style. Where the board game is a party game, this one is a puzzle game: every clue is a small riddle you crack at your own pace, and every mode adds a new twist to think through. HOW IT WORKS A grid of words hides your team's secret agents. As Spymaster, you give a single clue that links as many of your words as you dare. As Operative, you work out what your teammate meant and make the guesses. One wrong word helps the other team, and the assassin ends the game instantly. NEARLY 50 TWISTS ON THE RULES Every mode keeps the core of Codenames and bends one rule, turning each game into a fresh puzzle: • Mines: Codenames meets Minesweeper. Numbers on the cards tell you how many agents are hiding nearby. • Mirrors: the Spymasters' grids are symmetrical. Find the axis and you can deduce cards you were never given a clue for. • Convertor: before giving a clue, the Spymaster can swap the colors of two cards to set up a better clue or sabotage the other team. • Quantum Gadget: torn between two words? Mark both and the gadget reveals which one is the better pick. Use it wisely, you only get three per mission. • …and dozens more. SOLO PUZZLES EVERY DAY • Daily Cases: 16 cards, one clue. Find the right words, collect your reward and move on to the next case. Every puzzle is made by real players, not an algorithm. • Daily Spymaster Challenge: everyone gets the same board. Come up with your best clue, then see how it performs when other players try to guess it, and how it ranks against every other Spymaster's clue. COLLECT, LEVEL UP, EXPLORE • Open briefcases to collect themed word cards: video games, movies, travel, sci-fi, fantasy, history, the 20th century and more • Play themed missions with the words you've collected • Earn experience and level up your agent to unlock more daily cases, better rewards and new options PLAY WITH OTHERS AT YOUR OWN PACE • Turn-based matches for 2–4 players: take your turn whenever you have a minute • Get matched with players from around the world, on iPhone, iPad and Android • Invite friends to a private game, or pass one phone around with Pass & Play • Run several games at once, chat with your team and draw notes right on the board PLAY IN YOUR LANGUAGE English, Czech, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic. FROM THE MAKERS OF THE ORIGINAL Codenames is designed by Vlaada Chvátil and published by Czech Games Edition. The board game won the Spiel des Jahres 2016. This app won Best Design at the Czech Game of the Year Awards and was selected as an App Store Editors' Choice. CODENAMES: DUET EXPANSION (in-app purchase) The cooperative two-player version, based on the green-box Duet board game: • Work together instead of competing: take turns giving clues and guessing • Each player knows only some of the agents, and the same card can look different to each of them: a card one player sees as the assassin may be an agent the other player needs to contact • 28 VIP missions adapted from the original Duet, now for cooperative play • Dual Cases: probably the hardest puzzle in Codenames yet. First find the cards that connect to both clues, then the words that fit only one
Dominion
Build a powerful deck to expand your kingdom and earn victory points in this acclaimed deck-building strategy game. Explore vast card combinations, compete against AI or other players online, and enjoy endless replayability with numerous expansions.
- Deck-building mechanics
- Kingdom expansion
- AI opponent
- Online multiplayer
- Daily puzzles
- Cross-platform play
- Expansion packs
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Expand a small kingdom to a mighty Dominion! Play the Spiel des Jahres winner beloved by millions of boardgame hobbyists around the world. This is the officially licensed implementation. REIGNING DECKBUILDER Discover the game that defined a genre, Dominion was first to popularize deck-building and remains a staple of tabletop. GROW YOUR KINGDOM Collect as many Victory Points as you can by building a powerful deck. Your deck starts out a small sad set of Estates and Coppers, but you hope that by the end of the game it will be brimming with Gold, Provinces, and the inhabitants and structures of your kingdom. BUILD YOUR ENGINE Choose wisely among the 10 cards available in the tableau to create the strongest combos to dominate your opponent. COLLECT ALL EXPANSIONS Make your games more exciting with additional cards and rules from up to 15 expansions including the recent Plunder expansion! NEAR INFINITE VARIETY Over one hundred thirty-two septillion possible Kingdom combinations, 500+ cards, 15 and counting expansions, and ongoing promo packs make Dominion one of the most extensive and replayable boardgames in the hobby. COMPETE WITH THE COMPUTER Sharpen your skills with solitaire style solo play against a robust AI, with four levels of difficulty. Our innovative AI learns through self-play. Earn Achievements and win in Recommended Sets against each AI level. PLAY FRIENDS OR STRANGERS Play with up to 6 players online through your device or pass and play among your friends. Join ranked or unranked matchmaking, with realtime and asynchronous modes. Set up a private table for a family game, challenge a stranger in the lobby, or invite a friend! DAILY PUZZLE A daily ritual to relax with over a cup of coffee. Try the Daily Dominion, a free puzzle level available to players around the world. Practice your strategy to keep up a winning streak and climb the leaderboard. CROSS-PLATFORM PLAY Play from any supported device, whenever you want, after verifying your email in-game. Join games with opponents on platforms other than your own. JOIN THE COMMUNITY With an active Discord and online community, make new friends or challenge new people to a game. Export and share kingdoms and game summaries to compare strategies. FREE TO PLAY Download the game that started it all for free! The base set of Dominion is available at no charge. Try the rotation of expansion cards in the Daily at no cost once per day. Jump into a lobby game with expansions enabled to try before you buy. Only the host needs to own the expansions. INTRODUCTION TO TABLETOP Learn the ropes in this easy to pick-up, hard to master title. Play one of the most highly regarded strategy tabletop games of all time through our simple tutorial. The core loop is easy to follow, but offers a wealth of strategy to explore. • 1 - 6 player support • Five-hundred plus cards • Solo play against 4 AI difficulties • Async & real-time multiplayer • Ranked & unranked matchmaking • Lobby & Private game tables • Cross platform multiplayer • Cross platform purchases • Daily challenge • Challenging AI that learns through self-play • Recommended Sets • Customize, save & share Kingdoms • Achievements, Stats & Leaderboards • Pass & Play mode • Automated score-keeping & hints • Smart-play options to streamline gameplay • Jumbo mode for readability on phones • Turbo mode to zoom through games quickly • Tutorial & Rules • 4 languages: English, Japanese, German, French • 15+ expansions plus three promo packs
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Dominion at Free against Codenames's $4.99. Dominion also leads on update cadence (every 5 days vs fortnightly) and ratings volume (5.1K vs 1.2K). Codenames's advantage is chart position (#15 vs unranked). On rating, review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Dominion is free to download; Codenames costs $4.99 up front. Codenames sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Dominion sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Dominion holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1.2K and 5.1K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 66% of Codenames's written reviews are positive against 68% of Dominion's.
Codenames ships an update fortnightly, Dominion every 5 days. Both last shipped on November 13, 2026.
| Parameter | Codenames | Dominion |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.7 (1.2K ratings) | 4.9 (5.1K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 66.0% of reviews | 68.4% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 1.2K | 5.1K — better |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Every 5 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Best chart rank | #15 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 8.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 221 MB | 423 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 4+ |
| Developer | CGE Digital s.r.o. | Temple Gates Games LLC |
Customer experience
Codenames
Dominion
User reviews
Codenames
From 1.2K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Smooth and intuitive gameplay
- 🎨 Excellent visual design
- 💰 Good value for money
- 🕹️ Engaging single-player modes
- 🤝 Enjoyable multiplayer experience
Room to improve
- ⏱️ Long wait times for other players
- 🌐 Connectivity issues and server problems
- 🌍 Cultural differences and language barriers
- 🔒 Restrictive clue-giving rules
- 🤖 Jury system allowing questionable words
Dominion
From 5.1K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Smooth gameplay
- 🎮 Faithful adaptation of the board game
- 👍 Challenging AI opponents
- 🎨 Great visual design and animations
- 📱 Convenient mobile experience
Room to improve
- 🐛 Bugs and glitches (e.g. crashes, card interactions not working as expected)
- 🤖 Inconsistent or overpowered AI behavior
- 💰 Expensive expansion packs
- 🕰️ Slow animation speed for AI turns
- 🔀 Lack of customization options (e.g. disabling certain cards, saving game setups)
Bugs and requests
Codenames
Reported bugs
2 issues- Initial launch with only Czech language support
- Occasional app crashes and server disconnections
Requested features
5 requests- Add Codenames Duet mode
- Implement AI/bot players for faster games
- Allow custom word packs and themes
- Add a 'speed mode' for faster gameplay
- Improve the jury system to maintain game integrity
Dominion
Reported bugs
3 issues- Possession card not working correctly
- Victory points not displayed properly
- Inability to rejoin games after server disconnects
Requested features
5 requests- Ability to select specific card sets for randomized games
- Option to complete games against AI when opponents forfeit
- More detailed game statistics and player history tracking
- Improved matchmaking filters for online play
- Shareable in-app purchases for family members
In-app purchases
Codenames
- Krycí jména: Duet$4.99
Dominion
- Alchemy$4.99
- Intrigue$4.99
- Cornucopia$4.99
Show 7 moreShow fewer
- Seaside$9.99
- Renaissance$9.99
- Prosperity$9.99
- Dark Ages$9.99
- Adventures$9.99
- Empires$9.99
- Rising Sun$9.99









