HiveCode is a word-association party game inspired by the classic Codenames. Two teams (Honey and Amber) race to identify their secret tiles on a 5x5 grid based on one-word clues from their team's spymaster. Touch the hornet tile and your team loses instantly.
4 to 8 players. Below 4 the game does not work — you need at least 1 spymaster + 1 guesser per team. The host picks the cap (4-8) when creating the room.
Volunteer-based. In the lobby, each team has a "Be Spymaster" button. First click claims the role; you can release it before the game starts. The host can force-assign if no one volunteers. There is no rotation between rounds — "Play again" returns to the lobby with claims cleared.
The active team's spymaster types a one-word clue and a number — the count of tiles on the board their clue matches. Their teammates then tap tiles. Each correct guess gives them another guess (up to count + 1). A wrong guess (neutral, opponent, or hornet) ends the turn. The turn also ends if they tap "End Guessing".
Only the two spymasters see which tiles belong to which team. Guessers see only the words and revealed tiles. The key is sent privately by the host to each spymaster — DevTools cannot reveal it.
Instant loss for your team. Hornet tile = neon-black with red glow. Be careful with ambiguous clues!
Off by default. The host can enable it in the lobby: 90 seconds for clue, 60 seconds for guessing. If the spymaster runs out of time, the turn is forfeited. If guessers run out of time, the turn ends without penalty.
You will see a "reconnecting" badge. The session restores automatically within ~30 seconds. If the disconnected player is the current spymaster, the turn pauses until they return — or the host can promote a replacement / end the game.
Yes. The 5x5 grid scales down and tiles are big enough to tap accurately. Spymasters use the on-screen text input to submit their clue.