Codenames spymaster helper

This is a tool that helps Codenames spymasters, who give one-word "hints" to their agents . Enter two or more words and the program will give you a list of terms that could serve as potential hints This helps spymasters come up with good clues for their agents.

What's Codenames?

Codenames is a really fun board game! You can read more about it on the Codenames Wikipedia page and the game's official website. It's likely sold at a mass retailer near you (or online).

How do I use this program?

Here's what you need to do:

• Download the codenames.py file and save it on your Desktop.
• If you have a mac, open terminal (command + space, type terminal, and press enter).
• Type pip install python and press enter (this installs Python 3).
• Type pip3 install python-datamuse and press enter (this installs the Datamuse module).

Now you're all set to start using the program. Here's what you need to do to get started:

• Type cd Desktop and press enter.
• Type python codenames.py and press enter.
• Follow the instructions on that appear on your console and you're all set!

Some examples

The program only works sometimes, and generally when you have fewer words (two works best).

Here are some examples where the program did good:

• [cold, key]: facts, hot (like hot key!!)
• [ninja, green]: turtle (!!), and a bunch of other less relevant terms
• [chocolate, mug]: milk, and a bunch of other less relevant terms

Here are some examples where I was disappointed:

• [octopus, teacher]: whose, great, young, female, male (as a human, I would've used "biology" as the hint)
• [doctor, back]: didn't turn up anything (I would've gone with "spine," "orthopedics," or "chiropractor.")
• [piano, teacher]: lessons, students, conservatory, studied, ballet, teaching, old, excellent, beloved, wonderful (I would've gone with "music")

What's next?

The program as it currently exists isn't that great. I think there are three ways I can improve it:

• Simple fixes to improve the program's current features (improving UX, making the scoring system more sophisticated so it penalizes words that have a large score differential)
• Expanding data sources beyond the datamuse API to Wordnik, Wikipedia, and others.
• Adding more game features: This program only really works for 2-4 words, whereas in Codenames you start off with 8-9 words. The program could analyze all words, and suggest a few hints for 2-4 words. It could also take into account the black sudden death card (and your opponents' words/cards) and strike out any potential hint that could end the game or give you opponent a leg up.

Resources

If you want to use the Datamuse API in Python, be sure to check out this client library on GitHub: https://github.com/gmarmstrong/python-datamuse