West Virginia

Czech Games Edition (CGE) is a Czech-born board game company with a U.S. headquarters in Charleston, West Virginia, that has built a global hit in an unlikely era. Its flagship game, Code Names — a word association game that has sold 17 million copies in 42 languages — accounts for roughly 80% of annual sales. After counterfeit listings dragged the game’s Amazon price down to $12, CGE took control of its brand in 2024, enrolled in Amazon Transparency, and restored Code Names to its full retail price of $24.99. The results were striking: CGE doubled its price, sold 50% more units, and posted 55% year-over-year sales growth in the Amazon store, proving that in a screen-saturated world, cardboard and human connection still win.