Thanksgiving games for the whole family

Games for every part of the day: in the yard while the turkey roasts, at the dinner table, with cards after the dishes, and in teams when the whole family is in one room. Each one says how many it suits, how long it takes and how loud it gets.

Keep score for every game this Thanksgiving on your iPhone or iPad, from cornhole to cards. Tallynight is free, with no ads.

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Quick picks by situation

Short on time? Start here, then find each game further down the page.

• A big family, all ages: charades, Pictionary or Uno.
• At the dinner table: the thankful alphabet, or a round of Thanksgiving trivia.
• After dinner, for four: Hearts, Spades or Euchre.
• A long evening of cards: Hand and Foot or Phase 10.
• Dice for everyone: Farkle, Yahtzee, or Bunco for 12.
• Outside before the meal: cornhole or Mölkky.
• Kids: turkey bowling, Crazy Eights and Shut the Box.
• Friendsgiving with 10 or more: Fishbowl, Taboo or Bunco.
• All day: a family tournament with one leaderboard.

Games to play at the Thanksgiving dinner table

Games for the table need no cards, no board and no getting up. They fill the wait between the turkey and the pie, and they get the quieter relatives talking.

• The thankful alphabet · any number · 10 minutes · lively. Go round the table naming something you're thankful for, each starting with the next letter: apple pie, brothers, cranberries. Ten seconds to answer, or you're out. Q, X and Z usually decide it.
• Who's thankful for what · 6 or more · 15 minutes · warm. Everyone writes one thing they're thankful for on a slip of paper and folds it into a bowl. Read them out one at a time and guess who wrote each. A point for every right guess.
• Guess the turkey · any number · 5 minutes · quiet. Before it's carved, everyone writes down how much they think the bird weighs. The cook keeps the label hidden, and the closest guess gets first pick of the pie.
• Two truths and a lie · 4 or more · 20 minutes · lively. Say three things about yourself, one of them untrue, and the table votes on the lie. Old family stories make it harder, and the grandparents tend to win.
• Thanksgiving trivia · the whole table, or teams · 20 minutes · lively. Read out a question between courses from our Thanksgiving trivia, with the answers ready to print.
• Categories · any number · 10 minutes · lively. Pick a category, like pies or cities, and go round the table naming one each. Repeat one or take more than five seconds and you're out. The last one in picks the next category.
• Would you rather · any number · as long as you like · lively. Pumpkin pie or pecan pie forever? Every leftover in one sandwich, or no leftovers at all? Nobody wins, and everyone has an opinion.

After dinner, Scattergories turns the categories game into a proper round, with a letter, a timer and a point for every answer nobody else wrote.

Thanksgiving card games for after dinner

Once the table is cleared, a deck of cards brings the family back to it. Pick the game by how many are playing and how long you have.

• Hearts · 4 players, or 3 to 6 · about an hour · quiet. Lowest score wins, and the queen of spades costs 13. Slow and sly, for the patient card players.
• Spades · 4 in two teams · an hour or more · lively. Partners bid together, so pair a grandparent with a grandchild and teach as you go.
• Euchre · 4 in two teams · about 30 minutes · lively. Five tricks a hand and quick games to 10, so new partners can rotate in.
• Uno · 2 to 10 · 10 minutes a hand · loud. The game everyone already knows, from about 7. Play one hand at a time, or keep score to 500.
• Five Crowns · 2 to 7 · about an hour · lively. Eleven rounds and a new wild card each round. Lowest total wins, and newcomers pick it up in the first hand.
• Phase 10 · 2 to 6 · often two hours · lively. The long one. Start it with the pie and see who reaches phase 10 before the leftovers come out.
• Rummy · 2 to 6 · 30 minutes or more · quiet. One deck and rules most families already know, played to a target.
• Gin Rummy · 2 players · 20 minutes a game · quiet. For two at the end of the night, while the others watch the football.
• Cribbage · 2, or 4 in two teams · 30 minutes a game · quiet. Bring out the board for whoever taught the family to play.
• Hand and Foot · 4 in two teams, or 2 to 6 · a whole evening · lively. Five decks and four rounds, for families who play it every holiday.
• Golf · 2 to 4 with one deck, more with two · 20 minutes · quiet. Nine holes, lowest total wins, and a pair in a column scores nothing. Easy to teach in one hand.
• Skip-Bo · 2 to 6, or teams of two · 30 minutes a game · lively. Cards in number order and little else, so kids from 7 can play with their grandparents.
• Nertz · 2 or more, a deck each · 10 minutes a hand · loud. Everyone plays at once, with no turns. For the competitive end of the family.

If your family plays Pinochle, Rook, Pitch, Bid Whist or Canasta, the guides have the scoring too. Most guides come with a score sheet to print, so nobody has to rule columns on a napkin.

Dice and domino games anyone can join

Dice games have no hands to hide and nothing to learn beforehand, so the youngest and the oldest at the table start even. A handful of dice and a score sheet are enough.

• Farkle · 2 or more · about 45 minutes · loud. Roll six dice, keep the ones that score, and decide whether to bank or roll again. Every bust gets a groan from the whole table.
• 10,000 · 2 or more · about 45 minutes · loud. Farkle's close relative, with the same six dice and 500 to get on the board. Most families have their own house rules, and the guide has the usual scoring.
• Yahtzee · 1 or more · 30 minutes · lively. Thirteen turns and a score card that does the teaching. Print a Yahtzee score sheet for each player.
• Bunco · 12 at three tables of four · about two hours · loud. Made for a crowd, with rules that take a minute to explain. Players change tables between rounds, so the whole family mixes.
• Shut the Box · 1 or more · 5 minutes a turn · quiet. Two dice and some adding, for kids learning their sums and whoever is waiting on the oven.
• Qwixx · 2 to 5 · 15 minutes · lively. Everyone can use every roll, so there's no waiting for your turn.
• Mexican Train · 2 to 10 with a double-12 set · two hours or more · lively. Dominoes for a big table: 13 rounds, and the lowest total wins.

Party games for a big family or a large group

When 15 people are in the living room, split into two teams and play something the whole room can follow. These need paper, a pen and a timer at most.

• Charades · 4 or more in two teams · as long as you like · loud. No equipment, and every age can act. Use the prompts below.
• Pictionary · 3 or more in 2 to 4 teams · 30 minutes or more · loud. A pad and a pen per team. Drawing evens things out between the talkers and the quiet ones.
• Taboo · 4 or more in two teams · 30 minutes · loud. Describe the word without saying the five words on the card, while the other team listens for a slip.
• Fishbowl · 8 to 30 in two teams · about an hour · loud. Everyone writes three names or things on slips of paper. Round one, describe them. Round two, one word only. Round three, act them out. The same slips every round, and a point for each one guessed. Also called Salad Bowl or Celebrity.
• Scattergories · 2 to 6, or teams · 30 minutes · quiet. One letter, 12 categories and three minutes to fill them in. A point for each answer nobody else wrote.
• Trivia night · teams of up to 6 · about an hour · lively. One person reads, the teams write. Six rounds of Thanksgiving trivia and general questions, with a leaderboard at half-time.

In two teams, add each team as a player in Tallynight and start the turn timer for each turn. Each team gets a big tile in its colour, easy to read from across the room.

Thanksgiving charades and Pictionary prompts

Copy them onto slips of paper, fold them into a bowl and draw one a turn. Act it out for charades, or draw it for Pictionary with no letters, numbers or talking. Give each turn a minute, and a point for each one guessed in time. These first 20 suit younger players.

• Turkey
• Pumpkin pie
• Carving the turkey
• Mashed potatoes
• Corn on the cob
• Raking leaves
• Jumping into a pile of leaves
• Scarecrow
• Pulling a wishbone
• A squirrel hiding an acorn
• Setting the table
• Passing the gravy
• Football
• A parade balloon
• Apple picking
• Washing the dishes
• Napping on the sofa
• Pumpkin patch
• A turkey running away
• Hayride

Harder prompts for teens and adults

• Stuffing the turkey
• Too full to move
• Loosening your belt after dinner
• Stuck in holiday traffic
• Burning the rolls
• Checking if the turkey is done
• The kids' table
• Black Friday shopping
• A leftover sandwich
• Sweet potatoes with marshmallows
• Spraying whipped cream on pie
• Cranberry sauce that keeps the shape of the can
• A marching band
• Running a turkey trot
• Taking the family photo
• Giving a toast
• Two people reaching for the last slice of pie
• Falling asleep during the football game
• Saying what you're thankful for
• Cornucopia

Backyard games before the meal

The turkey takes hours, which is time for a game in the yard. If your family's tradition is touch football, keep it. These are for everyone who would rather not run.

• Cornhole · 2 or 4 · about 20 minutes to 21 · lively. Anyone who can throw a bean bag can play, and doubles pairs a strong thrower with a beginner.
• Mölkky · 2 or more, alone or in teams · about 20 minutes · lively. Throw a wooden pin at numbered pins. You need exactly 50, so even the leader can fall back to 25.
• Bocce · 1 to 4 a side · about 30 minutes to 12 · quiet. Gentle enough for every age, and it doesn't need flat grass.
• Horseshoes · 2 or 4 · about 30 minutes · lively. Two stakes and four shoes. Keep the little ones well back from the stakes.
• Spikeball · 2 against 2 · 15 minutes a game · loud. Fast, for teenagers and anyone with energy to burn before dinner.

Thanksgiving games for kids

Games the kids can run themselves, at the kids' table or in the hallway, while the grown-ups finish cooking.

• Turkey bowling · 2 or more · 15 minutes · loud. Stand ten plastic bottles or paper towel tubes at the end of a hallway and bowl a small pumpkin or a rolled-up pair of socks. Two rolls a turn, and a point for every bottle knocked down.
• Pin the feather on the turkey · 3 or more · 10 minutes · lively. Draw a big turkey with no tail, cut out paper feathers, and take turns blindfolded. The feather closest to the tail wins.
• Leaf hunt · any number · 20 minutes · lively. Give each child a list of ten things to find outside: a red leaf, a yellow leaf, an acorn, a pine cone, a feather, a smooth stone. The first back with all ten wins.
• Crazy Eights and Kings Corner · 2 to 6 · 10 minutes a hand · lively. One deck and simple rules, for kids from about 6.
• Uno · 2 to 10 · 10 minutes a hand · loud. From about 7, and a grown-up can join in.
• Shut the Box · 1 or more · 5 minutes a turn · quiet. Adding practice that feels like a game.
• Sushi Go · 2 to 5 · 15 minutes · lively. Pick a card, pass the rest. Quick to learn, from about 8.
• Qwirkle · 2 to 4 · 45 minutes · quiet. Match colours or shapes, for kids from 6 and the grown-ups who play with them.
• Pictionary · 3 or more · 20 minutes · loud. Kids draw, grown-ups guess, with the first 20 prompts above.

Run a family tournament across the day

A tournament turns the day's games into one competition, from cornhole in the morning to cards at night. Everyone has a game they're good at, so the lead changes hands.

• Pick four to six games. One outside, one at the table, a card game, a dice game and a party game. Mix skill and luck, so the kids have a real chance.
• Make mixed teams. Pairs or threes, each with a child and a grown-up, or a teenager and a grandparent.
• Give points for places. In each game, first place gets 3 tournament points, second 2 and third 1. With more teams, first gets a point for each team and every place after gets one fewer.
• Keep the leaderboard where everyone can see it, and update it after every game.
• Play for something. The wishbone, first pick of the pie, or a trophy that comes back every year with the winner's name added.

Three ways to keep the tournament's score

In the Tallynight app. Score each game in Tallynight as you play it. Every finished game is kept with its winner and scores, and whoever wins outright takes the belt. For the overall standings, start one more game: choose Something else, then Rounds, with the highest score winning, and add each team. After each event, type everyone's tournament points as a round. The table keeps the totals and who's in front, and the race chart replays the whole day at the end.

With Tallynight Pro, the Family Hall of Fame keeps wins, longest streaks, head to head and records across every game you finish, this Thanksgiving and the next.

On a laptop or the TV. The free online score keeper works in any browser, with Full screen for the whole room. The game stays in that browser until you clear it.

On paper. Print a blank score sheet, write the teams across the top and one game on each row, and stick it on the fridge.

Friendsgiving games for adults and large groups

Friendsgiving is a different crowd: friends, partners and housemates, often more than fit around one table, and a later evening. Team games with little setup suit the big room, and card games with some strategy suit the smaller tables.

• Fishbowl · 8 to 30 in two teams · about an hour · loud. Works with any number. Three rounds with the same slips, and by the last one the in-jokes from the first are being acted out.
• Taboo · 4 or more in two teams · 30 minutes · loud. Quick turns, and the other team gets to call out every slip.
• Bunco · 12 or more, at tables of four · about two hours · loud. Guests change tables and partners all night, so friends of friends meet. Three dice a table and a score card each.
• Trivia night · teams of 4 to 6 · about an hour · lively. Six rounds and a half-time leaderboard. Start with the Thanksgiving trivia, then add a round about your group.
• Paper telephone · 6 to 12 · 20 minutes · loud. Everyone writes a phrase and passes it on. The next person draws it, the next writes what the drawing shows, and so on round the table. Read the stacks out at the end. No points, plenty of laughing.
• Nertz · 2 or more, a deck each · 10 minutes a hand · loud. Everyone plays at once on shared piles. For the friends who take cards seriously.
• Skull King or Oh Hell · 3 to 8 · about an hour · lively. Bid exactly how many tricks you'll take, then try to make it. A card game with some bluffing, for a table of friends after dinner.
• Scattergories with your own list · up to 6, or teams · 30 minutes · lively. Write Friendsgiving categories: things in a casserole, excuses for being late, songs about food.
• Two truths and a lie · 6 or more · 20 minutes · lively. Good when there are new partners and plus-ones at the table.

For 20 or more, play in two teams and put the score on the TV with the online score keeper, or lay an iPad with Tallynight flat where everyone can see it.

Tallynight

Keep score for the whole day

Tallynight is a score keeper for iPhone and iPad, free with no ads. Pick a game and its scoring is ready, or set up your own for turkey bowling. Each player or team gets a big tile in their colour, and every finished game is kept.

• Rounds that add up, with who deals next
• A turn timer for charades and Pictionary
• A winner card for the family chat, and the belt for whoever wins
• With Tallynight Pro, the Family Hall of Fame: wins, streaks, head to head and records

Download on the App Store