Occasion
Thanksgiving games to play around the table
For the hour after dinner when nobody can get up.
Updated for Thanksgiving 2026
Thanksgiving games have one constraint nothing else on this site has: everybody is seated, full, and not getting up. Charades is the wrong answer for a table that has just eaten for two hours.
These are the ones that work sitting down. Think Alike rewards the family that knows each other — everyone answers the same prompt and matching scores, so the grandparents do fine. Hot Seat is anonymous by design, which is what makes it survive a table with in-laws at it.
Story Chain and Fishbowl are the two that reliably outlast dessert: one passes a sentence around the table so nobody sees more than the line before theirs, and the other empties the same bowl of words three times, getting harder each pass.
8 games in thanksgiving games
Think Alike
Write what everyone else is writing — being obvious is the whole skill.
3–12 players
Fishbowl
One bowl of words, played three times — each harder than the last.
4–12 players
Hot Seat
One player answers. Everyone else asks, anonymously.
3–12 players
Two Truths & a Lie
Fool your friends — hide your lie among two truths.
3–10 players
Story Chain
Write one line, pass it on, and read the wreckage out at the end.
4–10 players
Most Likely To
One prompt, everyone points at somebody. The reveal is the game.
3–12 players
Trivia
Race to answer questions across all topics.
2–10 players
Would You Rather
Vote on impossible choices and compare answers.
2–10 players