24 games
Checked October 2026

Thanksgiving Games for Adults

Fun games to play on Thanksgiving for adults once the table is cleared: talkative, alcohol-free and nearly all seated.

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Play-by-Play of the Cleanup Crew1. Two players on the sofa are the announcers. Everyone clearing, washing and drying is the game they are calling.2. One announcer describes the action as it happens. The other adds color, such as the history of the roasting pan.3. Names are allowed, and so is praise. Complaints about technique are not.4. Swap announcers when the dish rack is full. The crew chooses which pair goes into the hall of fame.Players: 4 to 12. You need: nothing.
Reverse Charades From an Armchair1. Cut up a list of Thanksgiving charades ideas and fold the slips into a bowl.2. One guesser sits in an armchair. Their whole team stands in front, draws one slip and acts it together without a word.3. The guesser has one minute to get as many slips as possible.4. Teams take turns sending a guesser to the chair. Anyone who would rather not act can hold the bowl and keep the time.Players: 6 to 16. You need: slips of charades ideas, a bowl and a timer.
Who Said It at Dinner?1. One player thinks back over the meal and repeats one thing somebody said at the table, word for word if possible.2. The rest call out who said it. The person quoted may bluff.3. The first correct call scores a point and gives the next quotation.4. Only kind or funny lines count, and the person quoted can strike any line from the record.Players: 5 to 14. You need: nothing.

Next step Thanksgiving charades ideas

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After dinner on the sofa 16

Kitchen Mishap Stories for the Best Seat 1. The prize is the best seat in the room for the rest of the evening. 2. Each player who wants it tells one true story of something that went wrong in a kitchen, their own mistakes only, in under a minute. 3. Listeners may ask one question each. 4. The room votes by applause, and the winner takes the seat. The loudest laugh during the stories decides a tie. Players: 4 to 12. You need: nothing.
The Leftover Sandwich Draft 1. Name aloud everything that was on the table today, bread and sauces included. 2. Going around the room, each player claims one item for tomorrow's sandwich. Once an item is claimed, nobody else can have it. 3. After four rounds, each player describes the finished sandwich in one sentence. 4. The room votes by pointing, and nobody may point at their own. The winner has first call on the real leftovers. Players: 3 to 10. You need: nothing.
Minutes of the Long Goodbye 1. Play this when the first guest says it is time to go. Note the time. 2. Everyone still seated guesses how many minutes will pass before that guest is out of the door with a coat on. 3. No guess may be repeated, and nobody may hurry or delay the leaving guest. 4. When the door closes, the closest guess wins. Play again with the next guest to stand up. Players: 4 to 15. You need: a clock or a watch.

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After dinner on the sofa, continued

Next Year's Menu, Amended by Vote 1. Treat today's menu as a document that the room can amend. 2. Going around, each player proposes one change for next year: a dish added, a dish retired or a dish moved to a different cook. 3. The room votes at once, thumbs up or down, and the cook of that dish has a veto. 4. One player keeps the list of what passed. Read it back at the end as next year's menu. Players: 4 to 14. You need: nothing.
Parade, Game or Dog Show? 1. Three things a television might be showing today: a parade, a football game and a dog show. 2. One player invents a single line of commentary that could belong to one of them, and says it in an announcer's voice. 3. Everyone else calls out which broadcast it came from. 4. The best lines fit two of the three. If the room splits, the announcer scores a point. If everyone guesses right, the next player takes the microphone. Players: 4 to 12. You need: nothing.
The Pie Debate, Sides by Seat 1. Choose two desserts from today's table. The left half of the room argues for the first and the right half for the second, whatever each person really thinks. 2. Each side has three speakers and each speaker has twenty seconds. 3. Anyone who says what they truly believe may be challenged, and loses the turn if they laugh. 4. Whoever baked is the judge, or the host if nobody did. Swap sides and argue it again. Players: 5 to 14. You need: nothing.
Pitch a Balloon for the Parade 1. Pairs have two minutes to invent a giant parade balloon for this family or this group of friends. 2. Each pair pitches it in thirty seconds: what it is, how many handlers it needs and what goes wrong on a windy corner. 3. No drawing. The pitch is spoken, and hands may show the size. 4. The room votes for any balloon but its own. The winners describe next year's as well. Players: 4 to 14. You need: nothing.
Play-by-Play of the Cleanup Crew 1. Two players on the sofa are the announcers. Everyone clearing, washing and drying is the game they are calling. 2. One announcer describes the action as it happens. The other adds color, such as the history of the roasting pan. 3. Names are allowed, and so is praise. Complaints about technique are not. 4. Swap announcers when the dish rack is full. The crew chooses which pair goes into the hall of fame. Players: 4 to 12. You need: nothing.
Ten Thanksgivings Ago 1. Work out the year together: this one, less ten. 2. One player is in the spotlight and says nothing. The others each guess where that player ate Thanksgiving dinner that year, and with whom. 3. The player then tells the real answer. The closest guess scores a point. 4. Move the spotlight around the room. Anyone who cannot remember asks the room for help, and whoever supplies the answer scores. Players: 4 to 12. You need: nothing.
Thanks With a Catch 1. Going around, each player says one thing they are thankful for this year. The catch is set by the player before them. 2. Catches are small and odd: it must be smaller than a walnut, it must have happened on a Tuesday, it must be something borrowed. 3. A player who cannot answer within ten seconds says "pass" and gets an easier catch. 4. After one full circle, the room names the answer nobody saw coming. Players: 4 to 16. You need: nothing.
Three Banned Words Until Dessert 1. The room agrees on three words that are said too often after this meal, such as full, stuffed and nap. 2. From now until dessert is served, nobody may say them. 3. Anyone caught gets a point, and the catcher must repeat the sentence as proof. 4. When dessert comes out, the player with the most points serves it. A player with none is served first. Players: 4 to 16. You need: nothing.
Three Kind Clues 1. One player silently chooses somebody in the room. 2. The player gives three clues, each one something to be thankful to that person for: "This person drove four hours" or "This person taught me to make gravy." 3. After each clue the room may make one guess. 4. A guess after the first clue scores three points, after the second two, after the third one. The person described gives the next set of clues. Players: 5 to 15. You need: nothing.
The Turkey's Escape, Fortunately and Unfortunately 1. A story told a sentence at a time, about a turkey that got away this morning. The first player begins: "Fortunately, the gate was open." 2. The next player must begin with "Unfortunately," the one after with "Fortunately," and so on around the room. 3. Anyone who hesitates for more than five seconds drops out of the telling. 4. The story ends when two players are left. They agree on the last sentence together. Players: 4 to 12. You need: nothing.
Two True Thanksgivings and One That Never Happened 1. Two truths and a lie, kept to this holiday. Each player thinks of two things that really happened to them at a Thanksgiving and one that never did. 2. The player tells all three in any order, a sentence or two each. 3. Relatives who were there keep quiet. Everyone else votes for the invented one with one, two or three fingers. 4. A correct vote scores a point, and the teller scores one for each person fooled. Players: 4 to 12. You need: nothing.
Who Said It at Dinner? 1. One player thinks back over the meal and repeats one thing somebody said at the table, word for word if possible. 2. The rest call out who said it. The person quoted may bluff. 3. The first correct call scores a point and gives the next quotation. 4. Only kind or funny lines count, and the person quoted can strike any line from the record. Players: 5 to 14. You need: nothing.
With the Majority 1. One player asks a question with two answers about today, such as canned cranberry or homemade, a walk or the sofa, the drumstick or the wing. 2. On the count of three, everyone holds up one finger for the first answer or two for the second. 3. Players on the side with more hands score a point. A tie scores nobody. 4. The asker changes each round. First to five points picks what the room watches next. Players: 5 to 20. You need: nothing.

Pencil and paper games 8

Bingo Where the Caller Tells a Story 1. Give every player a Thanksgiving bingo card and a pencil. 2. The caller does not read the words out one by one. The caller tells a made-up story about today, and works one word from the call list into every sentence. 3. Players mark a word when they hear it in the story. 4. The first full line calls bingo and takes over the story where it stopped. Players: 4 to 20. You need: a bingo card and a pencil for each player, and one call list.
Emoji Quiz Passed Along the Sofa 1. Print one Thanksgiving emoji quiz for each team and clip it to a book with a pencil. 2. The first player works out any one row of pictures, writes the answer and passes the book along. 3. Each player may solve one row and no more, and a player who is stuck passes it on without a word. 4. The sheet keeps going around until every row is done. The first team finished reads its answers aloud for checking. Players: 4 to 16. You need: a printed emoji quiz, a book and a pencil for each team.
Guess the Word, the Sofa Against the Armchairs 1. Take a list of Thanksgiving hangman words. One player picks a word and draws a dash for each letter on a pad. 2. The two sides of the room take turns calling a letter. A right letter is written in. A wrong one costs that side a point. 3. Either side may guess the whole word on its turn. A right guess wins three points and a wrong guess loses two. 4. The side that guessed it sets the next word. Players: 4 to 14. You need: a list of words, a pad and a pencil.
Left and Right With the Last Roll 1. Everyone sits in a circle. One player holds a dinner roll wrapped in a napkin, or any small prize. 2. A reader reads a Thanksgiving left-right story aloud at a steady pace. Each time the word left or right is heard, the prize moves one seat that way. 3. A player who passes it the wrong way stops the story and names one thing they are thankful for before it goes on. 4. Whoever holds the prize at the last word keeps it. Players: 5 to 20. You need: a printed left-right story and a small wrapped prize.
Reverse Charades From an Armchair 1. Cut up a list of Thanksgiving charades ideas and fold the slips into a bowl. 2. One guesser sits in an armchair. Their whole team stands in front, draws one slip and acts it together without a word. 3. The guesser has one minute to get as many slips as possible. 4. Teams take turns sending a guesser to the chair. Anyone who would rather not act can hold the bowl and keep the time. Players: 6 to 16. You need: slips of charades ideas, a bowl and a timer.
Sofa Against Armchairs Trivia 1. Print or open a list of Thanksgiving trivia questions with the answers. Split the room by where people are sitting. 2. A reader who is on neither team asks a question. Teams confer in whispers and write one answer. 3. Both teams hold up their paper at the same moment. 4. A point for each correct answer, ten questions a round. The losing team reads the next round. Players: 5 to 16. You need: a list of trivia questions, paper and two pencils.
Top Answers on the Board 1. Use a set of Thanksgiving survey-style questions, each with ranked answers. Two teams sit facing each other. 2. The host reads a question, such as "Name something people do after the meal." 3. Teams take turns guessing an answer on the list. A hit scores its points, and three misses pass the question to the other team. 4. Play five questions. The points are the page's own ranking, not a real survey. Players: 6 to 16. You need: a set of survey game questions with answers, and a score pad.
Would You Rather: Guess the Cook 1. Whoever cooked the most today is the subject. Another player reads a would-you-rather question aloud. 2. The cook writes an answer and hides it. Everyone else writes what they think the cook chose. 3. All answers are shown together. 4. A point for each match with the cook. After six questions, the top scorer becomes the next subject. Players: 4 to 14. You need: a list of would-you-rather questions, paper and pencils.

How this list was compiled: Our suggestions for the adults in the hours after a Thanksgiving meal. The wording and the player counts are ours. Sixteen need nothing but voices, a clock at most, and eight are played from a sheet printed from this site. None is an eating contest, none involves alcohol, nothing is staked and no question touches politics. The list states no fact that needs an outside source. Licence: own work

How it works

These Thanksgiving games for adults start when the meal is over and nobody wants to stand up. Most need only voices. None is an eating contest, and no question is about politics.

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Games to play after Thanksgiving dinner, in order

1. While the dishes are done: Play-by-Play of the Cleanup Crew. 2. Before dessert: Three Banned Words Until Dessert, which runs by itself. 3. With dessert: The Pie Debate, Sides by Seat. 4. When the room is quiet: Three Kind Clues or Ten Thanksgivings Ago. 5. When the first coat comes out: Minutes of the Long Goodbye.

When someone wants a pencil

The Pencil and paper games each start from a sheet to print before the guests arrive: trivia, bingo, charades slips, a left-right story. Print one of each and the evening is covered.

Start a talking game without announcing it. Ask the first question and the room joins in.

Questions and answers

What are fun Thanksgiving game ideas for adults with no props?

15 of the 24 need nothing at all. Try With the Majority, Thanks With a Catch, Next Year's Menu, Amended by Vote or The Turkey's Escape, Fortunately and Unfortunately. Under More filters, No props shows them all.

What games can a small group of adults play on Thanksgiving?

Four people are enough for most of the sofa games, such as Two True Thanksgivings and One That Never Happened, Kitchen Mishap Stories for the Best Seat and Pitch a Balloon for the Parade. The Leftover Sandwich Draft works with three.

What Thanksgiving games work for adults who do not know each other well?

With the Majority, The Leftover Sandwich Draft and Parade, Game or Dog Show? need no shared history. Save Who Said It at Dinner? and Ten Thanksgivings Ago for a room of relatives and old friends.