Thanksgiving Family Games

What does Thanksgiving Day mean to you? Spending time with family and sitting down to a big turkey dinner with all the trimmings? Sounds delicious!

While the meal is, of course, the main event, after the last forkful of pumpkin pie has been dispatched, many families settle in to watch a movie or football. It’s okay if Uncle Bob falls asleep before the end of the first quarter — he does that every year.

Others like to stay at the table and play games, keeping everyone together and engaged in conversation. With family members spread out across cities, states, and even countries, Thanksgiving may be one of the few precious times when the whole family is in one place.

What are some fun Thanksgiving family games you can play? Here’s our list of all-time favorites.

Last Letter First

This free online word game is fun for the entire Thanksgiving crowd. Players simply download the app, and they’re good to go. And since it’s an online game, you can play anywhere!

Gameplay is simple: when a player enters a word, the next player’s word must begin with the last letter of that word. For example, if a player enters “clock,” the next player must enter a word that starts with “k,” such as “kick.” Each letter is preassigned a value from 1 to 10 points. Up to 10 players can play together, so get all the relatives involved and have fun!

Scrabble

Scrabble is the undisputed granddaddy of word games. Many people have fond childhood memories of playing Scrabble with their parents and grandparents — and no wonder, as it has been around for nearly 100 years! Did you know that Scrabble is available as a board game in more than 120 countries and at least 30 languages? People even compete in local and national competitions. So get out your Scrabble game and test your vocabulary skills against the relatives. If you don’t have the board game, no worries — you can play Scrabble online as well!

Words with Friends

If you’re a word game aficionado, you no doubt remember how Words with Friends took the online word game community by storm when it was released in 2009. Within a few short years, it was the most popular mobile game in the United States.

Gameplay is similar to Scrabble. Each player has seven random letter tiles, and players take turns forming words vertically or horizontally on a common board, building off the words that are already there. Some squares give bonus points. Multiplayer modes are available, so Words with Friends can be a great Thanksgiving family game — and you can play with friends and relatives anywhere around the globe!

Monopoly

Who hasn’t tried to buy a hotel on Park Place or grimaced when they had to pay rent on one on Boardwalk? Who hasn’t drawn a Chance or Community Chest card, hoping it would be the turn of luck they needed? Released in the early 1930s, Monopoly is hands-down the best-selling board game in the history. It’s estimated that more than a billion people have played, and although the original game’s locations are in Atlantic City, New Jersey, scores of editions have been produced. You know you have Monopoly somewhere in the house. Find it, choose your game piece — top hat? thimble? shoe? — roll the dice, and see how much money you can make on Thanksgiving Day!

Risk

You have the world map in front of you, and your job is to build an army, defend your territory, and attack and conquer the territories of your opponents. Risk is a fun and fascinating game of strategy, diplomacy, alliances, and conquest. Invented in 1957, it’s one of the most popular board games of all time. Editions have been made with themes such as Star Wars, Star Trek, The Lord of the Rings, Narnia, Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, and even Transformers. Risk is also available as software for PCs, video games, and an app. Whatever version you choose, the objective remains the same — to vanquish your enemies and control all 42 territories on the board. Pit your strategies and battle tactics against your opponents at the Thanksgiving table and see who comes out as a world conqueror!

Battleship

You remember sitting across from a friend and calling out coordinates — G4, A9, C5 — in an attempt to destroy the enemy fleet. This is Battleship, which traces its origins back to World War I as a sample game played with a pencil and a pad of paper. The now-familiar board game was released by Milton Bradley in 1967, and electronic and online versions are also available. It even spawned a big-budget 2012 film. Although it’s strictly a two-player game, Battleship goes quickly, allowing you to take on different opponents throughout your Thanksgiving evening.

Trivial Pursuit

How much do you know about science, nature, entertainment, sports, or history? Trivial Pursuit tests your knowledge in various categories, and it can be played as an individual or a team. Go around the board and collect plastic wedges in your game piece — one for each category — and then enter the center hub for one final question. Trivial Pursuit will test your memory and teach you all kinds of interesting facts. Introduced in 1981, versions of Trivial Pursuit have been produced with fun themes and for different age groups — which means Baby Boomers, Gen Alpha, and everyone in between can enjoy their trivia.

Chess and Checkers

We would be remiss if we didn’t mention the two most ubiquitous board games — chess and checkers. Challenge your aunt or cousin to a game of checkers, or get out the chessboard and see who gets to checkmate first. If you don’t have the board game, no worries — free apps are available, so all you need is a smartphone to play!

Let’s Play!

Well, there you have a few suggestions for Thanksgiving family games, and you probably have a few more favorites of your own. Some families enjoy playing card games such as Hearts, Spades, Canasta, Euchre, and Uno. Many of our favorite board games now have online versions and apps, so even if one or two family members can’t make it home for the holiday, you can still connect and play a game together on Thanksgiving.

So now it’s up to you. After the dishes are cleared away, have a plan! Play Last Letter First, and make this Thanksgiving a winning one to remember!