8 Easy Friendsgiving Games That Will Not Disappoint

Whether your Thanksgiving table is filled with old friends or new, it never hurts to have a few Friendsgiving games at the ready to get people mixing and mingling. Whether you pick a goofy game of Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza, a thought-provoking session of We’re Not Really Strangers, or a lively round of Pictionary, these games are perfect for pulling out as the meal winds down. They set an inviting tone just as people start to wonder whether they should start moseying toward the door or settle in for the evening.

The key to the perfect Friendsgiving game is finding something easy to learn so no one will feel left out if they’ve never heard of Left-Right-Center. Everyone can grab a fresh drink, find a seat at the table, and get ready for a rousing evening with these eight friendsgiving games.

There are no politics involved in this left-right-center game. The easy-to-learn and quick-to-play Original LCR Left Center Right game comes in a small blue tin, which makes it perfect for bringing along to a Friendsgiving as a guest. To play, you’ll start with three chips and, when it’s your turn, you’ll roll three dice with the letters L-R-C and dots. That roll will dictate whether you keep chips or pass them to the left, right, or center. The winner is the last person standing with chips still in front of them. 

Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza is a tongue-twister card game that has an enthusiastically viral following, and it’s a great icebreaker to encourage a group of soon-to-be friends to get to know each other quickly. This fast-paced game combines saying the words “Taco,” “Cat,” “Goat,” “Cheese,” “Pizza” rapidly while taking turns flipping their cards, hoping a card that matches the word will come up. When one does, everyone slaps their hands down. The last person to slap has to take all the cards, and the winner is the first to get rid of their cards. Sound confusing? You’ll catch on quickly! 

Channel the When Harry Met Sally vibes and bring together your Friendsgiving group over a game of Pictionary. Think of this as artistic charades. It’s a classic game that involves two teams taking turns drawing a word, trying to encourage their teammates to guess it correctly. The goal is to run through as many words in a turn as possible but, if you take longer than 60 seconds to guess a word, your team’s turn is over.

If you’re looking for Friendsgiving games with a deeper note, pull out We’re Not Really Strangers. This get-to-know-you card game has 150 cards with questions like, “What is a dream you’ve let go of?” and “What is something you wouldn’t want to change about yourself?” There are questions that get at the other players’ perceptions of you, questions that encourage connection, and others that prompt reflection. This is where casual friends become deeply connected.

Taboo is a game that can get rowdy as teams try to get their fellow teammates to guess a word without saying the forbidden — or taboo — word. This is the perfect game to bring out after dessert and after opening a post-dinner bottle of wine. It can rapidly go from a quiet and demure round to wildly competitive, with teammates blaming their own for saying that one taboo word.

Once the type of game that was only played at sleepovers, Never Ever Have I Ever now has an official card game format. And this game means serious business. There are 485 questions in this card deck, with prompts to get at your most awkward, embarrassing, and secretive moments. Have a group that you think needs to shake things up a bit? This is exactly the game you need to have on hand to loosen up your Friendsgiving.

If your Friendsgiving table is stacked with social media savvy types, then a few rounds of What Do You Meme? could end up overshadowing the meal itself. In this game, you’ll each have a stack of cards with captions at the ready. An image is dealt, and each of you has to choose the card that you think makes the best meme with the image. A rotating judge picks the winner for each round — and there’s no limit on the number of rounds or winners. You’ll keep on going until you decide to move on to the next one of your Friendsgiving games.

Want to add some noise and energy with a rowdy Friendsgiving game? Pull out a classic game of Jenga. This game of stacking wooden blocks is simple enough, but it adds an anticipatory energy to the room that brings people together and gets them laughing.