Thanksgiving games for family gatherings: easy picks for every age

Card games for the Thanksgiving table

1. 1. Schnitzel™ (2–8 players, 7+)

   Our own game, so we are biased. Everyone gets 4 hidden cards and tries to end with the lowest score, while action cards let you swap, spy and sabotage. A game takes about 8 minutes, so it fits between the turkey and the pie, and it handles up to 8 players.

2. 2. Spoons (3+ players, standard deck)

   Cards go round the table while everyone tries to collect four of a kind. The first to do it grabs a spoon, and there is one spoon fewer than players. Loud, fast and good for big groups and cousins of all ages.

3. 3. 4-card Golf (2–6 players, standard deck)

   Four face-down cards, peek at two, swap to get the lowest score. Grandparents often already know it, and kids pick it up in one round. See our golf card game rules guide.

4. 4. Crazy Eights (2+ players, standard deck)

   Match the suit or the number, eights are wild. The easiest game on this list for the youngest players.

5. 5. Kemps (4, 6 or 8 players in pairs, standard deck)

   Teams agree on a secret signal and try to pass it unnoticed when they hold four of a kind. Pair a grandparent with a grandchild and watch the signals get creative.

6. 6. Cheat / I Doubt It (3+ players, standard deck)

   Play cards face down and claim what they are. Call “Cheat!” when you think someone is lying. Best for teens and adults after dinner.

Free Thanksgiving games that need no cards at all

1. 1. Thankful alphabet

   Go round the table from A to Z. Each person names something they are thankful for that starts with the next letter. Easy for kids, and it gets harder near Q and X.

2. 2. Two truths and a lie

   Each person says three things about themselves, one of them false. Everyone else guesses the lie. Works well when relatives have not seen each other for a year.

3. 3. Charades

   Write movies, songs or family memories on slips of paper and act them out in teams. No setup beyond a pen and a bowl.

4. 4. Twenty questions

   One person thinks of something, everyone else gets 20 yes-or-no questions. A good one for the drive home or the dishes.

How to pick a game for a mixed-age table

• Short rounds: people come and go between the kitchen and the table, so games of 5–10 minutes work best.
• Big groups: pick games that handle 6–8 players, like Schnitzel, Spoons or Kemps.
• Kids and grandparents together: simple turns and memory beat long rulebooks (Golf, Crazy Eights, Schnitzel).
• After dinner: switch to bluffing and take-that games (Cheat, Schnitzel) when the adults want more competition.

How Schnitzel™ plays in 60 seconds

Everyone gets 4 face-down cards and peeks at 2 of them. On your turn you draw a card or take the top of the discard pile and swap it into your row, or throw it away. The goal is the lowest total, so you want to get rid of the 9s and 10-point action cards and keep the -5s and 0s.

Discarded action cards can be used straight away: Peek at your own card, Spy on everyone else, Swap blind with an opponent, Attack someone with an extra card, or Overwrite your whole hand with theirs. When you think you are lowest, yell “SCHNITZEL!” and everyone gets one last turn. Unless someone plays a Nope.

And there is the X: one card worth 666 points that ends the game the moment it shows up.

Friendsgiving and the long weekend

Thanksgiving 2026 is on Thursday, November 26, and for many families the games carry on all weekend. A small card game travels well: it fits in a bag for the trip to the relatives, works with 2 players on the way home, and with up to 8 at a Friendsgiving table.

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