15 Thanksgiving Drinking Games for a Grown-Up Friendsgiving

Let’s be honest: thanksgiving drinking games are basically the reason half of us show up to Friendsgiving. The turkey’s great, the stuffing is essential, but the games? That’s where the night becomes a story you’re still retelling in February.

Whether you’re hosting eight people in a tiny apartment or thirty across two folding tables shoved together in a backyard, I’ve rounded up 15 festive, grown-up games that cover everything from pong to blind wine tastings to charades that will genuinely make someone cry-laugh.

Every single one has a built-in drinking mechanic — no watered-down ‘fun for all ages’ nonsense here. This list is strictly 21+ and 100% Friendsgiving-approved.

Quick responsible-drinking note before we dive in: please designate drivers or book rideshares ahead of time, keep water and food flowing all evening, and know your limits. And if someone at your table isn’t drinking?

Every single game below works perfectly with a sparkling mocktail, a festive cranberry spritzer, or plain old sparkling water — zero judgment, zero FOMO. Now let’s get to the fun part.

Not sure what to serve alongside all these games?

Check out these 12 Cheap Thanksgiving Appetizers That Look Expensive — your guests will think you spent way more time in the kitchen than you did (and you’ll have that extra hour to, you know, set up the pong table).

Also, if you’re trying to keep the whole holiday budget-friendly, these 6 Ways to Save on Thanksgiving are genuinely clutch. Okay, drinks ready? Let’s go.

1. Cornucopia Pong

Cornucopia Pong is your classic beer pong setup reimagined with a full Thanksgiving glow-up.

Instead of the standard pyramid formation, you arrange 10 cups on each side into the shape of a cornucopia — a wide fanned arc of seven cups tapering down to a curved ‘mouth’ of three cups.

Teams of two face off across a standard folding table, each taking turns tossing a ping pong ball (or a small orange rubber ball if you want extra festivity) into the opposing side’s cups. Land it in, and they drink and remove the cup.

Clear the whole cornucopia first and your team wins.

To set this up, you’ll need 20 Solo cups (orange or autumn-color ones are chef’s kiss), ping pong balls, and your drink of choice — a light beer, hard cider, or a cranberry spritzer for non-drinkers works perfectly. Fill cups about one-third of the way.

Print or sketch the cornucopia shape ahead of time so teams can reference it when re-racking at six cups and three cups.

House rules: if both teammates sink a cup on the same turn, that’s a ‘Harvest Shot’ — opponents drink an extra cup before removing it.

Why does this one work so well as a Friendsgiving opener? It’s physical, loud, competitive, and instantly breaks the ice for guests who don’t know each other well.

The cornucopia shape is just different enough from regular pong that even seasoned players have to recalibrate their aim, which creates a surprisingly level playing field.

Host tip: keep a pitcher of warm water nearby for rinsing balls between throws — your guests will quietly thank you for it, tbh.

2. Sip When: Thanksgiving Edition

Sip When: Thanksgiving Edition is the ultimate lazy-genius game — it requires zero hosting energy after setup and plays itself over the course of the entire day. Think of it as a running scavenger hunt for predictable holiday moments.

You print out (or pull up on your phone) a master list of things that are basically guaranteed to happen at every Thanksgiving gathering, and every time one occurs in real life, everyone who witnessed it takes a sip.

No turns, no elimination — just continuous, ambient chaos layered on top of your entire evening.

The printable sheet gives every guest their own personal card so they can track which triggers they personally witnessed and sip accordingly.

Classic prompts include things like: someone mentions the turkey is dry, someone unbuttons their pants at the table, someone asks if you’re ‘seeing anyone,’ a political comment is made and immediately walked back, someone falls asleep before 8 PM, or the host opens the oven ‘just to check’ for the fifth time.

The sheet has two columns — one for pre-dinner prompts and one for post-dinner, because the energy shifts dramatically after the pie comes out. Mocktail players sip their festive drink on the exact same triggers — same game, same fun.

This is genuinely one of the best thanksgiving drinking games for a mixed-comfort crowd because nobody has to perform, win, or remember rules mid-conversation. The game runs passively in the background while you’re actually living your Friendsgiving.

Host tip: read the list aloud before dinner so everyone can get familiar with the triggers, then tuck the cards by each place setting. Whoever correctly predicts the most triggers before they happen wins bragging rights — or a bottle of wine, your call.

3. Thanksgiving Flip Cup

Thanksgiving Flip Cup is classic flip cup dialed up with a holiday theme and a few festive rule twists that make it feel completely fresh even if your crew has played the original a hundred times.

Split into two equal teams along opposite sides of a long table. Each player has a cup filled a third of the way with their drink of choice.

On ‘go,’ the first player in each line drinks their cup, places it rim-down on the edge of the table, and flips it upright with one finger.

The second player can’t go until the first successfully flips — it’s a full relay race, and the team that clears all their cups first wins the round.

Here’s the Thanksgiving twist: before the game starts, each team secretly assigns a ‘Gobble Gobble’ player — one person on their team who must gobble like a turkey every single time they flip.

If the opposing team catches them NOT gobbling, that team automatically wins the flip regardless of cup status.

You’ll also add a ‘Gravy Boat’ center cup — a bonus cup in the middle of the table filled by the host; whichever team wins two rounds in a row gets to dare the other team captain to drink the gravy boat (it’s just extra drink, don’t worry — but the drama is everything).

Teams need: Solo cups, a long table, and drinks. Mocktail version: use sparkling cider or a cranberry-lime spritzer.

Flip Cup is one of those thanksgiving drinking games that scales perfectly — you can have four people or twenty and it works just as well.

It’s energetic enough to shake off the food coma, competitive enough to start some friendly trash talk, and short enough per round that you can run a full tournament bracket in under 30 minutes.

Host tip: use colored cups so teams are always identifiable, and play three rounds to crown a Friendsgiving Flip Cup Champion — a title that absolutely belongs on someone’s Instagram bio.

4. Parade Float Drinking Bingo

Parade Float Drinking Bingo is the game that makes watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade genuinely exciting for adults (sorry, kids — this one’s ours).

Everyone gets a unique 5×5 bingo card filled with parade-specific events: a famous character balloon floats by, a celebrity waves from a float, an obvious lip-sync happens during a musical performance, the announcer mentions a balloon’s helium-tank count, someone in the crowd holds a hilariously specific handmade sign, and so on.

Every time a square is triggered by something you see on screen, you mark it — and drink. Get five in a row and you yell ‘GOBBLE!’ to claim the win (and everyone else takes a sip in your honor).

The printable sheet has a 5×5 bingo grid with a free ‘Turkey’ space in the center and 24 unique parade-event squares.

Each card in the set is shuffled slightly differently so not everyone wins at the same time — that’s key for keeping the energy going across the full three-hour broadcast.

Recommended prompts include: Snoopy balloon appears, a Broadway cast performs, a marching band plays a pop song badly, a float has an unclear theme, the hosts mention the cold weather, a balloon bumps a building, a performer almost slips, and the iconic Santa float closes the show.

Sip for every marked square, finish your drink for GOBBLE.

This is hands-down one of the best thanksgiving drinking games for morning Friendsgivings or households where some guests arrive early to ‘help cook’ (read: stand in the kitchen with a mimosa).

It gives everyone something to do while the turkey roasts, and the passive sip-when mechanic means nobody has to stop prepping food to take a turn.

Host tip: print the cards the night before and slip them under each guest’s breakfast plate — it’s an adorable touch that sets the tone for the whole day.

5. Thanksgiving Never Have I Ever

Thanksgiving Never Have I Ever is the classic finger-down drinking game fully loaded with holiday-specific confessions that feel equal parts relatable and absolutely chaotic. Everyone starts with ten fingers up. Going around the circle, each person says ‘Never have I ever…’

followed by a very specific Thanksgiving experience — and anyone who HAS done that thing puts a finger down and takes a sip.

The last person with fingers still standing wins, though by that point everyone’s usually too busy laughing about the person who admitted they’ve definitely stress-cried in a grocery store on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.

The key to a great round is in the prompts — generic ones fall flat, but hyper-specific holiday confessions are comedy gold. Examples: Never have I ever burned a dish and served it anyway. Never have I ever texted under the dinner table during grace.

Never have I ever eaten pie for breakfast on Thanksgiving morning (and felt zero guilt). Never have I ever lied about being full just to avoid a second helping of something I hated. Never have I ever gotten into a ‘discussion’ about football seating arrangements.

Never have I ever pretended to help cook but really just tasted things and stood in the way. Never have I ever eaten someone else’s labeled Tupperware leftovers. You get the idea — the more specific, the better the confessions that follow.

This is one of those thanksgiving drinking games that works at literally any group size — two people or twenty, seated at dinner or sprawled on the living room floor.

It’s also endlessly customizable: if your friend group has specific inside jokes or recurring Thanksgiving disasters, write those in as prompts before the game starts. Mocktail players hold their festive drink and sip on the same triggers as everyone else — same energy, fully included.

Pro tip: write 10–15 prompts on index cards before guests arrive so you always have a fresh one when the creativity starts running thin after round two.

6. Blind Wine Tasting Showdown

Blind Wine Tasting Showdown is the game that makes everyone feel like a sophisticated sommelier for approximately four minutes before someone confidently declares that the $8 bottle is ‘obviously a Napa Valley reserve.’

The premise is beautifully simple: the host pours four to six different wines into numbered paper bags or wrapped bottles so labels are completely hidden.

Guests receive a small pour of each, taste them in order, and must rank them from cheapest to most expensive on a provided score card.

The guest with the most accurate ranking wins — and everyone’s humbled by how bad humans are at detecting price in a glass of wine. It’s honestly one of my favorite things to watch happen in real time.

To run this smoothly, select a mix that actually spans a price range — try two bottles under $12, two in the $18–$25 range, and one splurge around $40. Wrap them tightly so no label detail is visible, then pour in secret before guests arrive.

Give everyone a scorecard with rows labeled Wine 1 through 6, columns for their price guess, their flavor notes, and a final ranking. Palate-cleansing crackers or plain bread between pours are essential.

Non-drinkers can play with a flight of specialty juices — a white grape, a pressed apple, a tart pomegranate — and guess origin or sweetness level instead. Same reveal drama, zero alcohol required.

The beauty of this game as a thanksgiving drinking game is that it generates conversation naturally — people start talking about where they think each wine is from, what it tastes like, whether it’s worth the price.

It’s low-key, a little educational, and the reveals are always more entertaining than expected. Host tip: reveal the correct rankings one by one for maximum drama, and save the most shocking price difference for last.

Someone in your group will absolutely be wrong in a way they’ll never live down. That person will be the one who spoke most confidently. It is an iron law of this game.

7. Football Squares Drinking Game

Football Squares Drinking Game takes the classic office-pool squares format and transforms it into an all-day drinking event tied to the Thanksgiving NFL games. You set up a 10×10 grid — 100 squares total — and guests claim squares by writing their name in them.

Once all squares are filled, you randomly assign digits 0–9 to each row and column (one set for each team).

At the end of every quarter, you look at the last digit of each team’s score — the guest whose square matches those two digits wins the quarter and distributes drinks to the rest of the table.

It’s the perfect game to run passively in the background while the actual game is on.

The printable sheet is a clean 10×10 grid with clearly labeled rows (Home Team score digits) and columns (Away Team score digits), plus space at the top for guests to write in team names and the date.

Each cell is large enough to write a name. Below the grid, there’s a simple ‘Quarter Results’ tracker with four rows labeled Q1 through Q4 where the host writes the winning square coordinates and winner’s name after each quarter ends.

Print one master copy and hang it somewhere visible — on the fridge, on a clipboard near the TV — so everyone can watch their squares anxiously as scores tick up. Non-drinkers distribute a fun dare instead of drinks.

This is arguably the most thanksgiving drinking game format of all time because it runs itself, it ties directly to the holiday tradition of NFL football, and it gives non-sports-fans a stake in every single score.

Even people who couldn’t name a single player are suddenly invested the moment they own a square.

Host tip: if you want to ramp up the stakes, add a Halftime Jackpot — the guest who holds the halftime score square gets to assign a group challenge or a ‘Finish Your Drink’ to every other player at the table.

Trust me, the room’s energy will shift instantly.

8. Gobble Gobble Shots Roulette

Gobble Gobble Shots Roulette is the high-energy centerpiece game your Friendsgiving needs around the 8 PM mark — that magical window after the food coma lifts and before people start calling rideshares.

Set up a spinning lazy Susan or a round tray in the middle of the table.

Arrange 8–10 shot glasses or small cups around it in a circle, filled with a mix of drinks: some are the good stuff (a festive cinnamon whiskey, a cranberry vodka shot), and two or three are ‘gobble’ shots — disgusting-but-harmless concoctions like pickle juice mixed with a splash of cider vinegar, or hot sauce in apple juice.

Players take turns spinning the tray, and wherever it stops (one designated marker on the table edge determines which glass is ‘yours’), you drink that shot. You don’t know what’s in yours until it hits your lips.

To set this up, fill the glasses in secret before play begins and mix up their positions so even the host loses track of where the nasty ones landed.

Label the bottom of each glass before pouring so you can reveal what was in each one after the round ends — that moment of ‘wait, you drank WHAT?’ is genuinely one of the funniest parts of the game.

Gobble shots should be gross but 100% food-safe: think hot sauce plus apple cider, or a sour mix of pickle brine and sparkling water.

For non-drinkers, replace the good shots with sparkling juice and leave the gobble shots as the same spicy/sour concoctions — honestly, it evens the playing field dramatically and those players are usually the last ones laughing.

The unpredictability is everything here — unlike games where you can strategize, Gobble Gobble Shots Roulette is pure chaotic luck, which creates a kind of group camaraderie as everyone watches each spin with genuine suspense.

It also plays fast, typically just 10–15 minutes for a full round of 8 players, which makes it perfect to slot between longer games.

Host tip: keep a water pitcher and some bread on the table — the ‘gobble’ shots aren’t dangerous, but a palate cleanser between spins makes the whole experience more enjoyable (and keeps guests willing to play round two).

9. Cranberry Cocktail Roulette

Cranberry Cocktail Roulette is the tasting game that doubles as a mixology challenge — and it’s way more fun than it sounds, I promise. Each guest receives a printed recipe card that lists six mystery ‘Cranberry Cocktail’ recipes labeled only by number.

The host has pre-mixed all six in identical cups and sets them in a numbered line-up at the bar.

Each cocktail uses cranberry juice as a base but diverges wildly from there: one is a straight cranberry vodka, one is a cranberry mule with ginger beer, one is a cranberry mimosa with champagne, one is a cranberry hot toddy with whiskey and cinnamon, one is an absolutely unhinged cranberry-pickle-brine cocktail (a ‘Pickleback Pilgrim’), and one is a nonalcoholic cranberry shrub mocktail.

Guests taste all six, then use their printed sheet to match each numbered cup to its recipe name.

The printable sheet lists all six recipe names in a left column with blank matching lines next to each one, plus space to write tasting notes per cup.

After everyone has matched their guesses, the host reveals the correct answers — most matched wins, and everyone takes a celebratory sip of their favorite from the lineup. Getting the Pickleback Pilgrim wrong and having to finish it is a particularly memorable punishment.

For setup, make a small batch of each (4–6 oz per cocktail is plenty for a tasting) and use labeled numbered cups.

The mocktail option is already built in as one of the six — just expand it to be the ‘safe’ cup for any non-drinker who wants a full glass instead of a tasting sip.

This is one of those thanksgiving drinking games that works brilliantly at a sit-down dinner because it’s calm, it sparks conversation, and it teaches guests a tiny bit of cocktail trivia without them realizing it.

You’ll hear genuine debate about whether the mule or the mimosa is better, and someone will inevitably claim they ‘knew immediately’ which one was the pickle brine (they did not know).

Host tip: pre-make the cocktails in labeled pitchers the night before — they keep well in the fridge and it saves you scrambling during party setup.

10. Wine and Wishes

Wine and Wishes is the one game on this list that doubles as a genuine Friendsgiving tradition — equal parts drinking game and gratitude ritual, which sounds cheesy until you’re actually sitting around the table doing it and someone makes a wish that makes the whole room go quiet for a second.

Here’s how it works: the host pours everyone a glass of wine (or a festive mocktail), and play goes around the table.

On your turn, you share one ‘Wine’ — something from the past year you want to toast and celebrate — and one ‘Wish’ — something you’re genuinely hoping for in the year ahead.

After you share, everyone who resonates with either your Wine or your Wish clinks glasses with you and sips. Pure, simple, a little emotional, and sneakily effective at getting everyone drinking at a steady pace throughout the evening.

To add a game layer to the gratitude ritual, each guest gets a small card to write their Wine and Wish before the game starts — this prevents the classic ‘uhhhh I don’t know what to say’ freeze-up that kills the momentum.

You can also add a secret voting mechanic: after all Wines and Wishes have been shared, everyone privately votes for the ‘Most Relatable Wine’ and ‘Most Ambitious Wish’ of the night. Those two winners each receive a bottle of wine or a festive small prize.

The printable vote card makes this seamless — guests just circle their picks and pass the card to the host for a final tally.

Wine and Wishes works best placed toward the end of the evening when the food is gone and the mood is warm. (I usually slot it between the last active game and dessert.)

It’s technically a thanksgiving drinking game, but it leaves everyone feeling something — and at Friendsgiving, that’s actually the point. The wine is just a vehicle.

Host tip: save the ‘Wishes’ cards after the night and send them back to your friends at New Year’s — seeing what they wished for back in November is unexpectedly moving, and it turns your Friendsgiving into a two-part tradition.

11. Beer Pong: Cranberry Cups

Beer Pong: Cranberry Cups is your standard beer pong format with one delicious seasonal upgrade: instead of cheap beer in the cups, you pour a cranberry cocktail mix — a simple combination of cranberry juice, vodka or gin, and a splash of lime.

The cups glow a gorgeous deep red under party lighting, the drink actually tastes festive, and the game plays exactly the same as the classic.

Two teams of two, standard pyramid formation (10 cups per side), alternating shots across the table, drink when a ball lands in your cup.

What changes is the vibe — cranberry cups just feel like Friendsgiving in a way that a warm Bud Light simply does not, tbh.

Setup: mix your cranberry cocktail in a pitcher ahead of time — a ratio of 2 parts cranberry juice, 1 part vodka or gin, and a squeeze of fresh lime works beautifully. Fill the 20 cups about one-third of the way.

Add a ‘Harvest Rule’: if a player sinks two cups back-to-back without missing, they get to call a ‘Re-Rack’ in any Thanksgiving-themed shape they want — a pumpkin outline, a leaf, or a turkey silhouette. The opposing team must comply.

A water rinse cup lives at each end of the table to keep the ball clean between shots. Non-drinkers use a straight cranberry-lime-sparkling water mix and play identically.

This is the version of beer pong that your Friendsgiving genuinely deserves — familiar enough that no one needs a tutorial, but elevated enough to feel like you planned it.

The seasonal cocktail mix also means the stakes feel slightly higher than standard pong (nobody wants to chug cranberry-vodka against their will at 7 PM), which keeps everyone playing more carefully and makes the competitive tension weirdly delightful.

Host tip: make extra cranberry mix in a separate pitcher for sipping — guests will inevitably want some even when it’s not their turn at the table, and honestly it’s a great party cocktail on its own.

12. Pie or Pass (Dare or Drink)

Pie or Pass is the Thanksgiving spin on the classic dare-or-drink format — except every dare is Friendsgiving-themed and delightfully absurd.

On your turn, the player to your left draws a card (or reads from a printed deck) and offers you a choice: complete the dare, or skip it and drink.

Dares range from mild — deliver a 30-second toast about why cranberry sauce is underrated — to chaotic — call a random contact and wish them a Happy Thanksgiving in your best turkey gobble voice.

The ‘pass’ always costs you a sip, so technically everyone’s drinking at a pretty steady rate regardless of dare-bravery, which is exactly how it should work.

The key to making this game sing is in the dare writing — generic dares kill the energy. Great Friendsgiving-specific dares: impersonate your most dramatic family member describing the turkey. Take a photo posing like a pilgrim and post it to your story right now.

Narrate the next 60 seconds of the evening like a nature documentary. Name every Thanksgiving side dish alphabetically before the timer (30 seconds) runs out or drink. Do your best impression of someone else at the table — they guess who.

Text your mom ‘I’m thankful for you’ right now, no explanation. The physical card deck (or printable sheet) is what makes this run smoothly — having the prompts in hand means you’re never stalling for the next one mid-game.

Pie or Pass works best with 4–10 players seated in a circle, and a full round through the group takes about 20 minutes, making it ideal as a post-dinner game when the table is still set and nobody wants to stand up yet.

It’s one of those thanksgiving drinking games that generates more genuine laughs than almost anything else because the dares are personalized to the holiday and people’s performances are always better (and worse) than expected.

Host tip: write a few custom dares specific to your friend group before the party — inside jokes as dare prompts absolutely send the whole table into orbit.

13. Most Likely To (Holiday Edition)

Most Likely To (Holiday Edition) is the Friendsgiving game that will both celebrate and absolutely roast everyone at your table in the most affectionate way possible. It works like this: the host reads a ‘Most Likely To…’

prompt — Thanksgiving and holiday-specific ones only — and on the count of three, everyone simultaneously points at the person they think fits best. Whoever gets the most fingers pointed at them takes a sip.

It’s fast, chaotic, laugh-inducing, and reveals exactly what your friends think of you, which is either deeply gratifying or mildly concerning depending on what the prompt is.

The printable sheet gives each guest their own scoring card with 20 prompts pre-printed so the game runs without the host having to think of new ones on the fly. Holiday prompts include: Most Likely To eat turkey for breakfast the next morning.

Most Likely To start decorating for Christmas on November 1st. Most Likely To cry at a holiday commercial. Most Likely To claim they ‘don’t have room’ for pie and then eat three slices.

Most Likely To suggest a second round of games when everyone else is half asleep. Most Likely To still be talking about last Thanksgiving’s drama right now. Most Likely To bring a dish and then eat more than they contributed.

Most Likely To be the one who finishes everyone’s wine. Each prompt has a blank line for guests to write in the name they’re pointing at — the tallied results at the end are a whole comedy set.

This is one of the most versatile thanksgiving drinking games on this list because it works at a seated dinner table with no props, no setup, and minimal noise — but it generates enormous laughs.

It also doubles as a light roast of your friend group, which, at Friendsgiving, is truly a love language.

Host tip: save the completed cards and read out the tallied results at the end of the evening as a ‘Most Likely To Awards Ceremony’ — give out tiny prizes (a mini bottle of wine, a chocolate turkey, a ridiculous dollar-store trophy) to the guest who got the most nominations across all 20 prompts.

14. Toast Roulette (Gratitude Shot)

Toast Roulette (Gratitude Shot) is the warmest drinking game you will ever play, and I mean that in every sense of the word.

Here’s the mechanic: everyone writes one genuine thing they are grateful for this year on a small slip of paper and drops it into a bowl.

The host also drops in a handful of ‘Wild Card’ slips that say things like ‘Take a sip for every person at this table’ or ‘Everyone drinks together — cheers!’ Slips get shuffled, and each player draws one.

If they draw someone’s genuine gratitude statement, they read it aloud without revealing who wrote it, and the group guesses whose it is — whoever guesses correctly assigns a sip. If nobody guesses correctly, the person who wrote it takes a sip.

Draw a wild card, follow its instructions.

To keep this running smoothly, have slips and pens at every seat before guests arrive so they can write their gratitude note when they first sit down — don’t ask people to come up with one on the spot mid-game, because the pressure creates avoidance.

Use different colored slips for gratitude notes versus wild cards so the host can manage the ratio easily (aim for about 70% gratitude slips, 30% wild cards).

Have everyone pour a fresh glass before the game starts, and designate one person as the ‘Cheers Caller’ who kicks off every group toast with a gobble.

Non-drinkers sip their mocktail on every single prompt — their participation is what makes the reveal guessing so fun.

Toast Roulette works beautifully as the final game of the evening — it’s the one that sends everyone home with a good feeling instead of just a headache.

It’s also quietly one of the sneakier thanksgiving drinking games because the gratitude-guessing mechanic keeps everyone sipping steadily while also creating genuine emotional moments.

It sounds like it might get too sincere, but in practice the mix of heartfelt slips and absurd wild cards keeps the tone perfectly balanced.

Host tip: photograph the gratitude slips after the game and send them to your group chat the next day — sober-morning-you will genuinely appreciate that, and so will everyone else.

15. Drunk Pilgrim Charades

Drunk Pilgrim Charades is Thanksgiving charades with a drinking penalty baked into every single interaction, which transforms this wholesome parlor game into something genuinely unhinged by round three. Split into two teams.

One person draws a card and has 60 seconds to act out the Thanksgiving-themed word or phrase written on it — no talking, no mouthing words, no pointing at objects in the room. Teammates guess.

If the team guesses correctly within 60 seconds, the opposing team drinks. If the team runs out of time without guessing, the acting team drinks.

Add a bonus rule: if the actor accidentally speaks or makes a vocal sound, they drink immediately and forfeit the round.

The phrase deck is what makes this specifically Drunk Pilgrim Charades and not just regular charades — every single prompt is Thanksgiving or Friendsgiving-themed, and ideally, about half of them are deliberately difficult to act out without words. Good prompts: Turkey basting. Food coma.

The wishbone. Passive-aggressive compliment. Stretchy pants. Pumpkin spice. Leftover sandwich. The Macy’s Parade. Explaining your job to a relative. Gravy boat. Falling asleep mid-sentence. The green bean casserole that nobody touches.

Pre-write 30–40 prompts on index cards before the party, shuffle them, and stack them face-down. Each team nominates a new actor per round. First team to ten correct guesses wins and gets to assign a group dare to the losing team.

Drunk Pilgrim Charades is the most physically energetic of all the thanksgiving drinking games in this list — people are standing up, waving their arms, miming eating a turkey leg, acting out ‘passive-aggressive compliment’ with their entire soul.

It’s perfect for the mid-evening energy dip when the food coma has lifted but everyone needs a reason to get off the couch. It’s also, tbh, the game most likely to produce a video clip that lives in your group chat forever.

Host tip: if your space is small, have actors perform in a designated ‘stage’ area — just an open patch of floor with everyone seated around it. The spotlight pressure makes performances exponentially more dramatic, which is exactly what you want.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the best drinking games to play on Thanksgiving with family?

If you’re playing with the 21+ members of your family (and only them), the most family-friendly drinking games on this list are Wine and Wishes, Toast Roulette (Gratitude Shot), and the Sip When: Thanksgiving Edition sheet — all three have built-in mocktail options, generate genuine conversation, and don’t require anyone to do anything embarrassing.

Avoid the shot roulette games if your crowd runs conservative, and always have a non-alcoholic option visible and accessible. The golden rule: if any minors are present, keep all drinking games to a private separate room or save them for after the kids are gone.

What are some fun Thanksgiving drinking games for a large group?

For large groups (12+ people), the best thanksgiving drinking games are ones that run simultaneously or in teams rather than one player at a time.

Sip When: Thanksgiving Edition and Parade Float Drinking Bingo both run passively for everyone at once — zero waiting, everyone always engaged. Thanksgiving Flip Cup and Cornucopia Pong scale beautifully into team tournaments with a bracket format.

Football Squares works for any size group as long as you have a grid with enough squares. Most Likely To (Holiday Edition) also runs great for large groups seated at a long table — no turn-waiting because everyone points simultaneously.

How do you play a Thanksgiving-themed Never Have I Ever drinking game?

Thanksgiving Never Have I Ever plays exactly like classic Never Have I Ever with one upgrade: every prompt must be specifically holiday-related. Everyone starts with ten fingers up. Going around the circle, each person says ‘Never have I ever…’

followed by a Thanksgiving scenario (burned a dish and served it anyway, stress-cried in a grocery store the night before, eaten pie for breakfast, etc.). Anyone who HAS done that thing puts a finger down and takes a sip of their drink.

The last person with fingers standing wins. Pro tip: write 10–15 prompts on index cards before the party so the game never stalls waiting for someone to think of a good one mid-round.

What are good drinking game rules for watching the Thanksgiving football game?

Football Squares Drinking Game is the dedicated football-watching game in this list — you claim squares on a 10×10 grid, and the owner of whichever square matches the last digit of each team’s score at the end of every quarter gets to assign drinks.

For a simpler sip-when overlay while watching, add rules like: sip every time the color analyst disagrees with the play call, sip every time a flag is thrown, finish your drink if your predicted score squares win two quarters in a row.

The Football Squares printable makes the whole thing organized and visible for the whole group.

How do you play a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade drinking game?

Parade Float Drinking Bingo from this list is the full parade drinking game — everyone gets a unique bingo card filled with parade-specific events (Snoopy balloon appears, obvious lip-sync moment, announcer mentions helium tank count, etc.)

and marks their card each time something happens on screen. Sip for every square you mark, and yell ‘GOBBLE!’ when you hit five in a row.

For a no-prep version without a printed card, simply agree on 5–6 sip triggers as a group before the parade starts: once per character balloon, once per celebrity wave, once per marching band, and once whenever the announcers say the word ‘tradition.’

Keep water flowing — the parade is three hours long!

What are easy no-prep drinking games to play at Friendsgiving?

The absolute easiest no-prep thanksgiving drinking games on this list are Thanksgiving Never Have I Ever (just fingers and drinks, zero materials), Toast Roulette (slips of paper and a bowl — five minutes of prep max), and Wine and Wishes (pens, paper, and glasses of wine).

Most Likely To (Holiday Edition) technically requires a printable but also works if someone just reads prompts aloud from their phone.

For truly zero-prep play, Sip When: Thanksgiving Edition can be played verbally — just agree on 10 triggers as a group and honor system each other throughout the evening.

What are the best Thanksgiving drinking games for small groups?

Small groups (2–6 people) do best with games that don’t require teams or large numbers to be fun. Blind Wine Tasting Showdown is genuinely perfect for 2–6 people — intimate, conversational, and surprisingly competitive.

Cranberry Cocktail Roulette, Wine and Wishes, Thanksgiving Never Have I Ever, and Gobble Gobble Shots Roulette all work brilliantly at small tables too.

Avoid Flip Cup and Cornucopia Pong if you have fewer than 6 players — both games need teams to really hit their stride.

Can you play drinking games like beer pong at Thanksgiving and how do you make them festive?

Absolutely — and making beer pong festive is way easier than you’d think.

The two pong versions in this list both upgrade the format: Cornucopia Pong rearranges the cups into a cornucopia shape instead of a standard pyramid, and Beer Pong: Cranberry Cups replaces whatever is in the cups with a cranberry vodka or cranberry mocktail mix.

Use orange or deep-red Solo cups, add a ‘Harvest Rule’ where back-to-back sinks earn a custom re-rack in a Thanksgiving shape (pumpkin, leaf, turkey), and you’ve got a game that photographs beautifully, tastes festive, and plays exactly like the classic your guests already know.

What are some Thanksgiving drinking game ideas that work at the dinner table?

Several games on this list are specifically designed for seated dinner-table play. Most Likely To (Holiday Edition) runs entirely at the table — everyone points simultaneously, no movement needed. Wine and Wishes is perfect seated around a dinner table with glasses already poured.

Toast Roulette works beautifully mid-meal with slips drawn from a bowl passed around. Sip When: Thanksgiving Edition runs passively all through dinner with personal prompt cards at each place setting.

Cranberry Cocktail Roulette is a tasting game that works seated with numbered cups placed along the center of the table.

What are funny Thanksgiving-themed ‘Most Likely To’ drinking game questions?

The best Friendsgiving ‘Most Likely To’ prompts are specific enough to feel personal and ridiculous enough to generate real laughs. Great examples: Most Likely To claim they have no room for pie and then eat three slices.

Most Likely To bring a dish and then eat more of it than anyone else. Most Likely To unbutton their pants at the table. Most Likely To start decorating for Christmas before Thanksgiving dinner is even over.

Most Likely To still be referencing last Thanksgiving’s drama right now. Most Likely To fall asleep on the couch before 8 PM. Most Likely To finish everyone else’s wine without noticing.

There you have it — 15 thanksgiving drinking games that will genuinely make your Friendsgiving the one everyone talks about until next November.

Whether you kick things off with Parade Float Drinking Bingo over morning mimosas, run a Cornucopia Pong tournament before dinner, or wind the whole night down with Wine and Wishes and toast roulette, there is something here for every vibe, every group size, and every level of competitive energy.

Print the sheets, mix the cranberry cocktails, and please, please book those rideshares in advance — your future self will be so grateful.

Speaking of being grateful, if holiday budget stress is sneaking into your festive plans, these 6 Ways to Save on Thanksgiving are worth a quick read, and while you are in holiday-planning mode, the 7 Ways to Budget for Christmas guide will save you a lot of December stress too.

Now go print those cards, chill that cranberry vodka, and have the best Friendsgiving yet. 🦃

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