Games for gathering: 7 small-box games I'm taking to Thanksgiving

These games are approachable and clever — could they work for your group?

Nov 15, 2023

Hi there! I hope it’s another good week in your life, and I hope that you’re enjoying the change in weather, wherever you happen to be. Here in my remote corner of the Arizona desert, it’s been quite lovely.

This week, I’m talking about games I’m planning to take to my wife’s family’s Thanksgiving celebration. It’s very much an all-day affair, and games are on the menu. Here are seven (and a few) that I’m thinking about taking. (Also, last week, I promised you food-themed games. There are several here!)

Point Salad

You’re always safe to bring a salad to a Thanksgiving meal, and likewise, you’re always safe to bring Point Salad to a party. It’s a simple set collection game, but it’s got a cool twist: You’re drafting your salad ingredients as well as your methods of scoring points. This is one of my favorite games to take to play with people who aren’t “in the hobby,” so to speak.

Why I picked Point Salad: It’s such a quick teach, it’s full of colorful cards, and it’s something plenty of players won’t have experienced.

Designed by Molly Johnson, Robert Melvin and Shawn Stankewich.

Abandon All Artichokes

Are artichokes a Thanksgiving food? I actually don’t know when they’re in season. (I’ve just checked. They’re primarily harvested in the summer, but they have a second peak period in mid-Autumn. So … maybe?) This is a nice little card-shedding game where your goal is to rid your deck of artichokes. It’s a neat little game with a bit of deck-building in its DNA.

Why I picked it: It’s a clever twist on a classic genre, but it’s quick about it.

Designed by Emma Larkins.

New York Slice — or, if you can find it, Piece o’ Cake

This is one of the first “I cut, you choose” games I played, and I think that’s a mechanic that would serve everyone well if they understood it inside and out. In games of this ilk, you’re dividing some things up, and other players get to choose what they take, leaving you with the last choice. It’ll teach you how to handle cutting pies properly. You’ll get points if you have the most pieces of a type of pie — but you can also eat your pie, meaning you’ll get immediate points (read: satisfaction) though eaten pieces don’t count for pluralities.

Piece o’ Cake is my preferred version, mostly for its small box. I do love pizza, though. Hmm. (Also, I could be wrong, but these cakes? They’re pies. Perfect.) There’s a second pizza-themed iteration of this one, Pizzeria, but it’s only been published in Poland and South Korea.

Why I picked Piece o’ Cake/New York Slice/Pizzeria: It’s quick to learn and mechanically interesting.

Designed by Jeffrey D. Allers.

Kingdomino

This little tile-layer may not be the complex, thinky tile-laying game you want to hold a central spot in your collection, but there are few better games than this one for teaching quickly and bringing many types of players to the table. Very experienced in tile-laying game? You’ll be a great teacher, and maybe you’ll enjoy trying to optimize your 5x5 grid. Not experienced? Not a problem — you’ll catch on quickly. In this one, you earn points for each contiguous area of terrain.

Why I picked Kingdomino: Tile-laying’s great, and this captures what I love about it in a short timeframe.

Designed by Bruno Cathala.

Wavelength — the app!

I’m a big believer in physical board games, as you almost certainly know by now. But every now and again, there comes a time in which it just makes more sense to play something virtually, and Wavelength’s app provides an incredible experience. It turns the team-based game of knowing your team into a fully cooperative experience. I organized a game of it recently at a virtual work event, and it just clicked. Everyone was laughing and (I hope) having fun.

You could also bring the physical board game if you want, but given you can download the app for free, and given the set of expansion content (and only the host needs to buy it) will cost you under $10, this is an incredible value.

Why I picked Wavelength: This party game is absolutely delightful. The app is so, so easy — and free.

Designed by Alex Hague, Justin Vickers and Wolfgang Warsch.

Spyfall

This classic party game has one (or two, if you’re playing the sequel) player facing off against everyone else at the table in a game of social deduction. Everyone knows their location except that one player, whose job it will be to try to figure out where they are. Everyone else is trying to figure out who is a spy in their midst. (Don’t think too hard about how the theme works that way. It’s fun!) The basic idea of the game is dead simple: You ask a question of one player, then they answer it and ask a different player a question.

Why I picked Spyfall: Quick rounds, easy to drop in and out, and it’ll get everyone laughing — even people not playing.

Designed by Alexandr Ushan.

Skull

If you’re looking for a bluffing game that’ll play quickly, why not take a look at Skull? It’s basically now a classic, having been released in 2011. Each turn sees players either playing a face-down card, which could be either a skull or a flower; or, alternately, declaring they can turn over a number of cards without revealing a skull. Once a player declares such, play moves around the table, with others having a chance to declare a higher number of cards.

Why I picked Skull: It’s compact, clever and simple.

Designed by Hervé Marly.

A few more picks

Can’t Stop is a fast press-your-luck game, and…
No Thanks! is one, too. It’ll play in about 15 minutes, and I wrote about it back in January.
So, too, is Spots, but it has dogs and dice. Neat!
Seas of Strife is a great trick-taking game, but the twist isn’t so complicated as to make it difficult to talk while you play.
On that note, so is Enemy Anenome. It’s a bit faster and a bit simpler, too.
Sushi Go, a nice drafting game without too much in the way of rules.

What would you bring? Here's what guided my decisions. Let me know in the comments if you’re taking a game to a Thanksgiving dinner next week. (Or a “Friendsgiving” dinner,

Look for games that are short, or at least games that have short rounds.
If a game’s not short, look for a game that you can drop in and out of without major consequence.
Find a game that benefits from repeated plays — not suffers from it.
Be mindful of the footprint of the games you’re bringing. You might have limited space — be mindful of that.
When you have your games picked out, practice teaching them. I’ve started practicing my teaching by taking detailed notes on paper — I learn the game more effectively when I do.

I hope you have a fantastic week. I’ll be back again next Wednesday, but before we get there, thank you! — I’ve reached my personal goal for 2023 of doubling my subscribers, and it’s hard to believe there are this many of you.

If you’re subscribed to the email, you’ll have seen a bit about me sending out some Don’t Eat the Meeples stickers. I’d love to send one to you, and it’s pretty simple — just refer three friends and I’ll ship one your way. Or, if you send me a nice email and you’ve referred fewer than three, I’ll probably send you one anyway.

Refer a friend