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As wonderful as they are, planning holiday parties with family can also be a source of intense stress. That’s just one of the many reasons why more people are choosing to unwind before Thanksgiving by throwing a casual Friendsgiving celebration — a.k.a the perfect opportunity to try out your spicy mash potato recipe on lifelong friends who will be brutally honest.
Friendsgiving parties are typically a lot more loose thank traditional Thanksgiving. Sure, you can serve turkey, but you can also deep fry it, wrap it in bacon, and enjoy it with a much-needed pumpkin martini on the side. Go on —your friends won’t judge!
As with any great party, it helps to plan a few fun activities that will make your day and night go smoothly and get everyone relaxed and and in the spirit. Need inspiration? These five Friendsgiving party games never fail to bring on the laughs and fun.
1) Cards Against Humanity
Dubbed the “party game for horrible people,” Cards Against Humanity gives you an opportunity to glimpse into the deepest, darkest recesses of your friends’ minds and have a good laugh at how terrible you can actually be. The game is super simple to play: one person asks a question from a black card (Example: “Only two things in life are certain: death and __”) and each group member throws down their best answer from a pile of white cards.
2) Pictionary
There’s one surefire way to even the playing field among a group of friends: toss them a pencil and piece of paper and ask them to draw the most random object so that their team members can guess what on the planet they’re trying to convey. Even the best artists struggle when it comes to spelling out phrases on paper — which only makes this game more hilarious.
3) A Game Of Football
Like, a real game of football — played outside, in the cold. Organize a friendly match an hour or two before dinner to help rev up everyone’s appetites. Get team T-shirts made ahead of time and give each team a funny logo. Serve beer. And get everyone in a fighting mood by offering prizes for the winning team (the sillier and more random the prize, the better).
4) Monopoly
Is there a more classic board game than Monopoly? There’s no better way to ensure your guests stick around for hours (and hours of drinking and fun) than by pulling out Monopoly and making a friendly wager over who is going to wind up snagging Boardwalk and Park Place and bankrupting everyone else.
5) Thanksgiving Bingo
Ah, the ever-customizable Thanksgiving Bingo game. You’ll find a slew of printable bingo cards online — or you can create your own. Each time one of your friends, say, complains about an ex, talks about football, or reminds the group that they’re going to need to get up early in the morning to score Black Friday deals, everyone else places a chip on that square. The winner can earn a prize — and the prize can be the silliest thing you find on a novelty website.
