35 fun Thanksgiving games for adults at work and on Zoom
Gratitude games, pie and food games, quick office games and Zoom games, all work friendly. Plus a 45-minute Friendsgiving-at-work run sheet.
The best Thanksgiving games for work are short, a little competitive and built around food and thanks. Below are 35 fun Thanksgiving games for adults, for the office and for Zoom, with no setup beyond paper, pie and a poll. Thanksgiving 2026 is Thursday, November 26, and many people travel the day before, so most teams celebrate the week before or early in Thanksgiving week. Pick a gratitude game, a food game and one team game, and you have a lunch hour people will enjoy.
Gratitude games for work
Thankful without the long speeches. Each of these keeps it to a sentence or two per person.
1. Gratitude alphabet
Go around the room. Each person names something they're thankful for that starts with the next letter: A for autumn, B for the barista downstairs.
10 min · Up to 26 · Nothing
2. Who's thankful?
Everyone writes one thing they're thankful for this year on a card, anonymously. Read them out; the group guesses who wrote each one.
15 min · Up to 20 · Index cards and a bowl
3. Shout-out relay
One person thanks a teammate for something specific. That teammate goes next. Keep going until everyone has been named once.
10 min · Any size · Nothing
4. Pass the gratitude pumpkin
Pass a mini pumpkin while music plays. When it stops, whoever holds it shares one thing they're grateful for.
10 min · Up to 20 · A mini pumpkin, a speaker
5. Thanks in three words
Describe your year at work in exactly three words. The group votes for the best, funniest and most honest.
10 min · Any size · Paper or a chat
6. Gratitude dice
Roll a die and answer the prompt: 1 a person, 2 a tool or app, 3 a small win, 4 a lesson, 5 a moment this year, 6 anything at all.
10 min · Up to 15 · One die
7. Thank-you note sprint
Five minutes on the clock: write as many specific thank-you notes to coworkers as you can, then deliver them by hand or by message.
10 min · Any size · Cards and pens
8. Gratitude bingo
Cards with squares like “thanks a manager,” “mentions a pet” or “names a client.” Mark them off during the shout-outs; first row wins a slice of pie.
Runs during the shout-outs · Everyone · Printed cards
Pie and food games
Thanksgiving is about the food, so play with it. Label anything you serve with its ingredients.
9. Pie bracket
Eight pies in a bracket: pumpkin, pecan, apple, sweet potato, cherry, key lime, chocolate cream, blueberry. Vote match by match until one pie is crowned.
10 min · Any size · A printed bracket or a poll
10. Blind pie taste test
Cut store-bought pies into bites and number them. Players guess each flavor; most right answers wins.
15 min · Any size · 4 to 6 pies, plates, answer cards
11. Hands-free pie-eating contest
Mini tarts topped with whipped cream, hands behind backs. First clean plate wins. Keep napkins close.
5 min · Heats of 4 to 6 · Mini tarts, whipped cream
12. Leftover sandwich draft
Teams take turns drafting fillings from a list: turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, gravy, mashed potatoes. Each team pitches its sandwich; the room votes.
10 min · Teams of 3 to 5 · A whiteboard
13. Cranberry count
Fill a clear jar with fresh cranberries and count them first. Closest guess by lunch wins.
All day · Everyone · A jar, cranberries
14. Cranberry toss
Toss fresh cranberries into paper cups from behind a line. Most in the cups in 30 seconds wins.
10 min · Heats of 4 · Cranberries, paper cups
15. Side dish showdown
A potluck with categories: best stuffing, best family recipe, best store-bought upgrade. Everyone votes with stickers.
45 min over lunch · Everyone · Stickers for voting
16. Thanksgiving dish decoder
Post emoji clues for dishes, like a pie and an apple for apple pie. Teams race to name each dish.
10 min · Teams of 3 to 5 · 15 emoji clues on a slide
17. Thanksgiving this or that
Pumpkin or pecan? Stuffing or mashed potatoes? Read pairs out loud; everyone moves to one side of the room or votes in a poll. Use our Thanksgiving this or that questions.
10 min · Any size · A list of pairs
Quick Thanksgiving games for the office
Fun Thanksgiving games for a conference room or break area, with supplies you already have.
18. Turkey feather hunt
Hide paper feathers around the office before lunch. Each color is worth different points; most points by 3 p.m. wins.
All day · Everyone · Colored paper feathers
19. Pin the feather on the turkey
Draw a big turkey on the whiteboard. Blindfolded players spin once and stick a paper feather on it; closest to the tail wins.
10 min · Any size · A whiteboard, tape, a blindfold
20. Thanksgiving word scramble
Teams race to unscramble ten words, like KEYTRU for turkey and GFINSFUT for stuffing.
10 min · Teams of 3 · A printed sheet
21. Thanksgiving charades
Act out prompts from a hat: carving the turkey, the parade, the football game, the after-dinner nap, the airport line.
15 min · Teams of 4 to 6 · Slips of paper
22. Draw and guess, Thanksgiving edition
One player draws a Thanksgiving word on the whiteboard; their team guesses within a minute. Swap teams each turn.
15 min · Two teams · A whiteboard, a timer
23. Thanksgiving category race
Pick a letter. Teams have two minutes to fill categories like side dishes, things in a parade, reasons a flight is delayed. Unique answers score.
10 min · Teams of 2 to 4 · Paper, a timer
24. Fill-in-the-blank Thanksgiving story
Write a short story about the office Thanksgiving with blanks. Ask the room for a noun, a verb or a food without context, then read it out.
10 min · Any size · One story with 12 blanks
25. Paper football
Fold a paper triangle and flick it through a teammate's finger goalposts. Tournament bracket, one flick each per round.
15 min · Pairs · Paper
26. Thanksgiving trivia showdown
Teams of four answer 20 questions about the holiday, the food and the history. Paper answers, one point each. Get the questions from our Thanksgiving trivia.
20 min · Teams of 4 · Answer sheets
Thanksgiving games online and on Zoom
Built for cameras, polls and the chat box, so remote teammates play instead of watch.
27. Gratitude chat waterfall
Everyone types what they're thankful for in the chat but waits to press enter. On “go,” all answers land at once.
5 min · Any size · The chat box
28. At-home Thanksgiving scavenger hunt
Call out an item: something orange, a pie dish, a can of cranberry sauce, a family recipe card. First to show it on camera scores.
15 min · Any size · A list of 12 items
29. Whose dish is it?
Everyone sends a photo of their family's signature Thanksgiving dish ahead. Show them one by one; the team guesses whose it is.
15 min · Up to 20 · Photos collected ahead
30. Hand turkey contest
Trace your hand, turn it into a turkey and decorate it in three minutes. Hold them up to the camera and vote in a poll.
10 min · Any size · Paper and markers
31. Thanksgiving 20 questions
One person thinks of a Thanksgiving thing, like a gravy boat. Everyone else asks yes or no questions in the chat until someone guesses it.
10 min · Any size · The chat box
32. Most likely to, Thanksgiving edition
Poll prompts like “most likely to fall asleep after dinner” or “most likely to bring store-bought pie and own it.” Everyone votes for a teammate.
10 min · Any size · A poll
33. Two truths and a lie, holiday traditions
Each person shares three Thanksgiving traditions from their family, one made up. The team votes on the lie. More ways to play two truths and a lie.
15 min · Up to 15 · Nothing
34. Breakout room trivia
Split into breakout rooms of four. Share 15 Thanksgiving questions on screen; each room sends its answers in the chat. Fastest correct room wins.
20 min · Rooms of 4 · Shared slides
35. Holiday travel bingo
Cards with travel-week squares: a delayed flight, a packed car, a kid asking “are we there yet.” Mark the ones that happened to you last year; first row wins.
10 min · Any size · Digital bingo cards
A 45-minute Friendsgiving at work
Fits a lunch hour in a conference room. For remote teammates, put a camera on the room and run the votes in a poll.
- 0:00 Grab a plate (10 min). Potluck or catered. Name tags say “I'm thankful for...” to start conversations.
- 0:10 Gratitude round (8 min). Gratitude alphabet or the shout-out relay while people eat.
- 0:18 Pie bracket (7 min). Vote match by match. Remote teammates vote in a poll.
- 0:25 Team game (12 min). Thanksgiving trivia showdown or the word scramble, in teams of four.
- 0:37 Winners and a thank-you (5 min). A leader thanks specific people for specific things. Hand out the pie prize.
- 0:42 Group photo and leftovers (3 min). Photo first, then send everyone home with a box.
Need a warm-up for the meetings that week? Use our Thanksgiving icebreaker questions, or read more Thanksgiving team building ideas.
Want someone to run Thanksgiving for your team?
A live host can run the whole hour: gratitude games, fall-themed rounds or a Family Feud-style game, on Zoom by default (Teams, Google Meet or Webex on request). Or ship a charcuterie kit to every home and build boards together. Hosted games book about 2 weeks ahead and kits about 3, so a party the week before Thanksgiving means booking kits by late October. See every option on our virtual Thanksgiving page.
Three hosted games and a kit, with today’s prices.
Planning December too? Our holiday party games for work pick up where this list ends. Or get a free quote with your date and headcount.
