200+ Deep and Fun Thanksgiving Game Night Questions for Friends.

After the turkey’s demolished, the dishes are (sort of) done, and everyone’s in that happy, sleepy, stretchy-pants phase of the evening, what’s next? You could all just stare at your phones… or you could turn the night into something people actually remember.

That’s where a good Thanksgiving game night comes in. Grab a notebook, a jar, some index cards, whatever you don’t need fancy supplies, just good questions. I’ve put together a massive list (200+, promise) covering everything from silly icebreakers to deep gratitude questions to “would you rather” chaos, so no matter who’s at your table; grandma, your cousin’s new boyfriend, your rowdiest nephew there’s something for everyone.

Pro tip: you don’t have to use all 200+ in one night (please don’t, everyone will fall asleep). Pick a category or two based on your crowd’s vibe and go from there.

Let’s dig in. Catch up on more and previous conversation starter blog posts and printable game night and conversation starter card decks in our digital products store.

How to Actually Use These Questions

A few quick ideas before we get to the list:

• Question jar: Write a bunch on slips of paper, pass the jar around, everyone pulls one.
• Go around the table: Pick a category and let everyone answer the same question in turn.
• Two truths and a lie, Thanksgiving edition: Use the “fun facts” questions as fuel for this classic game.
• Team trivia: Split into teams and use the trivia questions as a mini competition before dessert.

Now, onto the questions!

200+ Thanksgiving Conversation Starters for Friends.

Lighthearted Icebreakers

1. What’s the weirdest food combination you actually enjoy?
2. If you could only eat one Thanksgiving side dish for the rest of your life, which would it be?
3. What’s your go-to karaoke song?
4. If animals could talk, which would be the rudest?
5. What’s the most useless talent you have?
6. If you had a warning label, what would it say?
7. What’s a food you refuse to eat no matter what?
8. If you could instantly become an expert in one random skill, what would it be?
9. What’s the last show you binge-watched?
10. If you had to change your name today, what would you pick?
11. What’s your favorite comfort movie?
12. Would you rather always be 10 minutes late or 20 minutes early?
13. What’s the strangest gift you’ve ever received?
14. If you were a kitchen appliance, which one would you be?
15. What’s your favorite smell in the world?
16. What’s a trend you just don’t get?
17. If you had a theme song that played every time you entered a room, what would it be?
18. What’s the last thing you googled?
19. What’s your most-used emoji?
20. If you could time travel but only to the past, where would you go?

Thanksgiving-Specific Fun

21. What’s your all-time favorite Thanksgiving dish?
22. Sweet potatoes: marshmallows or no marshmallows — settle it.
23. What’s your earliest Thanksgiving memory?
24. Do you prefer Thanksgiving leftovers or the original meal?
25. Stuffing or dressing — what do you call it, and why does it matter so much?
26. What’s the most disastrous Thanksgiving cooking mishap you’ve witnessed?
27. Black Friday shopping: yes or absolutely not?
28. What’s a Thanksgiving tradition your family has that other people find strange?
29. Pumpkin pie or pecan pie?
30. Have you ever hosted Thanksgiving? How did it go?
31. What’s the one dish that HAS to be on the table or it doesn’t feel like Thanksgiving?
32. Do you watch the parade, football, or neither?
33. What’s the best Thanksgiving leftover sandwich combo?
34. If you could add one new dish to your family’s Thanksgiving spread, what would it be?
35. Turkey: white meat or dark meat?
36. What’s the funniest thing that’s ever happened at your Thanksgiving table?
37. Do you nap after Thanksgiving dinner? Be honest.
38. What’s your ideal number of side dishes on your plate at once?
39. Gravy on everything, or gravy in moderation?
40. If Thanksgiving had a mascot, what would it be?

Gratitude & Reflection

41. What’s something small that happened this year that made you really happy?
42. Who is someone that positively changed your life, and how?
43. What’s a challenge you faced this year that you’re proud you got through?
44. What’s something about your life right now that you’d want to remember years from now?
45. What’s a lesson you learned the hard way?
46. Who taught you the most important thing you know?
47. What’s something you’re grateful for that you don’t say out loud very often?
48. What’s a moment this year that made you laugh until it hurt?
49. What’s a piece of advice you received that stuck with you?
50. What’s something about this family/friend group you’re thankful for?
51. What’s a place you visited that changed your perspective?
52. What’s something you used to worry about that doesn’t bother you anymore?
53. What’s a small act of kindness someone showed you recently?
54. What’s a goal you achieved this year, even a small one?
55. Who in this room has influenced you the most, and how?
56. What’s something you’re looking forward to next year?
57. What’s a memory with someone at this table that you’ll always treasure?
58. What’s something you’ve forgiven yourself for this year?
59. What’s a habit you built this year that you’re proud of?
60. What’s something about getting older that you actually appreciate?

Would You Rather

61. Would you rather never eat pie again or never eat turkey again?
62. Would you rather host every holiday forever or never host again?
63. Would you rather have unlimited leftovers or an incredible fresh meal every time?
64. Would you rather always overcook or always undercook your turkey?
65. Would you rather skip dessert or skip the main course?
66. Would you rather have Thanksgiving in summer heat or a snowstorm?
67. Would you rather do all the cooking or all the dishes?
68. Would you rather have a food fight or a game night every Thanksgiving?
69. Would you rather travel for every holiday or never travel for a holiday again?
70. Would you rather eat cold leftovers straight from the fridge or reheated but slightly soggy?
71. Would you rather give a toast in front of everyone or skip dessert entirely?
72. Would you rather have Thanksgiving dinner at noon or at 9 pm?
73. Would you rather your family only made one dish really well or ten dishes just okay?
74. Would you rather watch football or the parade the entire day?
75. Would you rather be the one who burns the rolls or the one who forgets an ingredient?
76. Would you rather have a vegetarian Thanksgiving or an all-meat Thanksgiving?
77. Would you rather sit at the kids’ table forever or host the adult conversation forever?
78. Would you rather clean the whole kitchen alone or cook the whole meal alone?
79. Would you rather have Thanksgiving with just immediate family or the whole extended crew every year?
80. Would you rather never have gravy again or never have cranberry sauce again?

Funny & Silly Questions

81. If you could be any Thanksgiving food, what would you be and why?
82. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever done to avoid an awkward conversation at a family gathering?
83. If your family had a reality show, what would it be called?
84. What’s the most embarrassing thing that’s happened to you at a holiday gathering?
85. If you had to describe this family in three words, what would they be?
86. What’s a food you pretend to like but secretly don’t?
87. If you could swap lives with anyone in this room for a day, who would it be?
88. What’s the weirdest talent someone in your family has?
89. If Thanksgiving was a competitive sport, who here would win?
90. What’s the most ridiculous excuse you’ve used to skip a family event?
91. If you were in charge of renaming Thanksgiving, what would you call it?
92. What’s a nickname you’ve had that you hope nobody brings up (too bad, someone might)?
93. If you had to survive being snowed in with everyone at this table for a week, who would you want on your team?
94. What’s the most chaotic thing that’s ever happened during a family meal?
95. If your relatives were superheroes, what would their powers be?
96. What’s the strangest dream you’ve ever had about someone here?
97. If you could ban one word from being said for the rest of the night, what would it be?
98. What’s your most irrational fear?
99. If you were a Thanksgiving parade balloon, what would you be shaped like?
100. What’s the weirdest thing currently in your fridge?

“This or That” Rapid Fire

101. Stuffing or mashed potatoes?
102. Sweet or savory?
103. Early bird or night owl?
104. Coffee or tea?
105. Board games or video games?
106. Beach vacation or mountain vacation?
107. Books or movies?
108. Summer or winter?
109. City life or country life?
110. Texting or calling?
111. Dogs or cats?
112. Cooking or baking?
113. Homemade or store-bought pie?
114. Big family gatherings or small, quiet ones?
115. Road trip or flight?
116. Spicy food or mild food?
117. Morning person or afternoon person?
118. Sunrise or sunset?
119. Camping or hotel?
120. Karaoke or dancing?

Getting-to-Know-You Deep Cuts

121. What’s a decision you made that completely changed the direction of your life?
122. What’s something you believed as a kid that you later found out wasn’t true?
123. What’s a fear you’ve overcome?
124. What’s the best piece of advice you’d give to your younger self?
125. What’s something you’re currently working on improving about yourself?
126. What’s a book, movie, or song that changed how you see the world?
127. What’s a risk you took that paid off?
128. What’s something you wish more people understood about you?
129. What’s a value you hold that you inherited from your family?
130. What’s something you’ve changed your mind about in the last few years?
131. What’s a dream you haven’t given up on yet?
132. What’s the kindest thing a stranger has ever done for you?
133. What’s a skill you wish you had learned earlier in life?
134. What’s something you do differently than how you were raised?
135. What’s a moment you felt truly proud of yourself?
136. What’s something you’re currently curious about?
137. What’s a tradition you want to start or continue with your own family someday?
138. What’s the best decision you’ve made this year?
139. What’s something you learned from a failure?
140. What’s a quality you admire most in the people at this table?

Kid-Friendly Questions

141. If you could have any animal as a pet, what would it be?
142. What’s your favorite thing about Thanksgiving?
143. If you could eat anything for dinner tonight, what would you pick?
144. What’s the funniest joke you know?
145. If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
146. What’s your favorite game to play with family?
147. If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go?
148. What’s something you’re really good at?
149. What’s your favorite holiday and why?
150. If you could invent a new holiday, what would it celebrate?
151. What’s the best present you’ve ever gotten?
152. If you could be any cartoon character, who would you be?
153. What’s something that always makes you laugh?
154. What’s your favorite thing to do outside?
155. If you could have any job when you grow up, what would it be?
156. What’s the silliest thing that’s ever happened to you?
157. What’s your favorite dessert?
158. If you could talk to animals, which one would you talk to first?
159. What’s your favorite family memory?
160. If you could make one wish come true, what would it be?

Trivia & Fun Facts

161. What year did Thanksgiving become an official U.S. holiday? (1863, thanks to Abraham Lincoln)
162. What U.S. president tried to move Thanksgiving earlier to boost holiday shopping? (Franklin D. Roosevelt)
163. Which U.S. city hosts the most famous Thanksgiving Day parade?
164. What percentage of Americans eat turkey on Thanksgiving, roughly?
165. What was originally served more at the “first Thanksgiving” — turkey or venison?
166. What’s the name of the ceremonial turkey the U.S. president “pardons” each year?
167. Which state produces the most turkeys in the U.S.?
168. What’s the average number of calories in a typical Thanksgiving dinner plate?
169. What year did the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade first take place?
170. What Thanksgiving food was NOT actually present at the original 1621 feast (hint: it involves orange root vegetables)?
171. What’s the technical term for the sleepiness some people blame on turkey? (Tryptophan-induced drowsiness, though experts debate how much it’s really the turkey.)
172. Which NFL teams traditionally play on Thanksgiving Day every year?
173. What was the Wampanoag tribe’s role in the original Thanksgiving feast?
174. What’s the most-watched TV event on Thanksgiving Day besides football?
175. Roughly how many turkeys are eaten in the U.S. each Thanksgiving?

“Would You Rather… Family Edition”

176. Would you rather your family be extremely competitive at games or extremely relaxed?
177. Would you rather have a family group chat that’s silent or one that never stops buzzing?
178. Would you rather everyone show up an hour early or an hour late every year?
179. Would you rather your family have one big loud conversation or several small ones?
180. Would you rather everyone bring a dish or one person cook everything?
181. Would you rather have Thanksgiving at your house every year or rotate locations?
182. Would you rather your family took more photos or told more stories?
183. Would you rather everyone dressed up fancy or stayed in comfy clothes?
184. Would you rather have a family talent show or a family trivia night?
185. Would you rather your family argued about politics or avoided it completely?

Reflection Questions to Close Out the Night

186. What’s one word you’d use to describe this year?
187. What’s something you want to let go of before the new year?
188. What’s a hope you have for next Thanksgiving?
189. What’s something about tonight you’ll remember?
190. Who do you want to thank that you haven’t thanked yet this year?
191. What’s a tradition from tonight you’d like to keep doing?
192. What’s something you learned about someone at this table tonight?
193. What’s a goal you want to set for yourself before next Thanksgiving?
194. What’s something you’re excited about for the upcoming winter season?
195. What’s the best part of your day today?
196. What’s something you want to tell someone here but haven’t yet?
197. What’s a memory from tonight you want to hold onto?
198. If you could describe this Thanksgiving in one sentence, what would it be?
199. What’s something you’re thankful for that happened in just the last 24 hours?
200. What’s one thing you’re looking forward to doing with the people at this table next year?

Bonus Round: A Few Extra for the Road

201. What’s the best meal you’ve ever had (Thanksgiving or otherwise)?
202. What’s a family recipe you hope never gets lost?
203. What’s something you want to learn to cook?
204. If you had to describe your family’s sense of humor in one sentence, what would it be?
205. What’s the best gift you could give someone at this table right now, even if it’s not a physical object?

Wrapping It Up

However your night goes, whether it’s giggling through the “this or that” rapid fire or getting a little misty during the gratitude questions, the real point of all this is just… connection. Slowing down, actually listening to each other, and maybe learning something new about the people you’ve known your whole life (or just met an hour ago).

So pick your favorites, mix categories, skip the ones that don’t fit your crowd, and let the conversation do the rest. Happy Thanksgiving!