8 games to secretly play under the Thanksgiving dinner table
It's almost time for the family to gather around the table to break bread together for Thanksgiving. That also means it's almost time for Uncle Allan's annual rant about the "climate change hoax." Oy.
What I'm saying is Thanksgiving is great, but it's also forever just seconds away from degenerating into a shitshow. And that's not even mentioning all the downtime between courses and while the last-minute cooking unfolds.
Do you really want to get into another shouting match with family? Or be constantly shooed out of the kitchen for hovering too close to the food? Of course you don't. Just settle in with one of these low-key games and get your swipes in while no one's looking.
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Reigns
You might not wield much power over the Thanksgiving dinner table, but underneath it you can rule with an iron fist. Reigns is like Tinder for wannabe monarchs. You swipe left and right on cards to make decisions about the future of your kingdom. Every choice you make is a balancing act of managing the different needs and impulses of the people. Reigns comes in a few different flavors; there's also Reigns: Her Majesty for aspiring queens specifically, and Reigns: Game of Thrones, for people who just can't let go of Westeros.
Grindstone
This one's for the Apple Arcade crew. There's actually a lot of titles that fit the bill for under-the-table Thanksgiving gaming on Apple Arcade (EarthNight is another great one), but I'm partial to Grindstone. Capybara's cartoonish puzzle game is all about slicing through combo lines of monsters as you carve your way to each level's exit. The puzzling twist is that your bloody path of carnage needs to string together a series of like-colored monsters. It's a bloody good time.
Dr. Mario World
Dr. Mario World is a highlight in Nintendo's growing library of free-to-play games produced specifically for mobile devices. It's basically the same game it's been since the NES days: You match pills with viruses of the same color to clear out the playing field. The newer mobile version spices things up with new colors and character-driven special abilities. You do have to put up with a recharge timer along the way, but you can always switch over to Versus mode if you want to keep playing.
Civilization Revolution 2
Civilization Revolution 2 is a simplified version of one of the top series in PC gaming. Starting from the earliest days of human development, you guide a society through multiple eras as you attempt to become the planet's dominant people. There's not just one way to win, either. The choices you make in scientific research, building construction, diplomacy, and open warfare push your civ toward different victory conditions. It all plays out in a turn-based format too, so you can easily put a game down without the risk of ruining all that you've built.
XCOM: Enemy Within
If the grand strategy of Civilization games isn't your thing, maybe check out the tactical play of Earth's best hope against alien invaders. XCOM: Enemy Within is a turn-based strategy game in which you command small squads of troops through missions against an assortment of extra-terrestrial interlopers. As an added bonus, you get to name all of your soldiers and there's nothing stopping you from naming cannon fodder after annoying relatives.
Spaceteam
There's nothing secretive about Spaceteam. It's a party game, and a loud one at that. Up to eight players huddle over their smartphone, which transforms into a malfunctioning ship interface with everything labeled in pure Star Trekkian technobabble. Everyone sees a different control panel, and the game consists of shouting out which parts are malfunctioning so whoever has them can get to fixing. It's a good kind of shouting, and it might pull your family Thanksgiving back from the bad kind of shouting. Best of all, Spaceteam is free.
Monument Valley
Monument Valley and its sequel aren't exactly the hottest new games out there. They're well-established mobile gaming faves that have been around for a while. The sequel released in 2017. If you've played them, move along. But if you haven't yet known the delights of Monument Valley, it's a puzzle game that's all about playing with perspective. Each level is a maze of optical illusions that you can move around and manipulate to sidestep obstacles and bridge uncrossable gaps. It's an immediately intuitive game that anyone can pick up and play.
Kids
Kids is a short, minimalistic game that turns touch-based play into a group dynamics puzzle. I hesitate to describe the specifics of how you interact with it any more than because figuring out the "HOW" of each puzzle is a key part of the experience. As Mashable's own Jess Joho said in her review, Kids is a game of "psychological reasoning" where solutions depend on "how certain social dynamics play out in the real world." It's an artful game that's built to get you thinking. A great distraction from the inevitable family Thanksgiving blow-up.
Topics Gaming
Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
