Thanksgiving week · since 2004
National Games Week 2026: plan a board game night for Thanksgiving
Nobody hands out permission for National Games Week 2026, and nobody needs to. The week belongs to anyone with a deck of cards and a free evening. Below are the dates, a way to host a game night that people come back for, the board games that suit each crowd, and the story of the stores, schools and families who started it in 2004.
National Games Week dates: the Sunday to Saturday of Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday of November, so the week starts on the Sunday before it and ends on the Saturday after. That puts every National Games Week somewhere between November 18 and November 30. Tap a year to see its dates.
Where is your game night?
A living room works. So does a classroom, a library meeting room, the back of a game store or the table where the turkey sat an hour ago. Pick the place first, and the right games and printables follow from it.
A game night at home
One shelf of games and one cleared table are enough for a night that runs past bedtime.
- Open with a game that takes fifteen minutes
- Keep the snacks on a side table
- Finish with a loud party game
Games at the Thanksgiving table
With twelve relatives and one long table, play in teams instead of seats.
- Pencil games between courses
- A card game while the pie cools
- A kids' table with its own board
A game day in class
Board games practice turn-taking, counting and reading rules aloud, which is why teachers keep bringing them back.
- Groups of four at pushed-together desks
- Number and word games first
- Let a student teach the last game
A game day at the library
A library can open its tables to toddlers, teens and seniors in a single afternoon.
- Sort the tables by age
- Put one volunteer at each table
- Lend games out for the week
A week at the local game store
In 2004, 525 game stores signed up, and many scheduled a whole week of events.
- A demo table every afternoon
- A family hour on the weekend
- A tournament on Saturday
How many players? Plan board games that fit the table
Headcount decides more than taste does. Two players can sit through a long duel, while ten people need something loud, quick and played in teams. Choose who is coming and the planner suggests the kinds of board games that hold up at that size.
For 2 players
- Two-player duels
- Cooperative puzzles
- Quick card games
Easy start: an abstract game or a short co-op game.
Abstract and co-op games →For 3 to 5 players
- Family board games
- Tile-laying games
- Card games
Easy start: a family game that teaches in ten minutes.
Family games →For 6 to 10 players
- Party and trivia games
- Team word games
- Social deduction
Easy start: anything played in two teams.
Word and trivia games →For 11+ players
- Several tables at once
- Party games
- Short rounds that swap players
Easy start: three tables that rotate every 30 minutes.
Party games for big groups →The Top 100 of 2005: what the tables played
For the 2005 week, hosts were asked for their favorite games, and the games played at their events went into the count as well. HeroClix came first, Dungeons & Dragons second and Magic: The Gathering third. The full Top 100 from 2005 notes which of them are still on store shelves.
- 1HeroclixWizkids Inc.
- 2Dungeons & DragonsWizards of the Coast
- 3Magic: The Gathering CCGWizards of the Coast
- 4Settlers of CatanMayfair Games
- 5MechwarriorWizkids Inc.
How the week began in 2004
The first week ran from November 21 to 27, 2004, put together by the Colorado publisher of the Games Quarterly catalog and magazine. By the end of that November, 2,536 members had signed up from all 50 states, 525 game stores among them. The history of the week follows it from that start to the company's close in 2007 and after.
- The first week2,536 members in all 50 states.
- The Top 100Hosts report what they played.
- The organizer closesThe magazine ends; the catalog is sold.
- Still playedNov 22 to 28, at any table.
What National Games Week is, and why it sits on Thanksgiving week
The week started with a plain request in an October 2004 press release: turn off the television, step away from the computer and play a game. Any kind counted. Board games, card games, role-playing games, miniatures, family games and party games were all named, and the organizers cared far more about people sitting together than about which box came off the shelf.
The timing was deliberate. They set the week as Sunday to Saturday in late November because that is when families and friends are already under one roof with hours to fill. Thanksgiving week is the rare stretch when a grandmother, three cousins and a teenager who normally lives in headphones end up at the same table with nothing planned after dinner. A board game gives that table something to do besides argue about football.
The original wording was the fourth week of November. In 2004, 2005 and 2006 that was also Thanksgiving week, so nobody had to choose. In a year like 2024, when Thanksgiving fell on November 28, the two drift apart, and the holiday is the better anchor. Every date on this site follows that rule, and the National Games Week dates calculator shows it year by year.
Keeping the week in 2026 when nobody runs it
The company behind the first weeks closed in 2007, and no group has taken over since. No organization runs the week today; it is kept by anyone who sets up a table. That sounds like a weakness, but it makes the whole thing easy. There is no registration, no fee and no form to send in. If four friends play a game on Tuesday, November 24, they have kept National Games Week 2026 as well as anyone.
Doing it well takes a little more thought. The 2004 organizers gave hosts advice that still holds: choose the date and time yourself instead of polling everyone, pick games that take twenty minutes or less to learn, and play each game once beforehand so you can teach it. Their best-tested window ran from mid-afternoon to about 9 pm. A step-by-step guide to hosting a game night turns that into a plan, with an invitation and a score sheet to print.
If the guest list includes one small child, invite a second family. A lone kid at a table of adults gets bored; three kids at the same table usually win.
A short tour of the tables where people play
Most game nights happen at home, around a coffee table or a kitchen counter, with whatever is on the shelf. The Thanksgiving table is a separate problem: long, crowded and interrupted by food, so the games that work there tend to need a pencil or a deck rather than a board.
Outside the house, the original week leaned on three kinds of places. Schools used it as a reason to bring games into class, and 80 of them signed up in 2004. Libraries now hold their own November event, International Games Month, through the American Library Association. Game stores were the backbone: they listed events, taught new titles at demo tables and often filled the whole week.
Which game to bring depends on the crowd more than on the room. Nine broad types of board games, from co-op to word games, cover nearly everything on a store shelf. As for why bother at all, teachers and parents tend to give the same answers: taking turns, losing gracefully and one evening without a screen. Those reasons are laid out in why play games.
The 2005 list, the missing 2006 list and other November game days
The second week in 2005 produced the Top 100, built from hosts' favorites and the games played at their events. It works as a time capsule: collectible miniatures and card games sit next to Catan and Carcassonne, and Monopoly still made the cut at number 18. The third week, in November 2006, was supposed to get a list of its own. The 2006 week and its missing list covers what is known about that year.
Two other names get mixed up with this one. National Game and Puzzle Week appears on holiday calendars for the same Thanksgiving week. International Games Month fills all of November in libraries, organized by the American Library Association's games round table. Neither is the same event, and a library game day in early November makes a fine warm-up for the week itself.
FAQ
National Games Week questions
When is National Games Week in 2026?
It runs from Sunday, November 22, to Saturday, November 28, 2026. Thanksgiving is on Thursday, November 26, right in the middle. The rule never changes: the week is the Sunday to Saturday that contains the fourth Thursday of November, so it always falls between November 18 and November 30.
Who organizes National Games Week now?
Nobody. The Colorado marketing company that started the week in 2004 closed in 2007, and no organization has replaced it. The week carries on as a tradition. Families, teachers, librarians and game stores keep it by setting up a table, and nobody has to register or ask permission to take part.
Is National Games Week the same as National Game and Puzzle Week?
They land on the same days. National Game and Puzzle Week is a listing on popular holiday calendars, also tied to Thanksgiving week, while National Games Week began in 2004 as a campaign for face-to-face games. Calendar sites sometimes print different dates for the puzzle week, so trust the Thanksgiving rule over any single listing.
What kinds of games count?
Any game people play together in the same room. The 2004 announcement named board games, card games, role-playing games, miniatures games, family games and party games, and a jigsaw puzzle or a deck of cards on the kitchen table fits the spirit just as well. Video games were the one thing the week asked people to set aside.
Do you need to sign up to host a game night?
No. In the early years hosts joined a free membership to order posters and promotional packs, but that ended with the original organizer. Today a game night needs only a date, a table and an invitation. The printable invitation and score sheet in the hosting guide cover the paperwork, if you want any.
Where did the Top 100 games list come from?
It was compiled for the 2005 week. Members were asked for their three favorite games, and the games they played at their events were added to the count, along with events reported on BoardGameGeek. HeroClix, Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering took the top three places. No list was ever published for 2006.
What is National Games Week?
National Games Week is a yearly week of playing games together, held from the Sunday before Thanksgiving to the Saturday after it. It began in 2004, when a Colorado games publisher asked families, schools, libraries and stores to switch off the TV, step away from the computer and sit down to a board, card, role-playing or party game. Nobody runs it today, and anyone can keep it.
Why is National Games Week held during Thanksgiving week?
The organizers chose the week in 2004 because it was the one time many families were all under one roof, with a few days off and a dining table already set up. The rule has not changed since: National Games Week is the Sunday-to-Saturday week that holds the fourth Thursday of November.
How do you celebrate National Games Week at home?
Pick a day in the week, invite a few people and put a game on the table. A family can play after the Thanksgiving meal, friends can meet on a weeknight, and the long weekend suits a bigger board game. The game night guide walks through the plan, with a printable invitation and a score sheet.
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