the $20 draft, at Thanksgiving
The Thanksgiving draft: $20 each, and the best plate wins.
Everyone at the table already has an opinion about the food. This turns it into a game: the dishes come up one at a time, you bid for the ones you want, and the people watching decide whose plate is better.
free · no account · about two minutes
The deck is the dinner
The Thanksgiving Plate deck has 34 dishes: the turkey and the classic sides, regional ones like collard greens and cornbread, the pies, and the dishes half the table swears by and the other half has never eaten, like ambrosia.
With five picks and $20, the question is what each dish is worth to you. Spend big on the turkey and you might end up with cranberry sauce and dinner rolls. Let it go cheap and someone else gets the centrepiece.
Setting it up at the table
One person starts a room with the Thanksgiving Plate deck and chooses how many people draft, from two to six. They drop the link in the family group chat, and everyone opens it in their phone's browser. There's nothing to install and nobody needs an account.
Anyone not drafting opens the same link and watches the board live. That works well for the people still cooking, or anyone who would rather heckle than bid.
How the bidding goes with a crowd
With three or more drafters it's an open auction. Each dish goes to the whole table, the first bid holds it, anyone can outbid, and passing sits you out of that dish. A dish nobody bids on goes free to whoever still owes the most picks, so nobody ends up with an empty plate.
Two people play the classic version instead: whoever is up takes the dish at $1 or gives it away, and the other can bid it up.
Settling it
The game doesn't score the plates, and money left over counts for nothing. When the draft ends, everyone watching votes on whose plate is better, which is where the real arguing starts. The results page offers a rematch, on the same deck or a different one, for when the football is on.
House rules families add
These aren't built into the game; they're ideas to agree on before you start. Whoever cooked a dish gets to defend it before the bidding opens. Kids without a phone team up with an adult and decide together on one seat. And the person with the worst plate, by the vote, helps with the dishes.
Questions
How many people can play?
Two to six draft in one room. Everyone else can open the room link to watch live and vote.
Does everyone need their own phone?
Each drafter's seat is one phone, but two people can share a seat and decide together. People watching can share a screen too.
How long does a game take?
A five-pick draft between two people takes a few minutes. With six drafters it takes a little longer, because every dish goes to the whole table.
Is it free?
Yes. The Thanksgiving deck and every other premade deck are free, with no account. The $20 is play money that only exists inside the room.
Can we play other decks after dinner?
Yes. The rematch button can deal a different deck, and the premade shelf covers sports, movies, food and more.