Friendsgivings, aka potluck-style dinners on Thanksgiving for folks stranded for the holiday, have become much more popular over the last few years. Maybe it was because people were traveling far less, or perhaps family members became far too casual about the pandemic, but it’s undeniable these sorts of events alleviate a ton of pressure. No forced conversations with distant cousins you only see once a year (and even that might be too often)! Any Friendsgiving celebration worth its weight in stuffing is going to include friends from all corners of the social sphere, meaning it’s likely not everyone will know everyone else. This year, bring a board game to your Friendsgiving gathering and watch as icebreakers occur without effort. Here are a few ways board games can open the conversational floodgates with strangers:

Skip the small talk

“What do you do? Where did you grow up? Siblings? How many? What do they do? Where did they grow up?” These are the lengths of which we suffer small talk around the holidays, and you’d be forgiven for growing weary of it. In a time when friendly folks gather to spread cheer, the last thing anyone wants is to feel repulsed by every new friend prospect. Instead, bust out your board game as soon as you enter, and rope as many social circles into round one as possible. Skip the surface level and get personal by accusing them all of cheating after one round. Putting people on the defensive is a great way to stick in their memories, at least.

Keep up with the Joneses

There’s a couple at your Friendsgiving showing off their new baby photos and texting a link to the Zillow listing of their new mini-mansion to anyone who asks. Sounds like their career is really taking off, too, and is that Taylor Swift in their family reunion photo? Put these overachievers in their place by busting out your bag of D20s and a ream’s worth of character sheets pre-filled out with your name on top. These partygoers may be winning at life, but they will only succeed within the game because of your foresight in pre-crafting a strong party with a single name. Roll for initiative…to rock.

Strike up a new friendship

Only a monster would abandon a board game once it begins, so rest assured that once your board game kicks off on Friendsgiving, as long as the game is still in action, these other players are socially mandated to stay until the end. Even if that end is a few years from now. Yes, board game length has grown over the last few years, with some games boasting spans lasting multiple sessions. With only a bit of White Out over the spot on the box where the game lists its average length, you can guarantee friends forever—or at least until they block your number.

Discover the reason for the season

Did you know any game can become a Thanksgiving board game with only a handful of orange and brown markers with which to trace your hand onto the board? It’s true! Even Cthulhu can get into the spirit of the season with a big ol’ makeshift turkey etched permanently over their face. Same goes for your friends’ dishware, too—that fine China needs a little America today.