Play Squares

Thanksgiving Football Squares for All Three Games

Put Bears-Lions, Eagles-Cowboys and Chiefs-Bills on one board, send the family a single link, and let the live board follow all twelve quarters from the 1 p.m. kickoff to the last snap.

How It Works

1

Add the Thanksgiving games to one board

Pick the NFL, choose the first Thanksgiving game, and tap Add another game until all three are on the board, then set the prizes, which you can fine-tune game by game once the board exists.

2

Send the family one link

Drop it in the family group chat before the parade ends, and everyone claims their squares from their own phone, whether they're at your table or three states away.

3

Draw the numbers your way

Once the squares are claimed, draw one set of digits for the whole day or a fresh set for each game, and from then on the board tracks all three games and marks every quarter's winner for you.

See How the Board Looks on Game Day

Chiefs

100 squares available

Playing as: You. Choose your squares!

Players (8)

Why Families Run Thanksgiving on One Live Board

Built on three core principles: Easy, Fun, and Fast. If this is the first squares board you've ever run, our full guide to hosting a football squares pool covers everything from pricing the squares to settling a tie.

Easy
Fun
Fast

All three games on one board

Add the Lions, Cowboys and night games to the same board, so the whole family claims their squares once and plays the entire day on one link.

Twelve quarters tracked for you

We follow the live score of every game and work out the winning square at the end of each quarter, so nobody at the table has to keep a pen and a printed sheet next to the stuffing.

See who's winning before the quarter ends

The grid highlights the square on track to take the quarter if the score holds, so your uncle can check the board himself instead of asking you after every field goal.

Works on every phone in the house

Grandparents, cousins and the relatives watching from another state all open the same link in their browser, with nothing to download and no account to set up.

Pick the board size that fits the family

Run the classic 100-square board, or choose 25, 10 or 4 squares when the group is small and you'd rather each person hold a bigger slice of the grid.

Set the prizes game by game

Start every game on the same quarter prizes, then adjust any one of them later, weight the night game heavier, or add the reverse score rule, and the board keeps it all straight.

Players pick their own squares

Everyone taps the squares they want and adds a name, and you can still place squares yourself for the relatives who'd rather just tell you which ones they want.

How We Compare

Our AppPDFs/SheetsOther Sites
Automatic winner detectionSometimes
Real-time updatesNo/ManualSometimes
Mobile-optimizedYes/LimitedVaries
Setup time<5 minutes10-15+ minutes5-10 minutes
Fun animationsRarely
Flexible payment optionsSometimes
Multiple games on 1 boardRarely
Board Creation LimitsUnlimitedPer boardPer board
CostOne Month Pass - $29.99FreeFree to $25/board

What Hosts Are Saying

Real feedback from people running Play Squares boards.

“After years of using pen and paper, this was such a welcome upgrade. It was easy to set up and share for our Super Bowl party.”

— Timothy M., Super Bowl Host

“As a host, this saves so much time and eliminates manual errors. The interface is easy for players, and I'll use this for every event I host.”

— Brodie D., Super Bowl Host

“Even my older uncle had no issues picking squares. I felt confident sharing it with everyone, and it was completely worth the price.”

— Brandi, Fundraiser Host

How Do Thanksgiving Football Squares Work?

Thanksgiving football squares work exactly like a regular squares board, just stretched across the three NFL games played on Thanksgiving Day. The family claims squares on one grid, the host decides whether the digits stay the same all day or get redrawn for each game, and each quarter of every game has a winner, which gives you twelve chances to win across the afternoon and evening instead of four.

The 2026 Thanksgiving games

Thanksgiving falls on Thursday, November 26, 2026, and the three games run back to back from lunch until well after dessert.

GameKickoffNetwork
Chicago Bears at Detroit Lions1:00 p.m. ETCBS
Philadelphia Eagles at Dallas Cowboys4:30 p.m. ETFOX
Kansas City Chiefs at Buffalo Bills8:20 p.m. ETNBC

Same numbers all day, or new numbers for each game

On Play Squares, the host picks how the digits work on a board with several games, with the home team along the top and the away team down the left either way. Keep one set of numbers for the whole day and your square travels with you from Detroit to Dallas to Buffalo, which makes it easy for everyone to follow. Draw a new set for each game instead and a bad draw in the early game is forgotten by the time the Cowboys kick off. Either way, everyone claims their squares just once, so settle on one before you send the link.

What about the Wednesday and Black Friday games?

Thanksgiving week now has five games, with Packers at Rams on Wednesday night and Broncos at Steelers on Friday afternoon. You can add either one to the same board, but the squares need to be claimed before the first game on it kicks off, so adding Wednesday means everyone has to pick their squares a day earlier. Most families keep the board to Thursday's three games and leave the extras out.

The rules are the same as any other game, and the arguments almost always come from something nobody agreed on before kickoff. Our football squares rules guide covers overtime, ties and repeat winners, and if you'd like a board for every week of the season, NFL squares works the same way from September through the Super Bowl.

Simple, Transparent Pricing

A board with all three Thanksgiving games on it runs on the One Month Pass or the One Year Pass, because the One Game Pass covers a board with a single game. The month pass also covers every board you host for 30 days from the day you buy it, so a pass bought for Thanksgiving carries you through most of the December NFL weekends as well.

One Game Pass - $12.99

Best for single-event hosts.

  • Host a squares pool for 1 game
  • Players join for free
  • One-time purchase (no subscription)

One Month Pass - $29.99

Best for hosting multiple pools over a short period, such as playoffs, tournaments, or busy game stretches.

  • Host unlimited squares pools for 30 days
  • Add multiple games to a single board
  • Players join for free
  • One-time purchase (no subscription)

One Year Pass - $79.99

Best for frequent or season-long hosts.

  • Host unlimited squares pools for 1 year
  • Use across all sports and seasons
  • Players join for free
  • One-time purchase (no subscription)

30-Day Satisfaction Guarantee
If you're not satisfied, we'll refund you. No questions asked.

Get the board filled before the Lions kick off

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you play Thanksgiving football squares?

Everyone claims squares on a 10x10 grid, and once the board is full the digits zero through nine are drawn at random across the top and down the side, either once for the whole day or fresh for each game. At the end of each quarter of each Thanksgiving game, you take the last digit of both teams' scores, find where those two digits meet on the grid, and that square wins the quarter. With Play Squares running Thanksgiving football squares for you, the board follows the scores and marks every winner on its own. Our step-by-step walkthrough of how to play football squares goes through a full example if anyone at the table is new to it.

Do the numbers change for each Thanksgiving game?

That's up to the host. A Play Squares board with all three games on it can keep one set of digits for the whole day, so the square you hold in the Lions game has the same numbers in the Cowboys and Bills games, or draw a new set for each game, so a bad draw early doesn't follow anyone through the whole day. Either way, everyone claims their squares just once.

How many winners are there in Thanksgiving football squares?

With all three games on one board and a winner at the end of every quarter, there are twelve winning moments across the day. Turn on the reverse score rule and each of those quarters can also have a second winner on the square with the digits flipped, which helps a big family board spread the fun around.

When should the numbers be drawn?

Once every square is claimed and before the 1 p.m. Lions game kicks off, because the first draw locks the board, whether you keep those numbers all day or draw again for each game. That makes the Lions kickoff your real deadline for relatives who are still deciding, not the parade or the turkey.

What happens if a Thanksgiving game goes to overtime?

That game's last prize goes on whatever you told everyone before kickoff. Most families count overtime points toward the final score, and some prefer to use the score at the end of regulation, and both work fine as long as you pick one in advance. Our football squares rules cover overtime and ties in more detail.

Can relatives who aren't at the house play along?

Yes, and it's one of the best reasons to put the board online. Anyone with the link can claim squares from wherever they're watching, and because the board shows the square that's currently on track to win, the cousins in another time zone can follow the whole day without waiting for somebody to text them the results.
Thanksgiving Football Squares: One Board, All 3 Games