In this homemade Thanksgiving game, everyone keeps one card from a hand, passes the rest, and builds a four-card collection called a basket. A collection of four different symbols earns the most points, while matching pairs offer another way to score.
The following house version works with three or four players. It uses simultaneous choices, so nobody has a first-player turn advantage. Invite guests to join, watch, or skip it, and play for the activity itself without wagers or prizes.
Make a complete small deck
Cut equal-size cards from opaque paper or card stock. Give every card the same plain back. Draw your own simple symbols and write their names underneath so players do not have to distinguish colors:
- Pumpkin, abbreviated P.
- Leaf, abbreviated L.
- Basket, abbreviated B.
- Pie, abbreviated I, to distinguish it from pumpkin.
For three players, make three copies of each symbol: 3 × 4 = 12 cards. For four players, make four copies of each: 4 × 4 = 16 cards. Use only the deck for your player count. There are no wild cards or extra scoring cards.
A player’s “basket” means their collected cards on the table. A basket-symbol card is simply one of the four symbols; it has no extra ability.
Deal and explain the four-round goal
Shuffle the complete deck and deal four cards to each player, leaving no draw pile. Keep hands private during ordinary play and leave space for each person’s collected cards.
One hand consists of exactly four drafting rounds. In each round, everyone chooses one card from their current hand and places it face down. Once everyone is ready, reveal all choices together and add them face up to the owners’ collections. Only then pass the unchosen cards to the person on the left.
Write the receiving order if “left” might be confusing. For three seats A, B, and C, seat them so A passes to B, B to C, and C to A. For four seats, use A to B to C to D to A. There is no turn leader: everybody chooses, then everybody reveals, then everybody passes.
Show exactly what passes
The hand sizes shrink predictably:
- Round 1: Choose from four cards; pass three.
- Round 2: Choose from three cards; pass two.
- Round 3: Choose from two cards; pass one.
- Round 4: Keep the final card; pass nothing.
Previously collected cards stay face up in front of their owners. They never rejoin the passing hands. Wait until all players have revealed before passing, and keep incoming cards separate from your collection.
After round 4, everyone has four collected cards and no cards in hand. Score only then, not after each selection.
Score one basket consistently
A basket containing one pumpkin, one leaf, one basket, and one pie scores 4 points.
Otherwise, each separate identical pair scores 1 point, and unmatched cards score nothing. A card cannot belong to two pairs. These examples cover every possible pattern in a four-card basket:
- P, L, B, I: four different symbols, 4 points.
- P, P, L, B: one pair, 1 point.
- P, P, L, L: two pairs, 2 points.
- P, P, P, L: one pair and two unused cards, 1 point.
- P, P, P, P: two separate pairs, 2 points.
Four identical cards are possible only in the four-player deck. The highest score wins the hand; equal highest scores share the win. There is no tiebreaker or elimination.
Play a visible practice hand
For a clearly fictional, open teaching example, lay out these three starting hands: A has P, P, L, B; B has L, L, B, I; C has P, B, I, I. Together they contain exactly three of each symbol.
Let A keep P, B keep L, and C keep I. A passes P, L, B to B; B passes L, B, I to C; C passes P, B, I to A. Everyone now has one collected card and three incoming cards.
A could next choose B to pursue different symbols, or P to secure a pair. Neither choice guarantees the final result. Use open hands only when everyone agrees to a teaching round; conceal them for ordinary play.
Reset fairly and adapt
Stop after one scored hand if that suits the gathering. For another, collect and count all 12 or 16 cards, shuffle, and deal again. You may reverse the passing direction, announcing the new receiving order before choices begin.
Two people may share one player position and decide together; that position still receives only four cards. Keep the written scoring examples nearby so everyone uses the same rules from the first choice to the final count.
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