Last year, co-writer and director Eli Roth fulfilled a childhood dream through the long-awaited film Thanksgiving. The results were impressive enough that Thanksgiving 2 was greenlit shortly after the Grindhouse-originated movie opened, which is something that I’m still pumped to see as a fan of Eli’s gleefully gruesome horror movie. But while we’re waiting to see when John Carver resumes his killing spree, Mr. Roth’s horror hit is returning this fall in a rather wild form.
Horror merch company Stop The Killer Games has teamed up with the just as genre-focused clothing brand, Fright Rags, to bring the world a Thanksgiving board game! Pre-orders are now open for Thanksgiving: John Carver’s Carving Board Game, and just on a visual level this game looks like a surefire killer…of boredom! According to the official product description, here’s how this Thanksgiving-themed treat works:
In this game based on Eli Roth's hit film, players start by attending an in-store Black Friday sale that gets way out of hand, with people dying in horrific ways in every aisle! But things go from bad to worse because a killer wearing a John Carver mask is also on the loose murdering the townsfolk in droves! Unlike the movie, you are rewarded for dying... A LOT! The player who dies the most is revealed to be John Carver, triggering a final battle between the rest of the players and Carver! Who will win? And more importantly, will they be thankful for their victory?
I have to admit, the strategy behind Thanksgiving: John Carver’s Carving Board Game threw me for a loop. Seeing as I wrote our Thanksgiving review, having the knowledge I had on the film did leave me wondering how this was going to literally play out. And my initial expectation was that this was going to be a game where the object is to survive John Carver and their wrath. Simple, easy, similar to how Dead by Daylight or any other slasher game works.
However, death actually plays a surprising part in the festivities for this game based on the critically beloved Thanksgiving. Not only are you encouraged to perish as often as possible, the most prolific victim of your party gets to become the head slasher in charge for one final showdown. Admittedly, this game designed by Eli Roth and Jon Cohn totally knows its audience, because making death a rewardable fate feeds the soul of anyone obsessed over what the world of upcoming horror movies has in store.
I mean, you can make reckless choices that look cool while sacrificing your life to John Carver’s blade. Plus, the possibility that you just might be the one to wield it even keeps the mystery of Carver’s true identity in play each round. So if you want to play Thanksgiving’s board game while watching the film itself, you can do so without spoiling the flick for any potential newcomers.
We’re still going to have to wait for John Carver’s Carving Board Game to set the table for horror, as it’s slated to ship out to its eager pre-order consumers this fall. But that doesn’t mean you can’t marinate in the vibes of Eli Roth’s slasher flick! Take a look at the game’s official commercial, shown below:
I don’t know about you, but all of this Thanksgiving talk has me hungry for seconds. Better still, I want to snag a copy of John Carver’s Carving Board and bring it to my family’s festivities. Considering how we like to watch movies and play games during holiday get-togethers, this could become a family tradition in the making.
In the meantime, I’ll just remain patient for both this game and Thanksgiving 2, by revisiting the 2023 box office smash through my Netflix subscription and checking out the 2024 movie schedule to see what horror movies are coming out between now and the game's release.
