The Gravy Intermission: Seven Pocket Games for the Sunday Lunch Wait
Sunday lunch is a lovely thing, but it is also a logistical operation. The oven timer is running, the Yorkshire puddings are doing their final rise, and the family is settling into that strange little waiting room between hunger and dinner. You have washed your hands. You have been told to sit down. You have been told to get up again because the good gravy boat is in the cupboard. Welcome to the gravy intermission.
This is not the moment for a 45-minute campaign or a game that demands a tutorial. You need pocket-sized fun: quick to start, easy to stop, and polite enough not to derail the main event. Here are seven picks for the long sit before the roast lands.
First, the rules of the intermission
A Sunday-lunch game has three jobs. It has to fill ten to fifteen minutes without turning into a full afternoon commitment. It has to work when half the table is distracted. And it has to know when to get out of the way when the roasties arrive.
Before you start, agree on the basics. Phones on low brightness if you are near the good tablecloth. Sound down unless the room is already loud. And if someone is on 8% battery, do not hand them the pass-and-play game unless you want a family incident before the pudding.
1. Heads Up! — for the table that cannot whisper
Some Sunday lunches are quiet. Some are a panel show with better catering. Heads Up! is for the second kind. It is a pass-the-phone charades game with quick rounds and plenty of family-friendly decks, which makes it ideal when the gravy debate is already at full volume.
It is not subtle. It is not low-battery-friendly if you play for half an hour. But for a ten-minute burst while the kitchen finishes up, it gets everyone involved and gives the cousins something to argue about other than who got the bigger Yorkshire.
Best for: noisy tables, mixed ages, anyone who enjoys shouting at their relatives in a loving way.
2. Spaceteam — for the kitchen spillover
Spaceteam is a co-op shouting game where everyone gets a silly control panel and has to follow instructions from everyone else. It works best when people are in the same room, phones out, chaos rising. If the roast is running late, this is the pocket equivalent of setting off a party popper indoors.
It is not a quiet-mode essential. It is not the one for Nan if she is pretending to be above it all. But it is brilliant for the awkward gap when the table is set but nobody has been called in yet.
Best for: siblings, friends, the bit of the family that treats Sunday lunch like a team sport.
3. Drawful 2 — for the cousins and the Wi-Fi
If your Sunday lunch has a few people with their own phones, a Jackbox party game can be a lovely bridge. Drawful 2 is the reliable one: everybody draws something terrible, everybody guesses what it was meant to be, and the results are usually better than the actual gravy.
It needs a decent Wi-Fi connection and a few devices, so it is not the pick for a rural lunch with one bar of signal. But when it works, it turns the wait into a proper little event.
Best for: groups of four or more, older kids, families who already know how to laugh at bad drawings.
4. Knotwords — for the quiet corner
Not every Sunday lunch is a party. Sometimes you are the first one ready, sitting near the window with a cup of tea, waiting for the kitchen to finish its business. Knotwords is a lovely little word puzzle for that mood: calm, clever, and easy to pause when someone asks you to hold the door.
It is not a pass-and-play game. It is not going to entertain the whole table. But it is perfect for the person who wants a gentle pocket-sized distraction without becoming the centre of attention.
Best for: quiet players, word fans, anyone hiding from the washing-up conversation.
5. Monument Valley 2 — for the low-battery sanctuary
If your phone is clinging on and you need something beautiful rather than busy, Monument Valley 2 is a good shout. It is a gentle puzzle game with gorgeous optical illusions, and it plays nicely in short bursts. Turn the brightness down, switch on low power mode, and enjoy a few minutes of calm before the plates come out.
It is not a family pass-and-play pick, but it is excellent for the guest who has been handed a cup of tea and told to relax. It also looks lovely, which matters when you are trying to avoid eye contact with the person who insists on discussing politics before the main course.
Best for: low battery, quiet moments, anyone who likes their games to feel like a tiny holiday.
6. Threes! — for the thumb-only traditionalist
Threes! is the classic slide-and-merge puzzle: simple to learn, hard to stop, and perfectly suited to a ten-minute wait. It works offline, it does not need sound, and it respects a low battery better than most. If you have one thumb free and no interest in explaining rules to Uncle Brian, this is your pick.
It is also quietly competitive. You can play a round, put it away, and return later without feeling like you have abandoned a quest. That makes it a very good Sunday-lunch citizen.
Best for: solo players, low-battery phones, quick rounds between helping with the table.
7. Mini Metro — for the pause-friendly planner
Mini Metro is a brilliant little management game about drawing tube lines and keeping a growing city moving. It sounds stressful, but it is actually quite soothing when played in short bursts. The art is clean, the sound is minimal, and you can pause at any moment when someone shouts that the Yorkshire puddings are ready.
It is not a loud family game, but it is a great one for the guest who likes to potter. It also runs well with the sound off, which is useful when the kitchen radio is doing its Sunday thing.
Best for: quiet strategists, pause-friendly play, anyone who has ever had strong opinions about the Tube map.
The pocket verdict
A Sunday roast does not need a full family game night bolted onto it. It needs a small, well-chosen distraction for the bit where everyone is hungry and nobody is quite ready to sit down. Pick one game, keep it light, and put the phone away when the gravy boat arrives.
After all, the best pocket game is the one that knows when to end. Especially when there are Yorkshire puddings on the table.
