mini road trip games

30 Best Road Trip Games That Are Super Fun

Road trip games can make any journey more enjoyable and fun whether you're going on a long drive across the country or spending a few hours in the car with the kids.

Our list of the 30 of the best road trip games will provide entertainment for children and adults alike, ranging from music-related games and foodie challenges to word contests and devious pranks.

You will never have to think of what to do on a long car ride again! The following is the ultimate list of games you can play on a road trip.

1. The Story Game

Entertaining for adults and kids alike, this is storytelling with a twist - you go round the car and each passenger adds just one word following on from the player before.

See how crazy you can make the story, and get someone to record it on their phone so you can listen back to the hilarious progression of the plot as you make way along your road trip. You could go from sunbathing in Spain to training alpacas in Chile in a matter of seconds.

Trust us, you're in for a laugh with this one and if your passengers are good, these stories can get seriously long!

2. I'm Going On A Road Trip

This road trip game requires a bit more brain power than some of the others, but is still really entertaining and great for all ages. To play, passengers take it in turns to state 'I'm going on a road trip and I'm bringing…' followed by an item of their choice.

The next person has to repeat the phrase, saying the last person's item and adding one of their own and so on - eventually you'll have a really long list of crazy items to try and remember, and it's always amusing watching people try and get it right a few rounds in.

Be sure to throw in a few weird and wonderful items to confuse the rest of the players!

3. The Quiet Game

This game is a bit of a joke for the adults who want a few minutes of peace and quiet from their squabbling kids. The rules are hilariously simple - just say 'who can stay quiet the longest?' and breathe as the competitive siblings fall instantly silent.

Just a word of warning though: don't expect it to last very long, so have another kid-friendly car game lined up for when they get bored.

4. The Banana Game

This game is all about the color yellow and is super simple - points are awarded whenever a passenger spots a yellow vehicle.

Come up with a scoring system for different types of vehicle (e.g. one point for a car, two for a van, and three for a lorry) and whether you saw it parked (one point) or in motion (two points). Add any extra rules you fancy, and prepare to get competitive about who saw it first.

5. Never Miss A Beat

This game may be more of a singalong than a game, but it's still awesome!

Never miss a beat offers another chance to show off your singing skills and unusually gets everyone playing together rather than against each other.

All you need to do is stick on your family's favorite song or a song everyone knows the words to and start singing. Someone then needs to turn it down for 10 seconds whilst everyone keeps singing, before turning it back up again to see if you've kept the beat and stayed in time.

This game is mainly just a bit of fun, but you could always turn it into a competition by splitting into teams!

Another classic you've probably played a thousand times before but never get bored of.

Passengers take it in turns to find an object either inside or outside the car and say "I spy with my little eye something beginning with…" the first letter of whatever the object is.

The other passengers must then try and guess the answer (clues can be given if it's really hard), with the winner taking the next turn. This is an easy car game to play with kids and always a great one to keep bored passengers entertained for a surprisingly long time.

7. 20 Questions

This classic road trip game probably doesn't need much of an introduction - simply choose one passenger to start by thinking of a random object, and the other passengers take turns asking 20 yes-or-no questions to guess the object.

Whoever finds the answer first gets to think of the random thing in the next round, but if the object has everyone stumped, they get to keep their role for the next round.

There are no rules on the object you can pick, but lying in your answers is strictly forbidden!

8. Car Bingo

This kid-friendly game takes a little prep before you set off, but it's well worth it if you need to keep the kids entertained on a long journey.

Make a list of things the children might see along the road trip route - e.g. cows, a tractor, a red car etc, to give to them when you get into the car.

As you drive they can cross things off as they see them, not only distracting them from boredom but also encouraging them to look around and learn about the places they're visiting.

Make the list as specific to the place you're going as you want. In Texas you might have anything mentioning the Lone Star and in Wyoming you might be on the lookout for elk!

You can tailor the difficulty and number of things to find depending on the age of your children.

9. Sweet Or Sour

The rules of this road trip game are super simple: passengers take turns waving at passing pedestrians or people in nearby cars. If they wave back they're sweet, if not they're sour. You win a point for every sweet passerby you get, so aim to find as many friendly people as possible along the way.

For obvious reasons, the driver should opt out of this one, but it can be extra fun if they divert the car through a busy area of town to rack up some extra waving opportunities!

Remember not to distract other drivers!

10. Secret Place Race

Make use of that old road map that sits in the car seat pocket to entertain the kids. All you need to do for the secret place race is pick a place they're unlikely to know such as a tiny village, river, or mountain, and see how long it takes them to find it on the map.

This can be incredibly entertaining in a Where's Waldo kind of way, except their mission in finding the village can be made critically important for the driver to be able to find the right way!

Have a reward on hand if they're able to find it in less than 5 minutes, and watch as they're completely engrossed in the task. A simple yet satisfyingly effective game.

11. Punch Buggy

First gaining popularity as part of one of Volkswagen's marketing campaigns in the 1960s, the aim of this game is to give your fellow passengers a playful punch whenever you see a VW Beetle drive past.

This is one of those road trip games that is universally loved by children (as long as you monitor the punching to avoid disaster), although we don't see why the adults wouldn't enjoy it too.

Granted - in some parts of the world, seeing a Beetle is incredibly rare, so if you're struggling to see many Beetles, you could always choose a specific color of car or another funny model as the target instead to make it a touch easier.

12. Regional Car Pantry

One for the foodies. Stretching across the full duration of your road trip, collect as many local snacks as you can at every stop along the way to build up your car pantry.

Make sure you take pictures of each snack (or buy duplicates if they'll keep) so you can see what you've managed to collect at the end of the trip, and be sure to take some weird and wonderful treats home for friends and family to try.

Do some research beforehand and make a list of all the foods you want to find, or just wing it and see what local delicacies you stumble across as you go.

13. The License Plate Game

You'll need pens and paper for this game so make sure you've packed some before you head off. The aim is to spot license plates from as many different countries or US states (depending on where your road trip is taking place) as possible.

Write a list of the places you've seen and compare it with the other passengers at the end of the drive. This is the ideal game for those long stretches of boring motorway where you'll probably rack up a surprisingly long list, and the person with the most countries gets to ride shotgun for the next leg of the journey.

The end of this road trip game can get very controversial - if you spot a real game winner, photographic evidence is a good idea so get your phone out and take photos in secret!

14. The Fortunately - Unfortunately road trip game

This is similar to the Story Game (see #1 above), however players get a little more control and creativity. You can say more than one word this time!

One player starts off with a 'fortunately' sentence, and the next has to follow with an 'unfortunately' sentence to build a story of luck and misfortune. For example, one player might start with 'fortunately, the sun was shining' with the second player adding 'unfortunately they had a long drive ahead of them' and so on.

This game can make it a little easier to remember the long string as everything has to be either fortunate or unfortunate! Get as creative as you can and you'll find yourself at your destination in what seems like no time at all.

15. The Complete Food Menu Game

This is the perfect road trip game to play if you're passing through a few towns on your way although roadside restaurants and chains will do just fine.

Print out a sheet with all the food types you can think of in a grid against the names of people in the car.

Every time you drive past a restaurant of some kind, the first person to spot it gets to collect the tick for the food type it serves. Steaks and pizzas should be easy to collect by everyone, but you might just win if you're the only one who spotted the seafood restaurant in the middle of Oklahoma!

16. The Name Game

This is another simple game that keeps your brain occupied during a long drive without being too strenuous. One person simply says any name they can think of and the next person must say another name that begins with the last letter of the name before, and so on.

For example if passenger one says Tom, passenger two might say Mary. If you've made any friends during your road trip, try and include their names to make it a tad more topical.

Obviously adding the rule of not repeating the same names once they have been mentioned makes this a whole lot more interesting as the game progresses although you're guaranteed to have a disagreement over whether a name has or has not been mentioned already!

17. Guess The Song

If you're comfortable in your musical knowledge you'll definitely want to suggest playing this one. The rules are simple: get the front passenger to play the first few seconds of a song and whoever can guess the artist and song title the quickest wins a point.

This is much easier if you can connect your phone to the car for the road trip and play songs from there so you can easily search and pause the music.

The person with the most points after half an hour gets control of the music for the rest of the journey, so there's a lot at stake...

18. Sing The Next Line

A variation on the Guess The Song game above, except this game relies on your vocal chords.

Instead of just guessing the song after a few seconds, players have to rack their brains and try and sing the next line, and the person who successfully remembers it first wins a point. Think of a reward for whoever wins, and if you attempt it but get it wrong you have to do a forfeit chosen by the driver.

19. Radio Roulette

This game's a little less hands-on but no less entertaining. Use your road trip driving time to discover all the local radio stations of the place you're visiting by re-tuning every ten minutes and choosing a new station at random.

You'll probably find some pretty wacky programs and get to know traditional and popular music in that country - a great way to appreciate culture even when you're between destinations.

If you a radio station that is really wacky, let us know!

20. Would You Rather

This road trip game can be be as PG or as outrageous as you like depending on the age of the passengers.

Take turns asking the car whether they would rather do one thing or another (e.g. 'would you rather go to France or Spain?') and see what they answer. Make it as difficult as possible to choose between the two options for maximum entertainment value, whether that's making them equally amazing or equally horrible, it's up to you…

You can see how this game can get as interesting in group of adults as with kids - answering the question is compulsory and providing reasons is where it gets fun!

21. Car Rules Road Trip Game

Everyone in the car gets to make up a silly rule, e.g. whenever we cross a bridge everyone has has to touch their nose, or whenever we stop at a red light everyone has to touch the roof of the car.

The last person to join in when an action is enforced gains a point, and the person with the most points at the end of the drive loses. Get as creative as you like with the rules and try and catch people out where possible so you can take the victory.

The loser has to go pay for parking or buy ice creams at the next stop!

22. Hot Seat

If you're that nosy friend that wants to find out all of your companions' deepest secrets then you'll like this one. Passengers take it in turns to be in the hot seat and are asked 5 questions, one of which they're allowed to veto and the other four must be answered honestly.

This is best played in an adult-only car (questions get notoriously cheeky) and is the ideal way to pass the time finding out some interesting new facts about your road trip friends.

You can use it as a warm up or a step up from the car version of Truth or Dare (see #27 below) depending on how close your friendships are!

23. People Watching

Someone picks a car full of people that everyone can see (this works best if you're stuck in traffic), and together you make up a story about the people - who they are, where they're going, what they do for a living. The funnier and more far-fetched the story, the better - just make sure you're not staring too obviously at your subjects or it might get a little awkward...

Use your imagination to make the stories controversial and see how far you can go with making things up!

You might just surprise yourself how the most innocuous of road trip games will make you spot things you would never otherwise see just by looking at the cars around you.

24. Kiss, Marry, Avoid

Another one for the older crowd. Take turns listing three famous people and the other passengers in the car have to choose which person they would kiss, which they would marry, and which they would avoid.

Make it really hard to decide so that everyone has a bit of a laugh, and try to predict each other's answers to add an extra twist to the game.

If you want to add a little spice to the game, use people you all know or move to people in the car!

25. While You Were Sleeping

There's nothing more tempting than pulling a prank on a passenger who falls asleep en route, and whilst we don't dispute the whole drawing-a-mustache classic, we've got something even craftier.

Whilst they're taking a nap on the road trip, have a brainstorm with the awake members of the party and come up with an epic story or scenario of something that they missed during their nap.

The aim of the game is to get them to believe the story, so make sure nobody laughs or breaks character (come up with a forfeit if they do), and keep the lie going for as long as possible. If you manage to pull it off this is far better than a DIY mustache... but by all means, draw one on for good measure.

This classic road trip game can really take a turn for the worse if you want it to. A simple horror story about a truck that followed the car for miles that you just managed to pull away from before getting a flat tyre can go a long way as you're parked on the side of the road. Peer into the rear view mirror in horror and watch their face when a random truck appears on the horizon!

26. Categories

Popular with kids and adults alike the world over, Categories can be an awesome game to play on road trips as well.

The premise is simple - somebody picks a category which can have multiple different answers. Fruit or Beatles' songs can both be great options.

Players have to then take turns to name one item from the category at a time. Players are eliminated when they can't name one until there's one winner. Either the winner or the next person in turn gets to choose the next category.

That brings our list of the best road trip games to an end. Do you have other games you enjoy? Get in touch to let us know and we'll add it to our list!

27. Truth Or Dare (The Car Edition)

The old classic can and should be played on road trips! Players take turns to either answer an embarassing question truthfully or perform a dare set by other players.

The dares obviously have to be contained to the realms of the car or the roadside so you'll have to get creative.

Needless to say, this game is very different when played with kids as a family or with adult friends and is equally great in both cases!

28. 6 Degrees of Separation

This is a road trip game that will require some imagination and provide plenty of topics for conversation.

Take turns and pick two people who you may know or make them up (e.g. a Shaolin monk). The more different the background and location of these people the better!

Then proceed to discuss how these two people are connected through 6 connections or less. You don't have to know the whole chain - that's actually where the fun is.

How is a gaucho from a remote farm in southern Argentina connected to Prince Charles? The gaucho must know his ranch's boss (1). The boss knows the boss of the company that buys beef from local producers (2). That company has a liaison manager in a UK-based Argentinian beef importing firm (3). This manager has a colleague who imports fine wines from around the world for the same company (4). The colleague personally provides the fine wines to the Royal sommelier (5) and the sommelier personally knows Prince Charles (6). Bingo!

29. The Stop Joker Card road trip game

If you're going on a long trip and you're going to be driving all day or even longer than that, this is a great way to give everyone in the car, kids included, a way to have a bit of control.

At any point during the trip, each person can enact their Stop Joker Card - this means the car has to stop wherever they are passing and spend some time there doing an activity or just relaxing.

Your kids might see something really fun halfway along and use their card to break up the journey and everyone gets to have their stop along the route!

30. Pick One Car road trip game

This one is a game of patience and opportunity. Every person in the car has one chance during the journey to pick a car that you can see on your way as their ultimate One Car. The objective is to pick the coolest/fastest/most amazing car possible.

Once you've chosen a car, you can't change it - you only have one go so you better make it count - if you're passing something that is decent but not stellar, you might have to make a tough choice.

The game is made even more difficult by the fact that the first person to call the car out gets to have it so you have to be alert and on the lookout if you haven't got one yet.

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100+ Fun Road Trip Games for Everyone!

Posted on Last updated: February 12, 2024

Road trips offer a unique opportunity to explore, bond, and create unforgettable memories. An essential part of these journeys is the road trip games that bring laughter, joy, and friendly competition.

Whether you’re traveling with family, friends, or solo, these games transform long drives into an adventure, making every mile an opportunity for fun and connection. Let the games begin!

Classic Road Trip Games

Embark on a journey back to the basics with classic road trip games that have stood the test of time. These games require no gadgets, just an eagerness to have fun and a dash of creativity.

Perfect for all ages, they turn every mile marker into a moment of joy and every road sign into a prompt for play. Let’s dive into the timeless fun that makes every road trip memorable.

How to Play: One player looks around and chooses an object that all players can see, but they keep it a secret. They say, “I spy with my little eye, something…” followed by a clue about the object’s color, shape, or a general description. The other passengers take turns guessing what the object might be. The game continues with players taking turns to “spy” new objects.

Players: 2 or more.

Variations: To keep things interesting, set themes for each round like “only things outside the car” or “items that start with the letter B.”

2. 20 Questions

How to Play: Think of something—animal, vegetable, or mineral—and let the others know the category. They have 20 questions to ask to guess what it is, but you can only answer with “yes” or “no.” If someone figures it out before reaching 20 questions, they win and get to think of the next object.

Variations: Try limiting the categories to specific themes, such as movie characters or historical figures, to ramp up the challenge.

3. License Plate Game

How to Play: Keep your eyes peeled for license plates from as many different states as possible. When someone spots a new state, they shout it out. Keep a list of all the states seen during the trip. The person or team that spots the most wins.

Players: Any number.

Variations: Make it educational by requiring the spotter to say something they know about the state or find the state on a map.

4. Alphabet Game

How to Play: The aim is to find words that begin with each letter of the alphabet, in order, from A to Z. Players look for letters on signs, license plates, billboards, and passing trucks. The first person to complete the alphabet wins.

Variations: Play in teams and make it a relay; once a player finds “A,” the next player looks for “B,” and so on.

5. The Picnic Game

How to Play: Start the game with “I’m going to a picnic and I’m bringing…” followed by something that begins with the letter A. The next player repeats the phrase, including the A item and adding something that starts with B. This continues through the alphabet. If you forget an item, you’re out!

Variations: Change the picnic to a different theme, like a monster party or a castle banquet, to spark imagination.

6. Story Time

How to Play: One person starts a story with a single sentence. The next player adds another sentence to continue the story, and so on. The tale grows more elaborate and often more humorous as each person adds their twist. The game ends when the story comes to a natural conclusion or becomes too absurd to continue.

Variations: Limit each contribution to specific genres, like sci-fi or fairy tales, or add rules like each sentence must contain a certain word or concept.

7. Guess the Song

How to Play: Hum, whistle, or softly sing the melody of a well-known song without using any lyrics. The other passengers try to guess the song as quickly as they can. The first person to name the song correctly gets to perform the next one.

Variations: Make it themed around specific decades, genres, or artists to cater to the group’s musical tastes or to challenge their knowledge.

8. Would You Rather

How to Play: Players take turns asking “Would you rather” questions, posing two scenarios from which the other passengers must choose. For example, “Would you rather always have to sing instead of speaking or dance everywhere you go?” The game sparks laughter and intriguing conversations as players justify their choices.

Variations: Set boundaries to keep questions appropriate for all players and consider creating themed rounds, like food-related choices, travel dilemmas, or superpower options.

9. The Name Game

How to Play: Start with any name (person, place, or thing). The next player has to come up with a name that begins with the last letter of the previous name mentioned. No repeats allowed! If someone gets stuck, they’re out, and the game continues until only one player remains.

Variations: Narrow it down to categories such as celebrities, cities, animals, or foods to increase the difficulty or educational value.

10. Silent Car DJ

How to Play: One player acts as the DJ and plays a song on their device, but with headphones in so only they can hear it. They hum or tap the rhythm, and the others have to guess the song. Points are awarded for correct guesses, and the DJ role rotates after each round.

Variations: Instead of humming, the DJ could describe the song with three adjectives, making others guess based on the description.

11. Categories

How to Play: Choose a broad category, such as animals, cities, foods, or movies. Players take turns naming items that fit within the category. The catch? You can’t repeat an item that’s already been said, and you only have a few seconds to think of your answer. If you can’t come up with something or you repeat an item, you’re out. The last player remaining wins.

Variations: To increase the challenge, narrow the categories to more specific themes, like ‘Animals in Africa’ or ‘Movies with Tom Hanks.’

12. Two Truths and a Lie

How to Play: Each player takes a turn to say three statements about themselves: two truths and one lie. The rest of the group has to guess which statement is the lie. This game is not only fun but also a great way for passengers to learn new and surprising things about each other.

Variations: For a twist, after the lie is revealed, the person has to tell the story behind one of the truths.

13. The Restaurant Game

How to Play: One player thinks of a restaurant, and the others ask up to 20 yes-or-no questions to guess what it is. Questions can range from the type of cuisine to the restaurant’s location. This game can spark discussions about food, travel experiences, and personal preferences.

Variations: Expand the game to include any type of business or specific places the group has visited together to make it more personal and challenging.

14. The Alphabet Sign Game

How to Play: Similar to the Alphabet Game but with a twist. Players must find the letters of the alphabet, in order, on road signs only. The first person to spot a sign with the next letter calls it out and moves on to the next letter. The first player to reach ‘Z’ wins.

Variations: To make it more challenging, exclude common signs or require the whole word to start with the letter.

15. Telephone

How to Play: This classic game starts with one person whispering a short message to the person next to them. The message is whispered from person to person until it reaches the last player, who says it out loud. It’s often amusing to see how much the message changes as it’s passed along.

Players: 3 or more, the more, the merrier.

Variations: Introduce a theme for the messages, such as movie plots or famous quotes, to guide the whispering and add an element of challenge in remembering specific details.

Trivia and Quiz Games

Elevate your road trip with a dash of knowledge and a sprinkle of competition.

Trivia and quiz road trip games are perfect for those who love to learn, challenge their brains, and boast about their obscure knowledge.

These games are not only entertaining but also educational, making them ideal for travelers of all ages.

Ready to test your wit and perhaps learn a thing or two along the way? Let’s quiz!

1. Movie Trivia

How to Play: Test your group’s movie knowledge with questions about classic films, famous actors, and award-winning movies. One person plays the quizmaster, asking questions like, “Which movie won the Best Picture Oscar in 1994?” or “Name the actor who played James Bond in ‘Casino Royale’.” Keep score, or just play for fun!

Variations: Focus on a specific genre, decade, or even movies from a single director to tailor the game to the interests of the passengers.

2. Capital Cities Quiz

How to Play: A geographical twist that challenges players to name the capital cities of countries around the world. The quizmaster names a country, and players take turns answering. Incorrect answers mean you’re out, and the last person standing is the geography champ!

Variations: Make it easier for younger players by asking for the country of famous landmarks or harder by asking for cities that are not capitals.

3. Name That Tune

How to Play: Hum, whistle, or sing a few bars of a song without revealing its title or the artist, and let the others guess. The person who guesses correctly gets a point and takes the next turn as the performer.

Variations: Stick to a particular decade, genre, or even songs from movies to keep everyone on their toes.

4. Celebrity Guessing Game

How to Play: Think of a celebrity, and the others ask yes-or-no questions to figure out who it is. Questions can be about their profession, their work, physical characteristics, or any public knowledge. The game goes on until the celebrity is guessed or the questions run out.

Variations: Limit the celebrities to a certain field, like athletes or musicians, to make the game more challenging.

5. Road Trip Bingo

How to Play: Before the trip, create bingo cards with common road trip sights (like a red car, a billboard, or a cow). Players mark off the items on their card as they see them. The first to get five in a row and shout “Bingo!” wins.

Variations: Customize bingo cards for different regions or themes, such as a beach trip, mountain adventure, or urban exploration.

6. The Ultimate Quiz

How to Play: Combine all areas of trivia into one ultimate quiz game. Include categories like sports, science, pop culture, history, and more. Each correct answer scores points, and the person with the most points at the end of the game—or the trip—wins ultimate bragging rights.

Variations: Have each passenger come up with their set of questions for the group, giving everyone a chance to be the quizmaster.

7. Finish the Fact

How to Play: Start a fact about something (it could be about a country, a scientific phenomenon, a historical event, etc.) but leave it incomplete. For example, “The Eiffel Tower was originally intended for…” Players then guess to complete the fact. This game can lead to hilarious answers and some genuine learning moments.

Variations: Choose facts related to the destinations on your trip route to add an educational twist that connects with your journey.

8. Sports Trivia

How to Play: Perfect for the sports enthusiasts in the car, ask questions related to different sports, famous athletes, Olympic records, and memorable sporting events. Keep track of points to find out who the ultimate sports trivia champion is by the end of the trip.

Variations: Narrow the focus to a particular sport, like basketball or soccer, or include questions about local sports teams and athletes from your area.

9. Book Worm Trivia

How to Play: This game is for the literary aficionados in the car. Challenge each other with questions about famous books, authors, literary genres, and classic literature. For example, “Who wrote ‘1984’?” or “In which book does the character Scout appear?” Points are awarded for correct answers, and the person with the most points after a set number of questions wins.

Variations: Focus on a specific literary period, genre, or even books that have been adapted into movies to cater to different interests.

10. Science and Nature Quiz

How to Play: Test your knowledge of the natural world and scientific discoveries with questions ranging from biology and chemistry to astronomy and earth science. The quizmaster poses a question, and players take turns answering. This game not only entertains but educates, sparking curiosity about the wonders of the world.

Variations: Make it more interactive by relating questions to the scenery outside. For instance, if you’re passing through a mountainous area, ask questions related to geology or mountain ecosystems.

11. Historical Figures Guess Who

How to Play: One player thinks of a famous historical figure, and the rest ask yes-or-no questions to figure out who it is. The game continues until the figure is guessed or the questions are exhausted. It’s a great way to brush up on history while having fun.

Variations: Narrow the pool of historical figures to a certain era or field, such as Renaissance artists, World War II leaders, or women in science, to make the game more challenging.

12. Mythology Matchup

How to Play: Dive into the rich world of myths and legends with this trivia game. Players are given a character or item from mythology, and they must name the mythological tradition it belongs to (Greek, Roman, Norse, etc.) or tell a fact about it. It’s a fantastic way to explore different cultures and stories.

Variations: Focus on one mythology at a time or challenge players to match gods and goddesses with their domains or symbols.

13. Foodie Trivia

How to Play: For the culinary enthusiasts, this game tests your knowledge of world cuisines, cooking techniques, famous chefs, and food history. Questions can range from “What is the main ingredient in a traditional ratatouille?” to “Who is considered the father of modern French cuisine?”

Variations: Challenge players to guess the dish from a list of ingredients or to name the country of origin for popular dishes.

14. Pop Culture Puzzles

How to Play: This game focuses on current pop culture, including movies, music, influencers, viral trends, and television shows. Players might have to answer questions like “What was the highest-grossing film of 2020?” or “Who sang the hit song ‘Levitating’?” Keep the questions current to test who’s really up-to-date.

Variations: For a twist, include “finish the meme” challenges where one player describes a popular meme, and others have to complete or explain it.

15. Environmental Trivia

How to Play: With a focus on the environment, sustainability, and wildlife, this game educates players on important issues while engaging them in a fun challenge. Questions can cover topics like endangered species, national parks, renewable energy sources, and significant environmental events.

Variations: Incorporate questions related to the regions you’re driving through, such as local conservation efforts, native species, or geographical features.

Word and Language Games

Inject some linguistic fun into your road trip with games that play with words and language.

These games are perfect for wordsmiths, budding poets, and anyone who loves to tangle with tenses, wrestle with rhymes, or simply savor the sounds of syllables sliding together.

They’re a fantastic way to keep minds sharp and spirits high, turning every turn of the road into a twist of the tongue. Let’s dive into the verbal voyage!

1. Word Association

How to Play: Kick off this simple yet stimulating game by saying a word. The next player says the first word that comes to mind associated with the previous word. The game continues with each player building off the last word mentioned. It’s a great way to see where your minds wander and how differently or similarly everyone thinks.

Variations: Introduce themes to guide the associations, such as only using adjectives, animals, or places, to make the game more challenging.

2. Rhyme Time

How to Play: One player says a word, and the others must take turns coming up with words that rhyme with it. Keep going until no one can think of any more rhymes. For an added challenge, disallow simple rhymes or set a timer to up the ante.

Variations: Make it a storytelling challenge where each rhyming word must be used in a sentence that continues the story.

3. Storytelling Round Robin

How to Play: Begin a story with a single sentence. The next player adds a sentence, and so on, with each contribution building on the last. The resulting stories can be fantastical, hilarious, or unexpectedly poignant, reflecting the collective creativity of the players.

Variations: Impose rules such as each sentence must contain a certain word, or each addition must switch the genre of the story.

4. Word Chain

How to Play: Start with any word. The next player must say a word that begins with the last letter of the previous word. No repeating words, and each word must be real and verifiable. This game can go on indefinitely and is a great way to expand your vocabulary.

Variations: Focus on specific categories, like animals or food, to narrow down the options and increase difficulty.

5. Alphabetical Sentences

How to Play: Construct sentences where each consecutive word begins with the next letter of the alphabet. For example, “Alligators bask, cautiously digesting.” Players can work together to create the longest possible sentence or challenge each other to see who can come up with the most complex or humorous sentence.

Variations: Try creating sentences in reverse alphabetical order for a brain-bending twist.

6. Synonym Rolls

How to Play: One player says a word, and the next must come up with a synonym for it. The game continues, with each player trying to think of another synonym. This game ends when players run out of synonyms or repeat a word.

Variations: Play the antonym version, where players must come up with opposite words instead.

7. Haiku Highway

How to Play: Embrace the beauty of your surroundings by composing haikus related to the trip. A traditional haiku is a three-line poem with a syllable pattern of 5-7-5. Take turns sharing your poetic observations about the journey, the landscape, or travel companions.

Variations: Expand beyond haikus to other forms of poetry, challenging each other to limericks, free verse, or sonnets about the trip.

8. The Unending Sentence

How to Play: Start with a simple sentence. The next player adds to it, and so on, with the goal of creating the longest, most grammatically correct sentence possible. This game can lead to some hilariously complex sentences and tests your understanding of grammar and punctuation.

Variations: Impose limitations such as each addition must include a specific word class (noun, verb, adjective, etc.) to increase the educational value.

9. First Letter, Last Letter

How to Play: This game challenges players to think of a word that starts with the last letter of the word previously mentioned. For example, if the word is “road,” the next word could be “dog.” The game continues, with each player linking their word to the last letter of the word before theirs. This can be played with themes, such as animals, cities, or any category you choose.

Variations: Make it more challenging by disallowing repeat words or setting a time limit for responses.

10. Gibberish Translation

How to Play: One player says a phrase in gibberish, and the others have to guess what they’re trying to convey. The gibberish speaker can give hints if needed. The aim is to translate the gibberish back into English, rewarding the most creative and accurate interpretations.

Variations: Instead of gibberish, use a made-up language or incorporate simple foreign language phrases for a bilingual twist.

11. Tongue Twister Tournament

How to Play: Challenge your fellow travelers to say classic tongue twisters as quickly and accurately as possible. Each player takes turns attempting different tongue twisters, and the group votes on the performance. Players get points based on clarity and speed.

Variations: Create your own tongue twisters related to the trip or surroundings for a personalized touch.

12. The Silent Game

How to Play: While not strictly a word game, this game challenges players to stay silent for as long as possible. It’s a humorous way to enjoy some quiet time, with the last person remaining silent winning the game. The twist? Other players can try to make the silent player speak (without touching them).

Variations: Add challenges or tasks that the silent player must complete while maintaining their silence for added difficulty.

13. Celebrity Name Game

How to Play: Start with the name of a celebrity. The next player must think of another celebrity whose first name starts with the first letter of the last name of the previous celebrity. For example, if the first name is “Tom Hanks,” the next could be “Harrison Ford.”

Variations: Include fictional characters to broaden the pool of names and add an element of fun.

14. The Definition Game

How to Play: One player thinks of a word, preferably one that’s obscure or whose meaning might not be widely known, and shares it with the group. The other players then invent definitions for the word, trying to convince the others that their definition is the correct one. After everyone has presented, the true meaning is revealed.

Variations: Vote on the best fake definition for points, regardless of whether it’s correct, to reward creativity.

15. Reverse Spelling Bee

How to Play: In this twist on the traditional spelling bee, the quizmaster spells out a word backward, and the players must guess the word. This game tests listening skills and mental flexibility as players translate the backward spelling into a recognizable word.

Variations: Use words related to the trip or destinations for a thematic connection to your journey.

Interactive Tech Games

In the age of smartphones and tablets, technology offers a wealth of opportunities to make road trips more engaging and interactive.

These games leverage the power of devices to entertain, educate, and even connect players with others far away.

From trivia apps that test your knowledge to multiplayer games that pit passengers against each other in friendly competition, there’s no shortage of ways to turn your vehicle into a mobile game room.

So, charge up your devices, download some apps, and get ready for some high-tech fun on the road.

1. Mobile App Trivia

How to Play: Numerous trivia apps are available that cover a wide range of topics, from general knowledge and science to pop culture and history. Players can compete individually or split into teams, answering questions on their devices. Some apps allow for real-time competition against players from around the world.

Players: 1 or more per device.

Variations: Choose apps that offer themed trivia nights or allow players to create custom quizzes about each other for a personal touch.

2. Multiplayer Gaming Apps

How to Play: There are many apps designed for multiple players, allowing you to engage in everything from strategy games and puzzles to racing and action adventures. Find games that can be played on a single device or over a shared network, and dive into a virtual world together.

Variations: Look for games that require cooperation to complete challenges or solve puzzles, encouraging teamwork and communication among passengers.

3. Audiobook Story Guessing

How to Play: Listen to an audiobook together and pause it at cliffhanger moments or the end of chapters. Everyone then guesses what happens next, with points awarded for correct predictions or the most creative guesses. Resume playback to find out who was right.

Variations: Choose audiobooks from genres everyone enjoys, or for an educational twist, listen to historical or scientific audiobooks and quiz each other on the content.

4. Podcast Quiz

How to Play: Select a podcast episode related to a topic of interest for all passengers. After listening, one passenger poses questions about the episode. This can be a great way to learn something new and spark interesting discussions.

Variations: Choose different podcast genres for each leg of the trip, ranging from mystery and science to history and comedy, to keep the content fresh and engaging.

5. Geocaching Adventure

How to Play: Use a geocaching app to find hidden caches along your route. This global treasure hunt uses GPS to guide you to specific coordinates where a geocache is hidden. It’s a great way to add physical activity and adventure to your stops.

Variations: Look for caches that contain trackables—items that travel from cache to cache—and see how far items you track or place travel over time.

6. Virtual Scavenger Hunt

How to Play: Create a list of items to find or tasks to complete that can be done from the car, such as taking a photo of a specific landmark, finding a rare car model, or spotting wildlife. Use your phones to document each item found or task completed.

Variations: Make the scavenger hunt educational by including historical landmarks or natural wonders in the list of items to find.

7. Karaoke App Competition

How to Play: Use a karaoke app that scores your singing based on pitch and rhythm. Passengers take turns performing songs, and the app provides a score at the end of each performance. It’s a fun way to showcase your vocal talents (or lack thereof) and enjoy some music.

Variations: Hold a tournament with different musical genres or have duet battles for an added layer of fun.

8. Digital Pictionary

How to Play: Drawing and guessing games are available as apps, allowing players to sketch on their devices while others guess what’s being drawn. These apps often have time limits and scoreboards to keep the competition lively.

Variations: Choose themes for each round, such as movies, animals, or actions, to keep the game challenging and interesting.

9. Language Learning Challenge

How to Play: Use a language learning app to collectively learn basics or brush up on a language spoken at your destination. Compete to see who can complete lessons or earn the most points by the end of the trip. It’s a productive and fun way to prepare for international travel or simply learn something new together.

Variations: Focus on learning useful travel phrases or challenge each other to conversations using only the new language.

10. Escape Room Apps

How to Play: Dive into the world of virtual escape rooms, where you solve puzzles and decode messages to “escape” from a locked room. These apps offer a variety of themed adventures, from mystery and horror to fantasy. Work together to solve the puzzles as quickly as possible.

Variations: Assign roles based on strengths, such as puzzle solver, researcher, or coordinator, to tackle the challenges more effectively.

11. Virtual Reality Sightseeing

How to Play: If you have VR headsets or can share one among the group, download virtual reality apps that allow you to visit famous landmarks, museums, and natural wonders around the world. Take turns exploring different locations and share interesting facts or impressions with each other.

Players: 1 per VR headset.

Variations: Make it educational by focusing on historical sites or natural phenomena related to your road trip destinations.

12. Interactive Story Apps

How to Play: Choose an app that offers interactive stories, where your decisions affect the outcome. These can range from mystery and romance to fantasy and adventure. Read the story aloud, and as a group, decide which paths to take at key decision points.

Variations: Vote on decisions for a democratic approach or rotate the decision-maker role to let each player shape the story’s direction.

13. Fitness Challenge Apps

How to Play: Use fitness apps to set up daily challenges, such as achieving a certain number of steps during rest stops or completing mini-workouts. Keep track of everyone’s progress and reward the winner with a special treat or privilege on the trip.

Variations: Tailor challenges to the trip, like doing specific exercises at landmarks or competing in impromptu races.

14. Social Media Scavenger Hunt

How to Play: Create a list of photo or video challenges to complete and share on social media, such as imitating a statue, dancing in a scenic spot, or finding the quirkiest roadside attraction. Use hashtags to track your posts and see who can complete the most challenges.

Variations: Focus on creating content that tells a story of your journey or highlights lesser-known attractions.

15. Digital Art Contests

How to Play: Utilize drawing or painting apps to hold art contests. Choose a theme or subject, and everyone creates their digital artwork. Share the results with each other or on social media to let followers vote on their favorites.

Variations: Have art challenges based on scenery you pass or themes related to your trip destinations.

Creative and Imagination Games

Let your creativity soar and imagination run wild with games designed to inspire storytelling, artistic expression, and innovative thinking.

These games are perfect for travelers looking to stretch their minds and explore new ideas, all while enjoying the journey together.

Whether you’re crafting epic tales, sketching the passing landscape, or inventing new games, there’s no limit to where your creativity can take you.

Buckle up for a journey filled with whimsy, wonder, and the joy of creating something out of nothing.

1. Create a Story

How to Play: One person starts by saying a sentence to begin a story. The next person adds a sentence, and so on, with each addition building upon the last. The goal is to create a collaborative story that can take unexpected turns and evolve in surprising ways.

Variations: Introduce specific elements that must be included, such as a mysterious character, a magical object, or a specific setting, to guide the story’s direction.

2. Imagine If

How to Play: Players take turns posing hypothetical scenarios, starting with “Imagine if…” The scenarios can be as realistic or fantastical as you like. Each player then adds their response or continuation of the scenario, leading to creative and often humorous discussions.

Variations: Limit the scenarios to themes related to your trip or destinations for a more focused exploration of creativity.

3. Draw It Out

How to Play: Using paper and pens or a drawing app on a tablet, one player describes a scene or object without naming it, and the others must draw what they think is being described. Afterward, compare drawings to see how each person interpreted the description.

Variations: Make it a guessing game where players have to guess what was being described based on the drawings.

4. Invent a Game

How to Play: Challenge yourselves to invent a new game that can be played in the car. Discuss ideas, decide on the rules, and then test it out. This not only sparks creativity but also results in a unique game that’s personalized to your group’s interests.

Variations: Set constraints for the game creation, such as it must involve storytelling, drawing, or singing, to narrow down the focus.

5. The What-If World

How to Play: Players ask “What if” questions about the world around them, pondering alternate realities or outcomes. For example, “What if trees could talk?” or “What if we could fly?” Discuss the implications, invent stories, or draw conclusions based on these fantastical questions.

Variations: Focus on “What if” questions related to the places you’re passing through or visiting on your trip.

6. Design Your Dream Destination

How to Play: Each player describes their dream travel destination, detailing what makes it unique, what activities you can do there, and even what the local cuisine is like. This game encourages players to use their imagination and share their travel aspirations.

Variations: Sketch your dream destination or create a travel brochure for it, adding a visual or written element to the game.

7. Once Upon a Time

How to Play: Using the phrase “Once upon a time,” start a fairy tale that each player contributes to. The story can include classic elements like dragons, magic, and quests, but should also incorporate modern twists or personal touches from each player.

Variations: Assign roles (such as hero, villain, sidekick) to each player, who must then tell the story from their character’s perspective.

8. The Soundtrack of Our Trip

How to Play: Imagine your road trip is a movie. Discuss and decide together what songs would be on the soundtrack, including the opening credits, a dramatic moment, and the closing credits. Share why each song was chosen and how it fits the “movie” of your trip.

Variations: Create actual playlists based on these discussions and listen to them during your trip, enhancing the journey with your personalized soundtrack.

9. Collaborative Comic Strip

How to Play: Start creating a comic strip together. One person draws the first panel, then passes it to the next player to draw the second panel, and so on. Each panel should continue the story from where the last one left off. By the end, you’ll have a unique comic strip created by everyone in the car.

Variations: Set a theme or main character for the comic strip at the beginning, or let each panel be a surprise to the next artist to encourage spontaneity.

10. Dream Invention Brainstorm

How to Play: Discuss and brainstorm ideas for a new invention. It could be something practical, something futuristic, or completely whimsical. Talk about what problem it solves, how it works, and even what it looks like. The goal is to let your creativity and problem-solving skills run wild.

Variations: Sketch your inventions or come up with a pitch as if you were presenting it on a show like “Shark Tank.”

11. Alternate Ending

How to Play: Think of movies, books, or stories that everyone is familiar with, and discuss alternative endings for them. Each player proposes their unique twist on how the story could have concluded, encouraging creative thinking and storytelling skills.

Variations: Write down these alternate endings or act them out if space and safety allow.

12. The Time Capsule

How to Play: Pretend you’re creating a time capsule to be opened in 50 years. Discuss and decide what items (real or imagined) you would include to represent your current road trip, the era you’re living in, or your group of travelers. Explain why each item was chosen and what story it tells about your journey or time.

Variations: Design or draw the items instead of just discussing them, creating a visual time capsule.

13. Mythical Creature Creation

How to Play: Each player comes up with their own mythical creature, describing its appearance, abilities, and habitat. You can get as detailed as you like, from what it eats to how it interacts with humans (if at all). This game sparks imagination and can lead to some fascinating creature designs.

Variations: Draw your creatures or create a story involving all the creatures invented by the players.

14. Future City Planning

How to Play: Imagine you’re the planners of a city in the future. Discuss what innovative features and technologies your city will have, how it addresses modern challenges, and what daily life looks like for its inhabitants. This game encourages forward-thinking and discussions about technology, sustainability, and community living.

Variations: Sketch your city or specific technologies and buildings in it, or create a brochure or advertisement promoting your futuristic city.

15. Secret Superhero Identities

How to Play: Each player invents a superhero persona for themselves, complete with powers, weaknesses, a hero name, and a backstory. Share your superhero identities with each other, and then create scenarios or challenges that your superheroes might face on an adventure.

Variations: Combine all the superheroes into a single story or comic, working together to overcome a grand challenge or villain.

Puzzle and Strategy Games

Engage your brain and test your strategic thinking with puzzle and strategy games designed to challenge and entertain.

These games are perfect for those who enjoy a mental workout and the satisfaction of solving problems or outsmarting their opponents.

From logic puzzles that stretch your reasoning skills to strategy games that require foresight and planning, there’s a wealth of ways to turn the journey into a battle of wits.

Prepare to think critically and strategize creatively as we delve into games that make every decision count.

1. Sudoku Showdown

How to Play: Bring along printed sudoku puzzles or use a sudoku app. Compete to see who can complete their sudoku puzzle the fastest. To accommodate multiple players, you can work on the same puzzle and take turns, or each work on separate puzzles of similar difficulty levels.

Variations: Adjust the difficulty level based on the experience of the players, or try a team approach where players collaborate to solve more challenging puzzles.

2. Travel Chess or Checkers

How to Play: Use a travel-sized chess or checkers set for games on the go. These classic strategy games are perfect for rest stops or longer breaks. Players take turns, strategizing moves to outmaneuver their opponent.

Players: 2.

Variations: Play a tournament with brackets if you have more than two players, or introduce “speed chess” rules to keep games quick and engaging.

3. Crossword Competition

How to Play: Bring a book of crossword puzzles or find them in newspapers or apps. See who can complete a crossword puzzle the fastest, or work on a single puzzle as a group and see how many clues you can solve together.

Variations: For a collaborative twist, each player can be responsible for different sections of the crossword or specialize in certain types of clues.

4. Brain Teaser Battles

How to Play: Prepare a list of brain teasers, riddles, and logic puzzles before the trip. Challenge each other with these puzzles, and keep score of who solves the most. This game tests your critical thinking and problem-solving skills under pressure.

Variations: Turn it into a team game where one team poses puzzles to the other, alternating roles after each round.

5. Tangram Challenges

How to Play: Use a tangram set or an app to challenge each other with geometric puzzles. Players try to recreate specific shapes using the seven tangram pieces within a set time limit. This game tests spatial awareness and geometric skills.

Variations: Compete to see who can complete the most puzzles in a given time or who can create the most original design.

6. Memory Match

How to Play: Use a deck of cards or a memory match game app. Lay out the cards or activate the game, and players take turns flipping two cards at a time, trying to find matches. The player with the most matches at the end wins.

Variations: Increase the difficulty by adding more cards or using a version of the game with complex symbols or pictures.

7. Strategy Card Games

How to Play: Bring a deck of cards and play strategy-based card games like Rummy, Hearts, or Spades. These games require strategic thinking, planning, and a bit of bluffing to win.

Players: 2 to 4.

Variations: Learn and introduce new card games from different cultures to keep the gameplay fresh and educational.

8. Logic Puzzle League

How to Play: Equip yourselves with a book of logic puzzles, which might include grid puzzles, sequence puzzles, and more. Challenge yourselves to solve these puzzles individually or as a group, discussing your reasoning and strategies as you go.

Variations: Set up a league with a point system for different types of puzzles, crowning the “Logic Champion” at the end of the trip.

9. Battle of Wits: 20 Questions Reimagined

How to Play: Give the classic game of 20 Questions a strategic twist. One player thinks of an object, and the others have a limit of 20 questions to figure it out—but with a catch. Players also score points based on the efficiency of their questions, encouraging strategic thinking about what to ask next.

Variations: Implement a rule where the questioner can make a guess at any time, but if they’re wrong, they lose a point or give a point to the person who chose the object, adding an extra layer of strategy.

10. Codebreaker Challenge

How to Play: Create a simple code or cipher before the trip. During the trip, one player writes messages using this code, and the others try to decipher them. The first to crack the code or the one who decodes the most messages wins.

Variations: Use different types of codes throughout the trip, from simple substitution ciphers to more complex systems, to keep the game challenging.

11. Map Quest

How to Play: Using a physical map or a mapping app, one player selects a destination, and the others must figure out the most efficient route using only the information given by the map. This tests geographic knowledge, planning skills, and the ability to navigate complex routes.

Variations: Set challenges within this game, such as finding the shortest route, the most scenic route, or creating a route that passes through specific checkpoints.

12. Strategic Storytelling

How to Play: This game combines storytelling with strategic thinking. Players collaborate to tell a story, but each addition must follow a strategic goal, such as avoiding certain words, incorporating specific themes, or achieving a narrative objective set at the beginning.

Variations: Introduce “plot twist” cards or challenges at intervals, which must be incorporated into the story, requiring quick thinking and adaptability.

13. The Great Debate

How to Play: Players choose or are assigned different sides of a debate on a light-hearted topic. Each side must come up with arguments and strategies to convince the others. Points are awarded for creativity, logic, and persuasiveness.

Players: 3 or more (including a judge).

Variations: Incorporate absurd topics or fictional scenarios to make the debates more entertaining and imaginative.

14. Building Bridges

How to Play: Using paper, pens, and a creative mind, players must design a bridge that meets specific criteria, such as length, material limitations, and aesthetic appeal. After drawing, players present their designs, explaining the strategy behind their construction methods and choices.

Variations: Make it a competition with categories for judging, such as most innovative design, most realistic, or most likely to withstand natural disasters.

15. Escape Plan

How to Play: One player designs a hypothetical “escape room” scenario with puzzles, clues, and a storyline. The others must ask strategic questions to solve the puzzles and “escape” within a certain timeframe. This game tests problem-solving skills and creativity in both the design and execution phases.

Variations: Rotate the role of the escape room designer, allowing each player to craft their unique challenges and stories.

Musical and Sing-Along Games

Turn up the volume and let the rhythm take over with musical and sing-along games that celebrate the joy of music.

These games are perfect for music lovers and anyone who enjoys a good melody, offering a fun way to pass the time while showcasing your vocal talents—or just your enthusiasm for a catchy tune.

From guessing games that test your musical knowledge to creative challenges that let you compose your own songs, there’s a symphony of options for making your road trip a musical adventure.

Get ready to sing your heart out, tap your feet, and let the music lead the way.

1. Karaoke Challenge

How to Play: Use a karaoke app or simply play songs from a playlist, muting the vocals if possible. Passengers take turns singing, and performances can be rated by the audience for fun. Choose songs that everyone knows to encourage group participation.

Variations: Award points for accuracy, performance flair, or audience engagement to keep things interesting.

2. Name That Tune

How to Play: One player hums, whistles, or plays a short snippet of a song, and the others try to guess the song as quickly as possible. The player who guesses correctly first gets to choose and perform the next song.

Variations: Limit the song choices to specific decades, genres, or artists to tailor the game to your group’s musical tastes.

3. Finish the Lyric

How to Play: Play a line from a song, then pause it abruptly. The next player must sing or say the next line correctly. If they succeed, play continues; if not, it’s the next player’s turn. This game tests your memory and musical knowledge.

Variations: Make it more challenging by choosing songs with less well-known verses or by only reading the lyrics without the melody.

4. Create Your Own Song

How to Play: Collaborate to write a song about your road trip, including details about places you’ve seen, inside jokes, and memorable moments. Take turns contributing lines or verses, and then put it all together into a melody.

Variations: Assign different parts of the song (verse, chorus, bridge) to different players or create a song in a specific musical style (country, pop, rap).

5. Guess the Artist

How to Play: Play a few seconds of a song, and the other passengers have to guess the artist. This can be played with a streaming service or local music files. Keep score to see who has the broadest knowledge of music artists.

Variations: Focus on specific music periods, genres, or even movie soundtracks to narrow down the possibilities and challenge your group’s music knowledge.

6. Musical Storytelling

How to Play: One player starts by singing a line from a song that hints at a story or emotion. The next player must continue with another line from a different song that logically follows the narrative or emotional thread. This continues, weaving a story or conveying a mood through connected song lyrics.

Variations: Set a theme for the story, such as love, adventure, or overcoming challenges, to guide the song choices.

7. The Humming Game

How to Play: Similar to “Name That Tune,” but players hum the tune instead of playing a snippet. This tests both the hummer’s ability to convey the song without words and the guessers’ ability to recognize tunes from just the melody.

Variations: Use only television theme songs, commercial jingles, or songs from musicals to make guessing more focused and potentially easier or harder.

8. Song Association Game

How to Play: One player says a word, and the others have a short time to sing a snippet of a song that includes that word. Points are awarded for speed, accuracy, and sometimes creativity in song selection.

Variations: Play with themes related to your trip, such as cities, emotions, or landscapes, to make the song choices more meaningful.

9. Band on the Run

How to Play: Each passenger picks an imaginary instrument and “plays” it to a song playing over the speakers. The challenge is to keep in rhythm and put on a performance. After each “performance,” players rate each other on creativity, enthusiasm, and how well they “played” their instrument.

Variations: Switch instruments after every song, or introduce “solo performances” where one person takes the spotlight while others provide backup.

10. Music Video Director

How to Play: As a song plays, passengers collaboratively come up with a concept for a music video for that song. Discuss locations, scenes, and the storyline. After the song ends, vote on the best idea or combine elements from everyone’s suggestions to create a group concept.

Variations: Assign roles such as director, cinematographer, and actors, and plan out specific shots or scenes, adding depth to the creative process.

11. Lyrics Rewriting Workshop

How to Play: Choose a well-known song and rewrite the lyrics to fit the theme of your road trip or to recount a funny event that happened along the way. Each passenger contributes a line or verse, and together, you create a new version of the song.

Variations: Focus on specific parts of the song to rewrite, like the chorus, or challenge yourselves to maintain the original rhyme scheme and meter.

12. Musical Charades

How to Play: Like traditional charades, but with a musical twist. Players act out the title of a song, a band, or a musical act without speaking, while others guess. Use motions to represent words or actions associated with the song or artist.

Players: 3 or more.

Variations: Include categories or themes to narrow down the guessing, such as 80s hits, rock bands, or songs about traveling.

13. Song Shuffle Story

How to Play: Put your music library on shuffle. Each song that plays serves as inspiration for a short story, memory, or joke from one of the passengers, ideally relating to the song title, lyrics, or mood.

Variations: Make it a challenge to connect each story to the next, creating a coherent narrative thread or theme that runs through the entire game.

14. Echo Song Battle

How to Play: One player sings a line from a song, and the next player must sing a line from a different song that echoes a word or theme from the previous line. The game continues, with each player trying to link their song choice to the one before.

Variations: Set a timer to limit how long players have to think of their song line, adding pressure and spontaneity to the game.

15. Composer’s Challenge

How to Play: Take turns humming a melody you create on the spot. The next player has to add onto the melody, either by extending it, adding harmony, or creating a response melody. Continue around until you have a complete composition created by all passengers.

Variations: Record each addition on a phone or other device, and play back the entire composition at the end to hear your collaborative masterpiece.

Mindfulness and Relaxation Games

In the midst of the excitement and entertainment, it’s also important to incorporate moments of calm and mindfulness into your road trip.

Mindfulness and relaxation games offer a serene counterbalance to the high-energy activities, inviting passengers to connect with their senses, breathe deeply, and find peace on the road.

These games are designed to reduce stress, enhance awareness, and promote a sense of well-being among travelers.

Let’s explore games that turn the journey into a path toward tranquility and mindfulness.

1. The Gratitude Game

How to Play: Take turns sharing things you’re grateful for, focusing on the experiences of the trip, the beauty of the scenery, or personal reflections. This simple exercise can shift focus to the positive, uplifting everyone’s mood.

Variations: Set a theme for each round, such as nature, technology, or people, to guide the reflections.

2. Mindful Observation

How to Play: Choose an object outside the window and observe it quietly for a full minute. Then, share your observations, describing the object in detail and reflecting on any thoughts or feelings it evoked. This game encourages present-moment awareness and attention to detail.

Variations: Focus on observing different senses in turn—sight, sound, touch—to deepen the mindfulness experience.

3. Breathing Relay

How to Play: Start with deep, synchronized breathing as a group. One person leads a breathing exercise, guiding the others in inhaling, holding the breath, and exhaling slowly. Pass the role of leader around, allowing each passenger to contribute a breathing pattern or technique.

Variations: Incorporate visualization or meditation techniques with the breathing exercises for enhanced relaxation.

4. Soundscapes

How to Play: Close your eyes (except for the driver!) and listen to the sounds around you for a few minutes. Afterward, discuss what you heard and how it made you feel. This game helps tune into the environment and fosters a calming, mindful listening practice.

Variations: Create your own soundscape using apps or recordings of nature sounds, then reflect on the imagined environment.

5. Positive Affirmations Circle

How to Play: Each person takes a turn to say a positive affirmation about themselves and then one about another passenger. This activity boosts self-esteem and strengthens connections within the group.

Variations: Focus on affirmations related to travel, such as adaptability, curiosity, or joy in discovery.

6. Cloud Stories

How to Play: Look at the clouds and individually pick one that catches your eye. Spend a few moments in silence contemplating it, then share what you imagined or felt about your chosen cloud. This game encourages creativity and a connection to nature.

Variations: Instead of clouds, focus on landscapes or other natural features you pass by, interpreting their shapes or imagining their stories.

7. Sensory Countdown

How to Play: Engage in a “5-4-3-2-1” exercise to ground yourselves. Name five things you can see, four you can touch (describing the texture), three you can hear, two you can smell (if possible), and one you can taste (even if it’s just the memory of a taste). This exercise helps focus on the present and calms the mind.

Variations: Adapt the countdown to focus more on one sense, especially if you’re in an area with limited sensory input.

8. Intention Setting

How to Play: Share intentions for the day or for a particular destination. Discuss what you hope to experience, learn, or feel. Revisit these intentions at the end of the day or trip to reflect on how they were realized, fostering a sense of purpose and mindfulness about your journey.

Variations: Write down these intentions and share them with the group, creating a shared document of your collective journey’s aspirations.

9. Journey Journaling

How to Play: Allocate quiet time for each passenger to jot down thoughts, sketches, or observations in a journal. This can be about the scenery, how you’re feeling, or anything you’ve noticed or appreciated along the way. Afterward, if everyone is comfortable, share some of your reflections with the group.

Variations: Choose a specific theme for each journaling session, such as gratitude, nature, or personal growth, to guide the reflection.

10. Guided Imagery Relaxation

How to Play: One passenger leads a guided imagery session, describing a peaceful scene in detail (such as a serene beach, a quiet forest, or a cozy mountain cabin). Everyone else listens, visualizes the scene, and allows themselves to be mentally transported there, focusing on the calming effects.

Players: Any number, with one acting as the guide.

Variations: Record a guided imagery session before the trip, perhaps even one personalized to your journey, and play it back during the game.

11. Haiku Highway

How to Play: Inspired by the traditional Japanese form of poetry, passengers compose haikus (short poems of three lines, with a syllable pattern of 5-7-5) that capture moments or impressions from the trip. Share these poems aloud, enjoying the simplicity and depth of expression this form allows.

Variations: Set challenges for the haikus, such as focusing on a particular color, emotion, or element of the landscape.

12. Mindful Eating Experience

How to Play: Choose a snack or meal to eat mindfully. Before starting, everyone observes their food, noticing its color, texture, and smell. Eat slowly, savoring each bite and focusing on the flavors and sensations. Discuss the experience afterward, reflecting on any new insights or appreciations.

Variations: Blindfolded tasting, where each person tries to guess what they’re eating based on taste, smell, and texture alone, heightening the sensory experience.

13. The Silence Game

How to Play: Set a timer for a period of silence, during which passengers are invited to meditate, contemplate, or simply rest in the quiet. This game encourages internal reflection and a break from constant stimulation.

Variations: Include gentle background music or nature sounds to aid in relaxation, or practice silent observation, focusing on different senses in turn.

14. Emotional Check-In

How to Play: Pause for a group check-in, where each person shares how they’re feeling in the moment, what’s on their mind, or anything they’re processing. This game fosters emotional awareness and support within the group, creating a safe space for sharing.

Variations: Use prompts to guide the check-in, such as “What has been the highlight of the trip so far for you?” or “Is there anything you’re looking forward to?”

15. Nature Connection Ritual

How to Play: Whenever you stop for a break in a natural setting, take a few moments to connect with the environment. This could involve walking barefoot on the grass, hugging a tree, listening to the wind, or simply breathing in the fresh air deeply. Share your experiences and feelings afterward.

Educational Road Trip Games

Educational road trip games offer a fun and interactive way to learn new facts, explore topics of interest, and stimulate curiosity while on the move.

These games are perfect for families, students, and lifelong learners who want to turn their journey into an opportunity for growth and discovery.

From geography quizzes to science experiments you can perform in a moving vehicle, there’s no limit to the knowledge you can uncover.

Prepare to engage your brain, challenge your companions, and learn something new with each mile you travel.

1. Geography Guessing Game

How to Play: Use a map or a geography app to quiz each other on capitals, countries, landmarks, and natural features. You can ask questions like “What’s the capital of this state?” or “Which river are we crossing?” This game enriches your understanding of the world and the places you’re traveling through.

Variations: For a more advanced challenge, focus on historical geography, asking about ancient cities, historical events tied to specific locations, or changes in political boundaries.

2. Science on the Go

How to Play: Conduct simple, safe science experiments that don’t require stopping the car. For example, you can explore the concepts of motion by observing how objects behave in a moving vehicle. Discuss the science behind what you observe, such as inertia, gravity, and friction.

Variations: Prepare a list of phenomena to observe before the trip, such as the phase of the moon, weather patterns, or types of ecosystems you pass through, and discuss the science behind each.

3. Historical Timeline Challenge

How to Play: One player mentions a historical event, and the next player has to mention another event that happened either before or after, depending on the direction chosen at the start. This game tests and expands your knowledge of history in a fun, chronological context.

Variations: Focus on specific themes, such as inventions, wars, cultural movements, or the history of science and technology, to tailor the game to the players’ interests.

4. Vocabulary Builder

How to Play: Choose a word of the day, and everyone tries to use it correctly as many times as possible during the trip. Alternatively, challenge each other with unfamiliar words, and guess their meanings before looking them up to learn new vocabulary.

Variations: Pick words related to your trip’s destination or themes, such as geological terms for a national park visit, to make the learning relevant and engaging.

5. Math Road Rally

How to Play: Use the journey to solve math problems. Calculate the distance between points, average speed, fuel consumption, or even budgeting for the trip. It’s a practical way to apply math skills and make real-world connections.

Variations: Create challenges or competitions, such as who can calculate the estimated arrival time most accurately using current speed and distance remaining.

6. Language Learning Game

How to Play: If traveling in a multilingual region or to a destination where another language is spoken, practice key phrases and vocabulary together. Use language learning apps, phrasebooks, or audio courses to learn and quiz each other.

Variations: Turn it into a role-playing game where you simulate conversations in different travel-related scenarios, such as ordering food, asking for directions, or checking into a hotel.

7. Cultural Trivia Quiz

How to Play: Prepare trivia questions about the cultures, traditions, and customs of the places you’re visiting or passing through. This game is an excellent way to educate yourselves about the diversity of the world and foster respect and curiosity for different cultures.

Variations: Include questions about world religions, languages, culinary traditions, and significant holidays to broaden the scope of learning.

8. Environmental Awareness Challenge

How to Play: Discuss environmental issues related to the areas you’re traveling through, such as conservation, wildlife protection, or climate change impacts. Look for examples along the way, and talk about ways to address these challenges.

Variations: Focus on positive actions, highlighting conservation successes, renewable energy projects, or sustainable tourism practices observed during the trip.

9. Artifact Hunt

How to Play: Before the trip, research interesting historical or cultural sites along your route. As you travel, look for these “artifacts” — anything from a historical marker to a local museum. Take photos or notes about each find and discuss its significance. This turns the journey into a scavenger hunt through time and culture.

Variations: Include natural “artifacts” like geological formations or significant trees to expand the learning to environmental history.

10. “Did You Know?” Exchange

How to Play: Each passenger researches and shares fun facts or lesser-known information about the places you’re visiting or passing by. This can include folklore, unusual laws, famous residents, or unique local customs. It’s a great way to stimulate curiosity and appreciation for diversity.

Variations: Tailor the “Did You Know?” facts to themes, such as technological innovations from the area, literary figures, or pivotal moments in social justice related to the locations.

11. Economy Explorer

How to Play: Discuss the economic landscape of the areas you travel through, focusing on industries, agriculture, and services. Identify different businesses, farms, and factories along the route, and speculate on their roles in the local and broader economy. This game offers insights into the interconnectedness of communities and economies.

Variations: Make predictions about how the economy of an area might change in the future based on current observations and known trends, fostering critical thinking about economic development and sustainability.

12. Local Lore and Legends

How to Play: Research or ask locals about myths, legends, and stories from the areas you visit. Share these tales during the trip, diving into the rich tapestry of local folklore that gives each place its unique character. This game is a gateway to understanding cultural values and the power of storytelling.

Variations: Create your own story or legend inspired by the landscapes and communities you encounter, blending learned lore with imaginative creation.

13. Architecture Analysis

How to Play: Observe and discuss the architectural styles of buildings you see along the way. Try to identify the period, influences, and functional aspects of different structures. This encourages an appreciation for design and engineering and how they reflect cultural and historical contexts.

Variations: Focus on specific types of buildings, such as houses, public buildings, or religious structures, to deepen the analysis and understanding of architectural diversity.

14. Political Landscape Discussion

How to Play: Engage in discussions about the political history and current political climate of the regions you’re traveling through. Explore how geography, economy, and culture have shaped political developments and policies. It’s a respectful way to broaden understanding of governance and societal dynamics.

Players: Any number, with mindful respect for diverse opinions.

Variations: Compare and contrast the political landscapes of different areas visited, considering factors like governance models, civic engagement, and public policy issues.

15. Artistic Inspirations

How to Play: Use the scenery, towns, and experiences of your trip as inspiration for individual or collaborative art projects. Sketch, write poetry, compose music, or simply brainstorm ideas influenced by your journey. Share and discuss your creations, reflecting on how travel inspires creativity.

Variations: Choose a single theme that each person must interpret in their artwork, offering diverse perspectives on the same subject.

20+ Entertaining Road Trip Games to Play in the Car

This post may include affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I (The Winding Road Tripper) earn from qualifying purchases.  Read more . 

Road trips are not just about getting to your destination. It’s also about all the fun you can have on your journey to your next stop.

These road trip games will bring laughter and excitement to your next road trip.

Let’s dive into some of our favorites.

Alright, we know this is one of those classic games to play on a road trip that everyone has heard of, but have you ever really dug into it? 

I Spy has a lot of versatility. It’s not just that one-dimensional game you remember from your childhood. This is a game that you can mix up and cut loose with. Try adding time limits, creating I Spy themes, or just killing some time with a class road game. 

You probably know the rules, but all you need to do to play this game is pick something you and your friends can see and have them guess until they get it right. You’ll say, “I spy something that…” and add a clever clue that gives a subtle hint about what you’re looking at. 

The key to playing this game as an adult is to focus on those clever hints. That’s where the fun is!

20 Questions 

 20 Questions is one of those games that has plenty of versatility. Let’s look at a few ways to enjoy this game while on a road trip.

You play 20 Questions by assigning one person to be “it.” That person thinks of a person, place, or thing, and everyone else has 20 questions to narrow down their guess and get it right.

You can spice up 20 Questions by making it themed, personal, or romantic. It all depends on who you’re traveling with. 

Like many road games, this game is best played in short bursts. You want to mix up these classic road trip games, so you don’t burn out on any one game. 

Would You Rather

Would You Rather is another excellent game to play while on a road trip. 

The goal of this game is to give someone a ridiculous and near-impossible choice between two options. You can ask them to pick between their favorite hobbies, a million dollars or perfect health, or anything else you can think of!

This is also a great game for getting to know someone new. It’s the perfect icebreaker for couples and helps you explore topics that matter to the people you travel with. 

Mini Board Games 

Mini magnetic board games are fun games to play in the car, but they are also adorable. 

You and your travel companions can enjoy Scrabble, chess, checkers, or mini Monopoly.

There are travel-sized versions of just about every board game out there. Throw one of these in your bag, and you’ll hardly notice the extra space it takes up. Besides, it will generate way more fun than you might expect. 

Travel Scavenger Hunt 

One of the most fun things you can do when heading out on your road trip is to set up a scavenger hunt .

You need to do some planning ahead of time for this game. Think about some interesting or challenging items you and your travel companions can hunt down or see on the road together. 

These can be wrappers from regional snacks, landmarks, road signs, or anything you can find along your road trip route. 

Here’s a tip for setting up a scavenger hunt. Come up with a low-stakes prize for the winner, which could be anything from a Starbucks gift card to a coupon for a free back massage. 

Trivia Apps! 

Playing trivia games on the road used to mean taking several decks of cards with questions and answers on them. However, your phone is full of game apps to keep you entertained on your road trip.

There are trivia apps like Popcorn Trivia, SongPop, and countless others. These let you play trivia games based on movies, music, and even history with your travel buddies. 

Don’t get caught thinking these games are trivial; they are some of the most fun games to play on a road trip!

Related Post: Best Road Trip Game Apps

Travel Bingo

Here’s another exciting game that takes a little preparation before you hit the road.

You can set up a travel bingo gam e for everyone you will be on the road with. This bingo game can be full of fun inside jokes, sites along the way, and all the ups and downs of a long car ride.

Travel bingo is a great way to add a little lightheartedness to some of the challenges of taking a road trip. Why not lean into these awkward moments and add a square on your travel bingo card for awkward smells or getting stuck in traffic?

The winner of travel bingo can get a little prize, but there’s no prize more fabulous than the satisfaction of being the travel bingo champion.  Related Post: Free Downloadable Road Trip Bingo Cards

Gas Station Stop Gourmet 

There are plenty of travel games about embracing the unique and sometimes weird cuisine you can find while on the road.

The goal of this game is to make the most of the limited culinary options you have at your average gas station. Players should be given a budget and are challenged to come up with the most exciting meal they can think of.

Imagine you’re on a Food Network competition show, but all you can do is create a fine dining experience using a convenience store and a few fast food diners.

This is a great game to help people think outside the box and not get stuck snacking on the same pre-packaged chips for the entire ride. 

Fictionary  

Fictionary started hundreds of years ago with the Victorians in England. 

This word game is all about obscure words and the definitions that they “should” have. Play works like this. 

One player picks an obscure word that few people know, like “mycorrhizal” or “sozzled.” Everyone else writes down their made-up definitions. Whoever gets the most laughs wins!

More Road Trip Entertainment: Best Attention-Grabbing Audio Books for a Road Trip Boredom-Busting Podcasts for a Road Trip Road Trip Questions for Couples

Six Degrees of Separation

Here’s another road trip classic, especially for movie buffs. 

Six Degrees of Separation got a second wind when it became an iconic meme in the early days of the internet known as Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. 

The point of the game is straightforward. One player names two actors, and the other must connect them in six degrees of separation or less.

Here’s a classic example using Kevin Bacon.

“Kevin Bacon and William Shatner.”

William Shatner was in Festival in Cannes with Maximilian Schell, who starred in Telling Lies in America with Kevin Bacon.

There’s even a website called The Oracle of Bacon that can generate these degrees of separation if you two get stuck!

Fictional Road Trip Families

One of the most fun things about a road trip is the people you will meet on the way. 

However, some people you “meet” drive past you on the road at 60 miles an hour. While you need more time to meet them adequately, you can still tell a fun story about their lives.

The next time an interesting-looking car drives past you, collaborate on a fictional story about the family inside that vehicle. Take turns adding story elements and see where it will lead you.

The Movie Game

Here is another one for film buffs.

This game starts with one person naming a movie and another person naming an actor who starred in that film. The next person then picks another actor from that movie and a different movie that the actor starred in. The second player then repeats the process, and play continues until no one can name a new movie.

For a twist on this game, players can go back and forth naming actors, writers and directors, and production staff on movies until they cannot name anyone else involved with a given film.

Human Jukebox

Here’s a game for the musically inclined pair on a road trip.

Human Jukebox starts with one player singing a line from a song. Then the other player uses the last word of that line to connect it to a brand-new song.

Here’s an example:

Player 1 starts with a line from Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody: “So you think you can stop me and spit in my eye. So you think you can love me and leave me to die. Oh, baby, can’t do this to me, baby .”

Player 2 connects it with Britney Spears’s classic “… Baby One More Time.” When I’m not with you, I lose my mind. Give me a sign. Hit me, baby, one more time.”

And the song goes on!

Two Truths and a Lie

Two Truths and a Lie is more than a fun game. It’s a great way to get to know your travel companions.

Here’s how the game works:

Name two truths about yourself and one lie. For example, you could say, “I used to have blue hair, I once designed a video game, and my aunt is a world record holder for women’s rodeo.” 

Your traveling companions will then have to guess which is the lie and which is the truth. And the fun part is that you can make your truth and lies as straightforward or as challenging to guess as you’d like. 

This game is a fun way to explore your traveling companion’s personal history and discover unique and fun details about their life.

Fortunately Unfortunately

Fortunately Unfortunately is a game that can get weird pretty quickly. Therefore, it’s a great game if someone in the car has their crabby pants on. 

It starts with one player saying something that starts with “fortunately: that’s positive, and then the next saying something negative about that same event starting with “unfortunately.”

“Fortunately, we got time off of work for this road trip.”

“Unfortunately, your boss got replaced by a zombie.”

“Fortunately, all those George Romero movies I watch have prepared me for this day.”

Continue this back and forth until you are ready to move on to the next game. 

The Road Trip Memory Game

Here’s a fun game to test your memory skills.

The game starts with the first player saying, “I’m going on a road trip, and I’m bringing…” 

They can name any person, place, or thing they want to bring on this road trip. Let’s say they said, “my guitar.”

The next player continues the game by saying, “I’m going on a road trip, and I’m bringing my guitar and…” and adding their own item.

The game continues until someone forgets items on the list. Consider this game as a safe way to forget what you need to bring on your next road trip!

Radio Roulette

Radio Roulette can be an exciting way to find new music you love or a challenging endurance test.

All you need to do is turn on the local radio stations and pick one randomly. You have to keep this station on for an unbroken 10 minutes to complete a round of the game. After 10 minutes, you switch to the next radio station and keep playing.

You might find yourself in love with some local Polka you would have never thought to listen to. Or you might be battling through 10 minutes of local talk radio.

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

In the mood to win $1,000,000? Well, there might not be a stack of hundreds on the table, but you can have fun playing along.

The Who Wants To Be A Millionaire app is a great way to play a game with just two players on your next ride. One player gets to be the host of this iconic game show, while the other gets to be in the hot seat with a shot at a cool million dollars.

Bad Film Plots

Usually, when you play a game, you want to do everything right. However, Bad Film Plots has you intentionally doing everything wrong.

This game aims to explain a movie’s plot as badly but as accurately as possible. The other players must guess the film you’re talking about correctly.

Let’s say you wanted to badly explain the plot of Terminator II: Judgement Day. You could say: “A down-on-her-luck working single mother makes an unlikely friendship as her son discovers a father figure.” 

That may be tricky, but that’s the whole point of the game. 

Local Trivia Night

One of the most significant advantages you have when taking road trips today is that you’ve got the whole internet by your side while you’re on the road.

Use that to your advantage and do a local trivia game while traveling. 

One player gets to be the trivia master asking questions about the state you’re driving through.

Try Out Some Nintendo Switch Games! 

Some of the best games to play on a road trip take advantage of today’s technology. 

The Nintendo Switch offers plenty of variety, including two-player puzzle games, action, and RPGs with compelling stories. You can even download classic Super Nintendo video games and enjoy nostalgia while on the road. The Switch has games for kids and adults, so you don’t have to worry about not finding the right game for you. 

Name That Tune

No list of road trip games would be complete without a game designed for music lovers, as singing and enjoying new tunes is one of the best parts of a good road trip. 

And SongPop 3 is one of the best game apps for long car rides for music lovers. This app plays a song clip and has you guess what you’re hearing.

These are real clips from actual songs. And you’ll hear everything from Cardi B to Queen. You can even play in dedicated music genres to focus on your favorites.

You can spice things up a little by trying to sing the next lyrics in the song. 

Words With Friends

Words With Friends is one of, if not the, most popular word game app. The secret to this app’s success is that it is Scrabble but for the smartphone age. Being a digital Scrabble allows Words With Friends to give you more options to play while traveling.

You and your traveling partners can play together using your own devices or challenge friends and family back home. Since it’s basically Scrabble, you know what you’re getting into with this app.

License Plate Game

The L icense Plate Game aims to find as many license plates from the 50 States + the District of Columbia as you can during your road trip. 

The best thing about the License Plate Game is you can make the rules to fit your road trip needs. Plus, you can make it enjoyable by finding prizes for the winners or an award for the first passenger to spot a license plate from Mexico or Canada.

You can make a list of all 50+ states, or there are phone apps to help you keep track. Our favorite is PlateSpot . 

Related Post: License Plate Game: 3-Ways to Play on Your Next Road Trip

39 Fun Road Trip Games to Play

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Fill long drives with joy by playing these fun road trip games , helping you say goodbye to boredom on the journey, no matter who you’re traveling with.

I’ve been on plenty of road trips across Europe and the U.S. in my time, and these games have helped me, friends, and fellow travelers pass the time with lots of laughs and intrigue.

Road Trip Games (Fun Games to Play in the Car)

1. Truth or Dare

This is a classic game, but it can be adapted to a road trip as well. Take turns picking whether you want to reveal a truth or take a dare.

In this case, you will need to pick a dare that can be done safely in the car or by stopping the car when you get the chance. Time to be creative!

Read more: 100+ Best Truth or Dare Questions

2. Never Have I Ever

Each player holds up five fingers, and in turn, they name something they have never done, for instance, “Never have I ever been to Italy.”

For each thing they have done, players need to fold a finger. The person who folds all five fingers first loses. This is a fun game, and if you pick the right questions, you may even learn some interesting or funny things about your friends.

Read more: 200+ ‘Never Have I Ever’ Questions

3. The Compliment Game

In this game, you go through the alphabet, and for every letter, you say a compliment about someone else in the car. For instance, “A is for how awesome Monica is,” “B is for Jack’s beautiful hair,” and so on, taking turns.

4. Most Likely to

Take turns and come up with “most likely to” scenarios about your friends. Everyone in the car must point to the person they believe reflects the title.

You could say things like “Most likely to become a celebrity” or “Most likely to win a Nobel prize.” If you’re out of ideas, you can find many examples online, or just try to be creative and invent fun scenarios.

Read more: 300+ “Who is Most Likely to” Questions

5. The Forbidden Word

Pick a forbidden word at the beginning of your trip. Try to aim for a word that you would normally use a lot. Keep count of how many times each person says the forbidden word.

At the end of the trip, whoever has said the word the most will have to take a pre-agreed forfeit, such as paying for a round of drinks.

6. Truth or Lie?

This is a storytelling game in which one person in the car tells a true or invented story from their past, ideally something elaborate and hard to believe.

The other people in the car take turns and get to ask one question about the story before deciding if it’s true or not. Reveal the right answer after everyone took their guess. Take turns telling stories and see who has the greatest number of correct guesses.

7. Smurfing

Pick one person in the car who will be the subject of the game. While the subject covers their ears, the other persons need to pick a verb. Then, the subject must ask questions replacing the verb with the word “smurf.”

For instance, “Do you smurf in the morning or evening” or “When did you last smurf?” They need to guess the right verb as quickly as possible. You may even decide how many questions they get to ask or set a time limit, like 2 minutes, to guess the right verb.

For Families and Kids

8. what color is it.

In this game, start naming a list of items of the same color until your kid, or one of your kids, guesses the right color. For instance, you could start by saying “Sky, sea, smurfs…” and keep going until someone guesses blue.

A classic road trip game for families and kids, “I spy” consists in choosing an object, preferably something in the car, and having other players guess by asking yes or no questions.

You can use colors or the first letter of the object. For instance, you could say “I spy with my little eye… something blue/something that starts with the letter B.” The first person to guess the object gains a point.

10. Spelling Bee

A fun and educational game, the spelling bee is easy to play in a car. You can pick random words or make it more fun by choosing a theme, possibly something kids would enjoy.

For instance, you could do a Harry Potter spelling bee with words from the book/movie. Make sure to have someone keep track of the points on a piece of paper or a note app.

11. Scavenger Hunt

This game may require a bit of preparation but it’s a great way to keep kids entertained on a long road trip.

Before the trip, prepare a list of things you would usually see on the road, like road signs, cars, animals, and so on. The person who checks the most items off the list before the end of the trip wins.

12. Car Color Search

This game also needs some preparation, but it can be very entertaining for small kids. You can draw several cars of different colors or find a ready-made sheet online and print it.

Every time they spot a car of a certain color, they cross it off the list. Whoever crosses the most cars off the list wins the game.

13. Going on a Picnic

This challenging memory game is great for adults, but you can also play it with older kids. The first person starts by saying “I’m going on a picnic, and I’ll bring…” and picks an item.

The next person repeats the sentence and adds another item, then the third adds a third item, and so on. The list will get longer and longer. The first person who can’t remember the correct list is out of the game and it resets until there is one winner.

14. Storytime

If you’re feeling creative, why not invent a fairy tale with the kids? Start with the classic fairy tale beginning “Once upon a time…” and come up with the start of a magical journey in a singular sentence.

Each player will add a sentence to the story until you either reach the end or until a set time limit elapses. You can also record the story so you can listen to it later.

15. The Quiet Game

If you’re traveling with kids and want some downtime, you can always try the quiet game. See how long your kids can go without saying a word. The first one to break the silence loses.

For Couples or Two People

16. 20 questions.

In this guessing game, one person will have to think about an object, animal, or person, and the other must ask yes or no questions to figure out what the other person is thinking.

They have a limit of 20 questions to guess the item or person. Ideally, you would start with more generic questions, like “Is it an animal” or “Is it an object?” and get more specific with questions about the size, color, and other features.

If the person guesses in less than 20 questions, they take the place of the answerer. Otherwise, the same person gets to think of a new thing.

17. The Human Jukebox

This can be a really fun song if you know song lyrics. One person starts singing a song, and the next has to connect it to another song using the last word of the lyrics, then another has to connect a new song, and so on.

For instance, “Take me down to the paradise city where the girls…. Just wanna have fun, oh girls… Who run the world? Girls. Who run…. Boy run. This world is not made for you…” And see how long you can keep going before someone is stumped.

18. 6 Degrees of Separation

A person has to name two people, objects, movies, or any other thing. You can mix them, for instance, a celebrity and a movie, that are apparently not connected. Another player has to connect the two in six statements, or less.

You could, for example, pick Uma Turman and the movie Mamma Mia. And then say “Uma Turman starred in “Kill Bill” with Lucy Liu. Lucy Liu starred in Charlie’s Angels with Cameron Diaz. Cameron Diaz had a relationship with Justin Timberlake. Justin Timberlake starred in “In Time” alongside Amanda Seyfried. Amanda Seyfried starred in Mamma Mia!”

19. Two Truths and a Lie 

This is a great game to learn more about your travel companion. Take turns and tell two truths and one line. The other person has to guess which is the lie.

You can just keep playing to discover curious facts about yourselves or make it a points game. Whoever gets to 10 correct answers first wins. Remember to choose a reward for the winner.

Read more: 2 Truths and a Lie: 200+ Lie Ideas

20. Holiday Memory Game

In this memory game, you pretend you are packing your suitcase for the holidays and need to take turns listing all the items you will pack. The first person will start by saying “I am going on a holiday and I’m taking…” and adds an item.

The next player has to repeat the sentence and add a new item then the next player will do the same. Keep adding items to the bag, repeating the entire list every time. The first person who messes up the order or forgets an item loses the game or is out. Ready to test your memory?

21. Kiss Mary Avoid

Pick three people, either someone you know or celebrities, both from past and present. You may even pick a fictional character.

The other person will need to choose which person they would kiss, marry, and avoid. Depending on your choice of people, this game can be really fun. Take turns and get creative!

22. Would You Rather

Time to get creative for this game where a person has to ask the other(s) what they would choose between two options.

The idea is to come up with impossible or weird choices, like “Would you rather never see again or never taste food?” If you’re out of ideas, this “would you rather” questions list can help you out. Tine to make some difficult choices.

Generally Fun Road Trip Games

23. categories.

While this is not necessarily a road trip game, it’s a really fun one to pass the time. Pick a category, anything from ice cream flavors to R&B songs. Every player takes turns naming an item in that category. See who runs out of ideas first.

24. The Humming Song Game

The game is pretty easy yet fun to play. One player must hum a famous song while the others need to guess the song. The person who guesses correctly gets to hum a new song. It may sound really easy, but it can get quite tricky.

25. Music Battle

To play this game you must be at least three passengers. One person is the judge while the others need to play songs on their phones.

Select different categories, and for each one, every player picks a song and plays it. The judge has to decide the winning song for every category.

26. Alphabet

This game consists in spotting items that start with each letter of the alphabet, in order. You can use objects in the car or on the road, like road signs, billboards, animals, or anything else you may spot.

Call out each letter and the item/word as you see it. The first person the get to Z wins. In a different version, you may pick a category, like animals, and take turns naming items in that category in alphabetic order.

One player starts by saying a word, then each passenger takes turns saying words that rhyme. Set a 15-second time limit per turn. If the person can’t come up with a word within the time limit, they are out.

The remaining person wins a point. See who gains the most point before you get to the destination or who gets to 10 points first.

28. Storyteller

The game is pretty simple but depending on how creative you get it can be very fun. One person starts a story with the first sentence. Then, everyone takes turns adding to the story.

Come up with interesting and fun plot twists to make the story more entertaining. Record it to have a memory of your road trip story.

29. Fortunately/Unfortunately

This game consists of telling a story where each sentence starts with the word “fortunately” or “unfortunately,” alternating between them.

For example: “Anna had to go to work. Unfortunately, her car broke down. Fortunately, she could take the train. Unfortunately, all trains were delayed.” Keep the story going, alternating between the two.

30. While You Were Sleeping

This is a funny game that you can play if any of the passengers falls asleep during the trip. With the other passengers, come up with an interesting and unbelievable story of something that happened while the other person was asleep.

When they wake up, tell them the story, starting with “While you were sleeping…”. Each passenger adds a little to the story to make it credible that you all witnessed it. Try not to break character and see if the other person believes your story.

31. Car Rule

To play this game, each person in the car gets to make up a random rule, and everyone has to follow it. Try to think of weird and fun rules, like “Whenever I change the radio station, everyone has to clap their hands”.

Assign points to everyone who enforces the rules except for the last person to do so. The person with the most points at the destination wins.

32. The License Plate Game

This classic road trip game can be played in different ways. You can try to spot a license plate from every US state or from different countries if you’re traveling in Europe.

Or you can try to spot a license plate starting with each letter of the alphabet, and the first one to get to Z wins. If you are playing with kids, you can even print a coloring map of the U.S. and have them color each state they spot on a license plate.

Trivia Road Trip Games

33. name that tune.

A great game for music lovers is “Name that tune”. You can simply turn on the radio or put on a Spotify playlist, making sure the song name is not visible on the display.

As soon as the song starts, the first person to shout the right song title wins a point. This is a great game to have fun, listen to music, and refresh your memory of song names.

34. Name the Artist

A different take on “Name that tune,” this game requires players to guess the artist. You can even prepare a playlist in advance and set different rules.

You can assign points based on who answers first, or you can take turns, play a song for 5 to 10 seconds, and let the player guess or pass. Whoever makes more points or reaches a set number of points first wins.

35. The Movie Game

If you know your movies and actors, you can play this potentially endless game during your road trip. To start, a person mentions an actor while another person must name a movie the actor has been in.

Another player must name a different actor in that movie, and the next player must then name another movie with that actor, and so on. See how long you can go!

36. Guess the Quote

One person in the car has to say a quote from a movie, TV show, or song, while the other passengers must guess where the quote is from.

The player who makes the right guess takes the next turn in saying a quote. Try to make it hard, and for extra fun, use the accent of the actor who said the quote.

37. “Sorry I am Late” Movie Guessing

This can be a really fun game for movie buffs. It essentially consists of saying a sentence that starts with “Sorry I am late” and continues with the main plot of a movie, told in a fun way.

For instance, “Sorry I am late, but I got a letter saying I am a wizard and I had to go to wizarding school only to find out this evil wizard has been trying to kill me since I was a newborn,” which would be Harry Potter. The person who guesses 10 movies first wins.

38. Bad Movie Plot

Another fun movie fame consists in picking a movie and explaining the plot in a really bad way, although factually correct. The other person has to guess the movie.

If they do, they win a point. Take turns and see who makes the most points or gets first to 10 correct guesses.

39. Celebrity

In this game, one person will play the character of a celebrity of their choice while the others take turns asking random questions.

The celebrity player answers the questions as if they were the famous person. The first person to guess the celebrity wins.

Long journeys in the car can often be difficult, for both you and the other passengers you are traveling with. Finding activities to pass the time can go a long way making the journey far more comfortable and enjoyable.

The beauty of these road trip games is that they require little, if any, equipment and preparation to play, yet can provide hours of fun.

Don’t let tiredness and boredom take control on a long car ride. Use these fun car games to create a fun and relaxing atmosphere, keeping your minds off the journey and giving you all an opportunity to interact and bond.

From word games to games involving famous people, there’s so much you can do in the car with minimal resources to entertain young kids, teenagers, and the whole family!

You Might Also Like to Read

• 40 Fun Things to Do on a Long Car Ride

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25 Road Trip Games to Make the Miles Go By Fast

You won’t be hearing: “Are we there yet?” 😂

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Road trip games are one of the easiest ways to make the miles fly by in the blink of an eye, and if you used to take road trips when you were little, you likely have several car games that you still love today. Perhaps you’re heading out with your whole family in tow or going somewhere fun with a group of gals or your main squeeze (talk about a cute summer date idea !). No matter what type of trip you’re taking, road trip games are a must. The nice thing about road trip games is that they don’t require a ton of items to bring along—just your brains, a few rules to follow, and plenty of giggles. If you’d like to tuck away those smartphones and kick it old-school, turn to these 25 boredom-busting road trip games.

While You Were Sleeping

It’s not just a favorite movie from the ‘90s! For this game, one person will be asleep (which happens pretty frequently on road trips). Once they’re asleep for at least five minutes, the ones who are awake will start making up a story, and each person will take turns adding to that story. After the person wakes up, the group’s job is to make them believe that it’s a true story. If someone starts giggling, they’ll lose a point. But if each one tricks the sleeper into believing the story, every person gets three points.

The Singing Game

This is for the family and pals who love to bust out a tune! One person in the car will start singing a song. The next person will pick up a lyric from that song and will link it up with another song (i.e. “Should I stay or should I go…” can link to “…your own way, go your own way.”) The words can connect to one another going round and round until someone can’t think of a new lyric or sings the incorrect words.

This might be one of the most classic car games of all time. You know the rules: someone in the car will spot something by the road and say, “I spy with my little eye, something that is…” and then will give a hint, whether it’s a color or general direction. The other players will ask questions until someone discovers what it is.

20 Questions

One person will choose a noun (a person, place, or thing) and the other players will get 20 questions to find out what it is. Simple and fun!

License Plate Game

A game that’s always a favorite! The aim of this game is to spy all 50 states on license plates throughout your journey. You can keep track on a piece of paper, a phone, or you can use a board with markers for each state.

SHOP LICENSE PLATE GAMES

Scavenger Hunt

Similar to “I Spy,” a road trip scavenger hunt involves bringing along a list of items that are typically seen along the road. Your pals or little ones will spot the items, like stop signs or blue cars, and check them off the list. The first one to check them all off wins.

Two Truths and a Lie

For this, one player will make three statements, and one of them will be false. The other players will try to guess which one is the untrue one. It’s a great way to discover new things about a friend or family member!

This game is great for older kids and adults. Focusing on compound words, each person will link to the previous word and keep going around until someone can’t come up with anything. For example, notebook, bookstore, store-bought, etc.

Never Have I Ever

Each player will start a statement by saying, “Never have I ever…” Then they’ll finish the statement by saying something like, “Fallen asleep in class,” or “Flown on an airplane.” The rest of the crew has to decide if it’s a true statement or not.

Road Trip Bingo

It’s just like the bingo you play at home, except this game has a road-trip spin. Bring along some bingo cards (you can even purchase ones that are road trip-themed) and look for all the items on the board. The first one to get BINGO wins!

SHOP ROAD TRIP BINGO CARDS

The Name Game

This game is all about naming as many “names” as you can, but you’ll each only have three seconds to answer! There are lots of ways to play: focus on first letters, go with last names only, etc. Or change the category to dog breeds, books, types of flowers, or anything else you can come up with.

Story Starter

Here’s a classic game. One person will start a story but won’t finish the sentence. The next player will finish that sentence, but won’t finish it, and so on. By the end, you’ll probably have a pretty funny story going!

Alphabet Game

This is a game to play when you know there will be a lot of signs and billboards along the way. Starting with “A” and so on, players will find words on the route that start with each letter of the alphabet. You can play with the letters in order, or you can cross them off as you see them.

The Grocery Game

The first player will come up with an item they would buy at the grocery store. Without telling anyone, the rest of the car will take turns asking questions to discover what it is. Is it red? Can it be found in the produce department? It’s an apple!

Name That Tune

This one goes out to the music lovers out there! For this game, someone will start playing music on the radio or on a smartphone. In only five seconds, you have to guess what song it is. The first person to answer gets a point!

SHOP SMARTPHONE SPEAKERS

What Color Is It?

This game is perfect if you have young kiddos. The adults will list several items that are the same color: for instance, leaves, frogs, money, and so on. The kids have to guess the color!

Triple Threat

Someone in the car will choose three random nouns, like “alligator,” “flute,” and “mashed potatoes.” Everyone else in the car will have to make up a story based on these three nouns!

Car Color Search

Keep track of car colors as you spot them, including all the colors of the rainbow and some less-common ones, like pink, lime green, and gold.

Would You Rather?

These are questions that you make up as you go along, and you might learn some new things about each other, too! Ask questions like, “Would you rather eat a too-hot slice of pizza or a too-cold popsicle?” or “Would you rather win a million dollars or have the ability to fly?” Each person gets to answer these fun questions.

In My Suitcase

It’s a memory game! Start a sentence with, “I’m going on vacation, and I packed…” and begin with an item that starts with the letter A. The next player will choose an item that starts with B, but they have to add the previous player’s item onto their sentence. For example, you could say, “I’m going on vacation, and I packed accessories.” Next, the person could say, “I’m going on vacation, and I packed accessories and a brush.” See how long you can go until someone forgets.

SHOP SUITCASES

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8 Road Trip Games to Keep Everyone Entertained, No Matter Their Age

Whether you’ve got a car full of kids, adults, friends, or family, these road trip games will make sure everyone has a good time—no equipment required..

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Lots of road trip games are free and you don’t need to pack anything other than your brain and a sense of humor.

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Road trips are as much about the journey as the destination. But even though a car gives you flexibility and allows for more spontaneity than a plane, train, or bus, boredom is bound to set in. That’s where games come in.

Whether you are hitting the road with a party of 2 or 10—or with kids or adults—here are appealing games that can help pass the time and keep the “are we there yet?” chorus at bay.

20 Questions

In this classic parlor game that transitions easily into the car, one player thinks of a random person, place, or thing and the other participants take turns asking up to 20 yes-or-no questions to figure out the answer through a process of elimination. Whoever gets the answer first starts the new round.

The License Plate Game

The goal of this quintessential road trip game is to spot at least one license plate from each of the 50 states. Participants can write down the states as they see them or check them off of a list. Have kids in tow? Print out a blank map of the United States for each tot and have them color in the states whenever they see a corresponding license plate.

Build a Story

You might not write the next great American novel on your road trip, but you can create a hilarious tale collaboratively. The first player invents an opening line and then everyone takes turns adding a sentence to the story. Keep it going for as long as you need to, whether it’s the next rest stop or your final destination.

In this game, players take turns choosing letters to create a valid word (so no picking “Z” after someone says “X”). But the catch is that you don’t want to be the person to complete the word. Any player who does complete a word is penalized by receiving a letter from the word GHOST: “G” for the first penalty, “H” for the second, and so forth. Players who receive five penalties—and therefore spell out the word “GHOST”—are eliminated until one winner remains.

Scavenger Hunt

A game that involves spotting specific objects during the trip might not be ideal for the driver, but the rest of the travel party can have a blast. Simply create a list of objects to look for beforehand and distribute it to each traveler. Make the game easy or challenging by choosing items that are really common or very rare. To add some randomness to the game, create a unique list for each participant. As with any scavenger hunt, whoever finds the most items wins.

Alphabet Game

A good choice for families traveling with children, the alphabet game is another road trip classic that involves looking for words on signs and billboards that start with each letter of the alphabet, beginning with the letter “A” until reaching “Z.” Players can simply yell out the word when they see it, and the whole group moves on to the next letter. Whoever spots the most words wins.

Interactive Podcasts

You may not be able to convince a game show host to join your road trip adventure, but your entire travel party can put their smarts to the test by pressing play on a trivia or brain teaser podcast like Good Job, Brain! or Road Trip Riddles .

Name the Passenger

As you make your way along the open road, keep an eye on passengers in the other vehicles around you. (Unless you are driving, of course.) Pick some passengers at random and have a discussion about what name you would assign to them and why. Some laughs are guaranteed.

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Sago Mini Trips‪+‬ 4+

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Don't miss out on all the fun adventures with your Sago Mini Friends on Apple TV+! HIT THE ROAD WITH YOUR SAGO MINI FRIENDS! Ready for adventure? Sago Mini Trips+ brings together four fan-favorite preschool games into one kid-friendly app – Road Trip, Boats, Planes, and Trains. Travel to far-off destinations with your Sago Mini friends and discover lots of fun and surprises along the way! With no WiFi or internet required, it’s perfect for on-the-go playtime or your next big trip. PACK YOUR BAGS Choose Harvey, Jinja, Robin, or Jack, and help them pack for their getaway! Fill up their suitcase with clothes, accessories, or even a snack or two for the road. Once you’re all set, close up your suitcase and head to the garage to pick out your ride. PICK YOUR VEHICLE Set sail, ride the rails, take flight, or hit the road with tons of fun vehicles to choose from. Have you ever traveled by pickle boat? How about a chicken car that lays eggs? Find plenty of super silly planes, trains, boats, and cars including an ice cream truck, a steam train with a fishbowl car, a rocket ship, and much more. With an additional 10 new vehicles exclusive to Sago Mini Trips+, you can hop aboard a dinosaur train, a teacup boat, or a lemon car, too! Travel solo or pick a friend or two to come along. START EXPLORING Suitcase? Check. Sweet ride? Check. Travel buddies? Check. It’s time to go! Take a train ride through some snowy mountains, soar into the clouds to find out if pigs really can fly, or make friends with a friendly sea monster on the high seas. Need a break? Make a pit stop for a car wash or to refuel before hitting the road again. Keep your eyes out for fun surprises at every turn! Once you arrive at your destination, snap a picture then start all over again with a new vehicle and a new destination. In Sago Mini Trips+, there’s always an adventure just around the corner. Bon voyage! FEATURES • Four fan-favorite games in one kid-friendly app – Planes, Trains, Road Trip, and Boats • Play on-the-go without WiFi or internet • Imaginative, open-ended play designed to support preschoolers’ development • Calming and frustration-free screen time • With no time limits or rules, kids can play their way • Perfect for kids aged 2-5 Privacy Policy Sago Mini is committed to protecting your privacy and the privacy of your children. We adhere to the strict guidelines set forth by COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule), which ensure the protection of your child’s information online. Privacy policy: https://sagomini.com/privacy-policy-trips/ Terms of use: https://sagomini.com/terms-of-use/ About Sago Mini Sago Mini is an award-winning company devoted to play. We make apps, games and toys for preschoolers worldwide. Toys that seed imagination and grow wonder. We bring thoughtful design to life. For kids. For parents. For giggles. Find us on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok at @sagomini.

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24 Road Trip Games Everyone Will Love

Family road trips are so fun, and it’s fantastic to hit the road and check out the scenery as you go, but if you’re going on a long drive make sure you have some road trip games to keep everyone happy and entertained.

I remember playing games with my sister in the backseat of our car, and for the most part, we had fun. It was around the 4-hour mark that we started to go squirrely. I wish we had prepared ourselves with this epic list of fun road trip games. It would have made road trips stress-free and fun!

Road Trip Games for the Entire Family

“I spy with my little eye…something that is….” I think this is a classic that we all love to play when we’re hitting the road. Everyone takes turns saying, “I spy with my little eye, something that is…” and you say the color of something you see. Everyone can take turns guessing what you’ve picked based on the color you say.

Whoever picks the proper object gets to choose an object next.

2. 20 Questions

Take turns picking something in a category like Type of Bird – Blue Jay. Don’t tell anyone, and everyone goes around and asks you a question about what you’ve chosen. They get to ask you 20 questions combined, and then they need to guess what you picked. They need to ask questions with a yes or no answer.

3. Alphabet

Pick a topic like Tv Shows, or Songs and everyone goes around taking turns saying one thing in that category that starts with the letters of the alphabet in order.

4. Quiet Time

Who can be quiet the longest? Kids and adults can use this time to read, go on electronics or have a nap, and whoever can go the longest, being quiet wins! Mad libs are also great for quiet time.

5. License Plate Game

Everyone keeps track of the different license plates from other states. Whoever can find the most from different states win! You could also put together a scorning system beforehand based on how far the states are.

6. I’m Going on an Adventure Memory Game

Everyone takes turns adding one thing that they’re taking on an adventure, and the next person needs to remember what was said beforehand and then add their item. The first person starts by saying something like, “I’m going on an adventure, and this is what I pack. A backpack. “

The next player says the same but add their item to the end. Keep going until someone make a mistake. If you make a mistake, you’re out. Last person to complete the sentence with everyone’s things wins!

7. Would You Rather

Take turns saying statements like, “would you rather kiss a frog or kiss a mouse.” Anything goes. Take turns going around to see what everyone picks. Take turns asking the would you rather question.

8. Categories

Pick a category and take turns naming things from that category. An example would be. Dogs. Golden retriever, poodle, etc. Keep going until someone can’t name anything else.

9. Truth or Dare

This feels like a classic. Take turns asking someone if they pick truth or dare and then ask them a question if they choose truth or give them a fun dare if they decide dare.

10. Story Time

One person starts by adding to the story. Add a word at a time, but you can’t forget the words there were added before yours. Repeat the story that was said before your turn, and then add your word. Whoever messes up the order of the words first is out. Last person to recite the story without making a mistake wins.

11. Scavenger Hunt

This game might take some preparation before you hit the road, but it will be fun for everyone. Before you go on your trip, make a list of things to find on a piece of paper. While you’re on the road, give the list to everyone so they can check off the items as they see them.

The first person to find all the items wins! Hopefully, by the end of the trip, everyone will have all the things checked off.

12. Rhyming Game

Everyone gets a chance to pick a word to start with; then, the second person has to say a word that rhymes with the first person’s word. Keep going until you can’t think of any more rhyming words.

13. Name the Song

Take turns humming a song until someone can guess the song’s name. If you want to make it a bit more challenging, guess the singer’s name too!

14. Never Have I Ever

“Never have I ever kissed a frog.” Take turns going around to each person so they can say their own never have I ever statement. Anyone who has also never done what’s said in the statement puts their hands up. It’s a fun game to get to know everyone and a great icebreaker.

15. Rock Paper Scissors

Two people face off in rock, paper scissors. Take turns picking rock, paper, or scissors and whoever wins gets the point.

16. Thumb Wars

One, two, three, four, I declare a thumb war. Play mini-games by trying to trap your opponent’s thumb under your own. A fun game to play for all ages.

17. Spelling Game

Have a spelling bee in the car. One person can ask for the words to be spelled out, and every correct spelled word is a point. Whoever has the most points after a particular time or amount of words wins.

18. Reading Game

Everyone can bring a book or a few mini books and take turns reading for everyone. It’s a great way to connect by seeing what type of books everyone likes to read.

19. Connection

This one is fun because it can be tricky. Pick two people or two things and try to find three ways they can connect. Everyone can take turns picking, and everyone else has to try to find ways to connect.

20. First to See

Someone picks something to look out for, and the first person to see it wins a point. You can choose a specific license plate, an airplane, a tall building, anything works!

21. Mini Car Games for Kids

You can find some fun mini car games like tic tac toe, chess, checkers that are super fun to play for all ages. You can sometimes even find fun board games like monopoly and sorry in mini-sized games for the car.

22. Games on Apps

You can download some great multiplayer games on your electronics like headbands, minute to win it, sudoku, ping pong, and some fun strategy or math games. These are all super fun and could even be used for a family games night.

You can download some great trivia games on your phone and ask questions. You can play one-on-one or with everyone in the car.

Download a poker app and get others to join you. You can play at a table together or at different tables and have fun collecting points. You could also try with a deck of cards if you have a travel tray for the car.

Have the best road trip ever with these fun car games. Prepare for your family vacation or road trip with a list of fun games everyone can play, and you’re sure to have a great time. Don’t forget you can also download some great books and games to keep kids entertained like Martha Speaks , Curious George .

This post originally appeared on Savoteur .

Victoria Cornell is the founder of Motherhood Life Balance. She helps busy moms find peace in the midst of the chaos, transform their mindset, get organized, and find the fuel to live their best life. You can find her at https://motherhoodlifebalance.com/

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Have a blast cruising along in a funny car to reach new and exciting destinations

The best ride ever

Go for a fun-filled drive with Jinja the cat. Pick a destination, select a vehicle and hit the road. What will Jinja drive today? Choose a sporty racing car, a jumpy jeep or a funny pickle car! Stop along the way to wash and fuel up. When the drive is done, a happy welcome is waiting for you!

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• More than ten vehicles, from racing cars to a shoe-mobile
• Six destinations from magical mountains to the big city
• No rules or time pressure. Explore at your own pace.
• Perfect for travel and especially road trips!
• Play wherever you are — no need for Wi-Fi or Internet
• Safe uninterrupted play — no in-app purchases or third-party advertising

Letter to parents from the designer

Related apps, trucks & diggers, ocean swimmer, forest flyer, related toys.

Foam Puzzle Mat: Robin’s Road Trip

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31 Best Road Trip Games for Kids: Definitely Bookmark This

Are you planning a road trip and looking for the best road trip games for kids? We totally understand that doing long car rides with kids can be hard and stressful, especially when not using any screens.

“Are we there yet?” “I’m hungry!” “It’s too long”

Does that sound familiar?

Family road trips can be stressful for parents and long for kids, so it’s better to be prepared with some ideas. That’s why we listed 31 of our favorite games to play in the car on a road trip to pass the time. They are all fun games for kids (but also for the entire family, from toddlers to older kids and adults).

And the cool thing is that most of them don’t require much and can also be played at the destination.

Disclaimer: Just a heads up, this free article contains affiliate links . If you purchase after clicking one of these links, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost . Also, as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Your support helps me continue to provide helpful and free content for you .

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Our TOP 5 Road Trip Games for Kids

We do a lot of road trips as a family, short and long car rides . We even took the kids on two cross-country road trips (for the first one the boys were 18 months old and 3.5 years old). We had to get creative with road trip activities, especially that we don’t really allow the kids to watch TV in the car.

Here are our favorite road trip games for the family and the kids:

• License plate game : I love this game, especially when we travel to the USA where we see many different license plates. This is a perfect game for older kids since they need to be able to see outside the windows, but it’s a lot of fun and doesn’t require any material.
• Audiobook & Stories : We have a Spotify account and download many kids’ stories. We don’t have them on for the entire trip, but we put a few stories occasionally when we all need some quiet time.
• Smart Games : The kids received some Smart Games for Christmas this year and we are hooked. They are easy to pack for a road trip and kids can play alone. We have the Smart Games Jump In and the Smart Games Ghost Hunters .
• Drawings & Coloring: We always pack coloring books or sketchbooks, and the kids love drawings when we drive.

💡 PRO-TIP There are so many different kids’ car activities that can played by simply using everyone’s imagination skills . Of course, all those travel games for kids may require the parent’s participation (at least a little if your kids are the youngest, but older kids should be able to play alone).

1. Activity Booklets

There are TONS of activity books with mind games, riddles, and puzzles for your kids.

The hard part is that they don’t always keep the kids interested for as long as we want. Sometimes we can get a solid 45 minutes out of these booklets, but other times we get a few seconds of peace.

You might find that one of your kids naturally likes one type of activity (sudoku, crosswords, etc.) and your other kid likes another. Try to find the activity that matches your kids’ interests to pique their interest.

2. I (Eye?) Spy

I Spy is a classic for a reason (and I still think it makes just as much sense to spell it “eye spy,” for the record). There are no simpler games to play on a road trip than the I Spy game . This game also helps to hone your kids’ powers of observation.

How to play I Spy:

• The person choosing the object chants, “ I spy with my little eye, something beginning with… ” and then gives the first letter of the word they are thinking of.
• Everyone else tries to guess and the person who guesses correctly first takes their turn choosing an object.

How to adapt this road trip game for toddlers: Naming the color of the object instead of (or as well as) the first letter.

If you happen to be driving through an area with lots of wildlife, you could also try “ I hear with my little ear ” and crack out your best animal impressions, a great hit with toddlers.

👉 You can also purchase a I Spy travel card game to help your little ones with the game.

3. Rock Papers Scissors

Rock Papers Scissors is one of those fun games that your kids should be able to play together (and alone) as long as they sit relatively close .

How to play Rock-Papers-Scissors: The game is pretty simple. Each player will simultaneously do one of the three shapes (rock, paper, or scissors) with one of their hands.

• Paper beats rock
• Rock beats scissors
• Scissors beats paper

There are many other versions that can be played by adding a few extra shapes.

4. “I’m Going to a Picnic”

This game is another great fun car game for kids that requires no material .

How to play I’m Going to a Picnic : Whoever is starting gives a short list of things they are taking on their picnic, and everyone else tries to guess the rule that connects these objects .

Here’s a simple example. If I say, “I ’m going to a picnic and I am going to take some eggs, some earplugs, and an éclair, you’d probably be able to guess pretty quickly that I’m only taking objects that begin with an “e”.

Of course, you can get creative with your rules. Perhaps every object at your picnic is round or has four letters in the word, or rhymes with a cat.

Players can also ask if an object would be allowed on the picnic to help them figure out the rule. Or the person in charge can give some examples of things that aren’t allowed.

Adapt the difficulty of the rules depending on the age of your kids.

5. Make Up Stories 

You don’t have to be a master storyteller to keep the kids entertained with some inventive tales . Some of the best stories come when you take turns adding bits and embellishing the details.

How to play Make Up Stories : You could try one-word stories , where each person says just one word, and you build the story together—the same works with single sentences too.

If the kids struggle to get inventive, you can handle the bulk of the storytelling but still leave plenty of opportunities for their input. Start with “ once upon a time there was a giant… ” and let the children fill in the gaps. Who knows where your imagination might take you?

6. Twenty Questions

Most of us have played this family classic game at one time or another, and it is an easy travel game for kids.

How to play Twenty Questions:

• One person thinks of an object, person, animal, or plant. It must be something everyone is likely to know about.
• Then, the others ask questions to help them determine what the person is thinking.
• The person can only respond with “yes” or “no”. The goal is for the others to guess the word correctly before they ask more than 20 questions.

In some versions of the game, the person specifies whether they are thinking of an animal, a plant, or a mineral (an inanimate object) before they start.

You can increase or remove the question limit if your kids get too frustrated or struggle to guess the word within the 20 questions.

7. Quiz Time

Quizzes are fun road trip activities for kids and are also a great way to slip a little learning into your trip.

We like to call them pop quizzes .

For the 2-6 age group, this works best if you give multiple-choice options and take it in turns to be the quiz master. Keep the questions age-appropriate – you want to stretch your kids but still make it fun by sticking to questions they will likely know the answers to.

If you are feeling organized, you can prepare some questions before you go so that you have them already to hand when boredom sets in on the road and the nagging for the iPad starts. There are also quiz cards available to buy if you need some help thinking of questions. This kid’s car activity is also a great way to start road schooling lessons .

8. Categories

This wordplay game is one the whole family can join in with and is a fun option for road trips. Your kids can pick a category and see how many things you can name within that category. Categories can be :

• types of fruit,
• colors, … – you can keep going for hours.

If you want to make it more challenging, set a time limit. Or you could go competitive and make each family member take a solo turn to see how many items they can name.

9. License Plate Game

This is an old-time favorite that you’ve likely played with your parents in the past. I won’t lie, it’s one of my favorite travel games to play. This one works best in the United States, though it could work through the Canadian provinces, too (it’ll just be a lot shorter).

The game is simple : look for license plates from states other than the ones you’re either currently in or coming from.

At any rate, everyone in the car should try to find as many license plates as possible until someone gets all 50. You can also play collectively if you have young kids since it will be harder for them to compete.

💡 PRO-TIP You can use this travel games for kids to start teaching your little ones about geography and teach them a little history about how modern North America is laid out (aaaaand from there, you can go into the history of the continent in whichever way you feel most comfortable).

10. Grocery Store

This is a twist on the classic “Alphabet Game. ” In this version, you say you’re going to the grocery store and buying ingredients. You need to list out what you’re going to buy starting with the letter “A.” For example, the first person would say, “I’m going to buy an Apple.”

The next person repeats what was said and adds a new item with the next letter. In this case, it would be B. For example, the second person would say, “I’m going to the store. I’m going to buy an Apple and a Banana.”

And this memory game continues throughout the entire alphabet.

11. Would You Rather

You likely played this game in college, so you’ll want to make it more tame (and since you’re driving, probably without the beer). The game is easy to play: you give two terrible scenarios and ask someone to decide which one they would rather do.

For example, would you rather wear wet socks or a diaper for an entire week?

This game can get as silly as you’d like it to be.

💡 PRO-TIP : Set a number of questions each person will ask per “round.” So you can say, “everyone is going to give 3 scenarios we all have to answer.” Then, when the 3 turns are up, you can choose to start over or play another game.

12. Can You Name the Most

This is a fun road trip game even toddlers can play . Plus, it will help them build vocabulary and word associations. Have one person in the car choose a category. For this example, let’s say “superheroes.”

Now go around the car and everyone has to say a word related to superheroes in under 5 seconds. The first person who can no longer think of words closely associated with the category is eliminated.

The last person standing wins!

Remember, you don’t need to say exact superhero names. Instead, you can use words associated with heroes, like:

• Super speed

The goal is to have fun, so don’t get too “nit-picky.”

💡 PRO-TIP Make one parent and official judge for this game, as siblings will probably fight over what counts as “closely associated.”

13. Movie/Song Quotes

In this game, everyone will think of their favorite quote from a movie or song. Start easy and make sure these are things your kids are familiar with. That said, you can get more advanced to try and trick your road partner, too.

For example, you would think of a quote like, “Man… there are just no jobs in this town. Yeah… unless you wanna’ work 40 hours a week !”

Which, of course, comes from the great cinematic masterpiece, Dumb & Dumber .

You’ll need to adjust the quotes you use depending on the age of your kids.

14. Fortunately/Unfortunately

I like to think of these travel games for kids as the “home stretch” activity . It’s when you have a stop coming up and your kids start feeling “antsy.” In this game, one person begins by saying, “Fortunately…” and describing a hypothetical situation that was really good.

For example, you could say, “Fortunately, there was a mistake at the factory, and all the broccoli in the world is going to turn into marshmallows.”

Then, the next person continues the story with “unfortunately.” In this case, they could say, “Unfortunately, these marshmallows also shrink you to 3 inches tall.

And you continue with the “fortunately/unfortunately” structure until everyone has had a few turns.

💡 PRO-TIP : When you reach the end, you can discuss your hypothetical situation and pose more questions. In this example, the ultimate question would be, “Would you still eat the marshmallows?”

15. The Rhyme Game

Here’s an easy one: someone in the car thinks up a word, and everyone has a maximum of 5 seconds to think of a word that rhymes when it’s their turn.

If someone gives duplicates or a word that doesn’t rhyme, they’ll be eliminated.

Again, this game is perfect for those awkward 10 minutes before reaching your destination or a quick distraction if one of your kids is starting to go into crisis mode.

16. New Rule

This is a great game for the oldest sibling and young kids who like the taste of power. Everyone in the car gets to think up a “new rule.” It can be anything (appropriate) and would be something like, “Every time we pass a Wal-Mart, you need to burp.”

I like to make this game the prize of another fun game.

So when a kid wins at another game we play, they get to invent a “new rule” that will last until we reach the final destination.

17. Yellow Car

Yellow car is a game that’s a classic twist on the old “Punch Buggie” or “Slug Bug.” Basically, you get to punch someone else in the car whenever you see a yellow car.

This game is fun because some places tend to have way more yellow cars than others. Emilie and I played while driving through Quebec , and I only got punched once or twice.

Then we played in California , and my arm looked like it had seen the wrong end of a fight with Mike Tyson.

18. Spelling Bee

You can recycle activities your kids do at school for the car. This one is great for helping your kids learn to spell .

Work from a list of age-appropriate words for your kids to spell. Have them take turns and see how many they can spell correctly.

Here’s a good list of spelling bee words around the kindergarten age-level that you can use if you need help thinking up words.

19. Scavenger Hunt

A scavenger hunt is a great way to keep kids occupied during a road trip. It’s another game that gets your kids paying attention to their surroundings while in the car.

This works best if you have a list prepared before you go. Combine things you are guaranteed to see, like a speed limit sign, with some that are less common, such as a specific make and color for a car.

You can use types of vehicles, buildings, and natural features in your list. Give each kid a copy – illustrate it with pictures so pre-readers can still join in. Leave space for each player to tick off objects as they see them.

If you like, you can turn it into a version of bingo and race to see who can complete their list first.

For those who don’t have time to make their own scavenger hunt, there are plenty of printable options available online . We’ve created a printable road trip game package that includes a scavenger hunt

20. Hangman

Another classic game, hangman , helps new readers practice new letters of the alphabet and spelling in a fun (and competitive) way.

All you need is a piece of paper and a pen. However, everyone playing will need to see the paper, so the driver will want to sit this one out.

How to play Hangman:

• The first person acts as the host. They think of a word and then mark out blank spaces for each letter.
• The players take it in turn to guess letters. If they get one right, the host fills in the letter wherever it appears in the word. If they get it wrong, the host marks the letter at the top of the paper and then draws one piece of the scaffold.
• The game continues until the players guess the full word or the host draws the full scaffold and the stick man hanging from it.

Of course, you may want to avoid images of death in a kids’ game, even if it is a stick man. You can make the game more child-friendly by drawing a snowman or a rocket blasting into space. Or you could draw a line of balloons and have one pop each time someone makes an incorrect guess.

You can increase or remove the question limit if you find your kids get too frustrated or struggle to guess the word within the 20 questions.

❤️  You may also like to read: The Best Road Trip Snacks

21. Squares

Best played with two people, this is an easy travel game to teach your kids and all you need is a piece of paper and a pencil or pen.

The object of the game is to make as many squares as possible . Start by drawing a dotted grid on your piece of paper. You can choose how big you make the grid – begin with three by three when you first teach the kids and it can grow from there.

The two players take turns to join two dots together by drawing a straight line between them. You can’t go diagonally.

When someone completes a square, they write their initials inside it and get a bonus go. The game ends when the whole grid is joined up. Then you count the number of squares each person has claimed to determine the winner.

22. Build a Cootie Catcher

I remember learning how to do this in second or third grade. It was never as popular for the boys in our class (though maybe that’s changed), but it did keep me busy on long car rides with my brothers, who were busy playing Yellow Car with me.

Typing out all the directions would do two things:

• Help exactly 0% of the people reading this

Instead, here’s a great video tutorial 🙂 :

23. Make a Comic Book

I’ve noticed that my oldest son is super addicted to certain TV shows. But I realized it wasn’t necessarily the show he was in love with… it was the story .

He LOVES stories, and lately, we’ve been trying to encourage him to come up with his own. The car ride is a great time for kids to think up their own superheroes and draw their very own comic books.

You can stab some scrap pieces of paper together in advance or just have the kids work from individual pages. The comics will probably be silly, but they stretch the kids’ imaginations. Our son, for example, made a comic about aliens on a different planet at a park with slides that go “up” instead of “down.”

24. Draw What You See

The name pretty much says it all on this one! For long stretches of road around mountains, forests, rivers, oceans, lakes… anything… have the kids draw the landscapes they see as you go.

This doesn’t always work, but when kids get into the drawings, it can make a great coffee break for the parents.

25. Pictionary

This isn’t a game that the driver will be able to participate in, but you’re probably familiar with how it works.

One person draws something and the other must guess what it is. This works if you’re driving with more than one child or if one parent can participate safely.

👉 You can also purchase a Pictionary game to help your little ones with the game.

26. Audiobooks or Stories on Spotify

Reading their favorite stories aloud is a sure way to keep children entertained on a road trip.

Unlike watching videos or playing games on screen, listening to an audiobook allows their imagination to run wild as they picture all the scenes in the story. There’s a huge amount of choice out there for kids – search “stories for kids” on Spotify, and you’ll have plenty of options.

If your kids are a little older, they might also enjoy a factual podcast. There are several podcasts and audiobooks aimed at kids of kindergarten age that are both educational and entertaining. And you may be able to find some that are related to your road trip.

💡 PRO-TIP Don’t forget to download some stories before you head off in case you hit any areas without an internet connection during your journey, especially if you are planning to visit some national parks .

27. Drawing & Coloring

Drawing and coloring are great screen-free road trip activities  for kids at any time. There is no reason you can’t embrace them while you are on your road trip as well.

Pack plenty of coloring pencils, crayons, paper, and coloring books to keep the children entertained in the car. If you are worried about the mess, choose pencils instead of pens and steer clear of paint, glue, and glitter.

It helps to get some trays and organizers so that the kids have somewhere to keep their art supplies while you are traveling. Plenty of inexpensive options and the tray is also useful if you are eating meals on the road.

We bought some craft trays from IKEA , and they work perfectly. For crayons, we opted for the twistable Crayola one, which is more robust and less messy.

28. Sticker Books

When you need a bit of peace and quiet, sticker books are brilliant for keeping kids occupied in the car. You can even get reusable ones that can be brought out repeatedly.

It is worth laying down some ground rules before you hand stickers over – they get stuck to the book, not the car, their siblings, or the family dog.

For younger kids, look out for stickers that are large enough that little fingers can peel the backs off without help from an adult. Some sticker books involve fragile or fiddly shapes, which will only lead to frustration when they inevitably rip.

👉 There are many sticker books options, but we love the Melissa & Doug Reusable Sticker Pad .

29. Mazes and Puzzle Books

Mazes and puzzle books are easy to find and are an inexpensive way of keeping kids entertained on the road without resorting to screens.

Make sure you choose options suitable for your children’s ages, like this one from Amazon if for 4-8 years old . Word searches and verbal reasoning puzzles are great for those already reading, while pre-readers might like ones that ask them to join the dots, follow a wiggly line, or match pictures.

Again, there are also plenty of free printables available online, which you can print off before you get in the car. If you are feeling especially organized, you can laminate them and have your kids complete them with a wipeable marker so they can be reused.

👉 Buy Mazes and Puzzle Books on Amazon

Never underestimate the power of a good book. Long car journeys are the perfect time to encourage your kids in their love of reading . 

Have plenty of engaging, age-appropriate books available for your journey. Even pre-readers can get involved by “reading” familiar picture books to themselves. Or enlist older siblings to read to them – this gives them a chance to hone their own reading skills while keeping their younger brothers or sisters entertained.

31. Mad Libs

This can be something you can prepare in advance or just buy a booklet for . Mad Libs aren’t only fun, but they also teach your kids about grammar and sentence construction.

If you’ve never played the game before, it’s easy. There’s a pre-written story with a few keywords missing. People in the car must supply the word based on its function in the sentence (noun, adjective, adverb, etc.).

You fill in the words with random selections and read the story when it’s over.

Here’s a great resource for building Mad Libs with your kids .

Final Thoughts on Fun Road Trip Games for Kids

This ends how the list of kids car activities. I hope it gave you enough ideas to feel ready to pack the car and leave on a road trip with your little ones. If you end up on the road using one of our road trip activities with your kids, please share your pictures on Instagram and tag us @lovelife_abroad .

I’ll be honest here, we don’t always entertain the kids in the car. We do lots of the fun games above, but we also ask them to entertain themselves a little along the way.

Emilie is the founder of Love Life Abroad. She helps moms plan epic road trips and outdoor adventures with their families. Because who said adventuring had to stop once we have kids? She’s based in the Canadian Rockies and shares her love for the region as well as other unique places in Canada & USA. She works with tourism boards and outdoor brands to inspire families to experience new unique destinations and outdoor activities.

36 Road Trip Games

At first glance, traveling long distances in a car might seem like an exciting adventure.  However, after the first 100 miles you are quickly reminded that road trips can get boring fast.  Well, be bored no longer — here is the ultimate guide to road trip  games .  We’ve got road trip games for the kids, road trip games for adults and road trip games for the whole family!  These games will make even the longest road trips fun and exciting.

Why Play Road Trip Games?

You might be thinking why bother with road trip games — surely everyone has a smartphone or tablet to keep them occupied during the journey?  Well, road trip games have certain advantages over staring at electronic devices during a journey, such as:

• They help you form a closer bond with friends and family When you play road trip games, you will be laughing with the other passengers,  learning  new things about each other and creating great new memories.  For some families, a road trip might be the best possible time to have deep conversations with your kids and learn what their favorite things are.

Road Trip Games for Kids

If the adults in the car are busy driving, sleeping, or listening to music, the kids can still play some road trip games together.  These road trip games are simple to learn and a ton of fun!  They will keep the kids occupied throughout the journey, making it feel like the car trip is shorter and more enjoyable.

This is perhaps the most well-known road trip game of all time!   I Spy  is the perfect game for kids to play in the car.  They will be looking out the window, engaged in conversation with each other, and having a great time.

To play  I Spy , one person looks at their surroundings and chooses an object that the other players have to guess the name of.  They tell the other participants what letter the name of the object starts with or the color of the object.  The player who correctly guesses the name of the object goes next.  Tell the kids to choose something which they can see for more than 10 seconds and not just items that are flying past the car at 60 miles per hour.

SUSSED Wacky Would You Rather Card Game

• Would You Rather’ meets ‘Who Knows Who Best’!
• Easy to Play: Ask each other mysterious questions and try to figure out which answers everyone has picked!
• Multi-Award Winning: Play for hours as you experience 220 new conversations. Each deck contains 110 cards

Check Price

Would you rather  is a simple game where participants are asked to choose between two undesirable things.  For example, you could ask someone if they would rather be completely bald or completely covered in hair.  They should also be asked to rationalize their decision — is being hairy better because you can be incognito?  Or is being bald better because people will think you are Professor X from the X-Men?  There are also some great  Would You Rather card decks  which are designed for young children.  Players simply draw a card from the deck and answer the  Would You Rather  question.  This pack has some hilarious questions that will have the adults in the car laughing hysterically.

Travel Scavenger Hunt Card Game

• The Travel Scavenger Hunt for Kids from University Games is great fun on a car trip
• Kids love whiling away the miles searching for the objects found on the cards
• Can you find a red car, a license plate with the letter ”Z,” or a stop sign?

The  Travel Scavenger Hunt Card Game  is guaranteed to keep the kids busy during a long road trip!  It is incredible fun and simple to play.  Each player takes five cards from the deck and tries to locate the objects that are written on each card.  There are also “feel it” “smell it” and “hear it” cards that encourage kids to use all of their senses while enjoying their car trip.  The kids will be so busy during the journey that they won’t complain or ask “how long till we get there”!

Rock, Paper, Scissors

A road trip is the perfect time to find out which of your children is the current rock paper scissors champion.  To play this game, each child makes a fist and shouts out “Rock Paper, Scissors” — swinging their first down each time they say a word.  They then make the shape of a rock (closed fist), paper (an open hand) or scissors (making a V with their index and middle fingers).  Rock beats scissors, scissors beats paper, and paper beats rock!  They get one point for each win, and the first to reach a designated total (the first to 21 works well) wins the game.

Travel Questions Game

• Road trip travel bingo for two players for fun on the go
• Choose among four great travel themes (signs, country, town and city, vehicles) on eight double-sided cards
• Bingo cards store inside the two wooden game boards with windows that flip open and closed to cover the items players…

Slug-A-Bug / Punch Buggy

This is a simple game that will keep the kids busy scanning the road and looking at the other cars.  Participants have to look for Volkswagen Beetles on the road.  Traditionally when they see one, they would give another family member a punch in the arm.  However, if you don’t want the kids whacking each other during the journey, have them tally the number of bugs they see.  The person who spots the most bugs could get a candy bar at the next stop!

Boredom Buster

• Lonely Planet Kids (Author)
• English (Publication Language)
• 128 Pages – 04/19/2016 (Publication Date) – Lonely Planet Kids (Publisher)

Lonely Planet has been helping people explore the world for decades with their handy travel guides.  They also make some great books for kids who are traveling to new places.  This book contains dozens of road trip word games, memory games, counting games, solo games, and spotting games.  The kids will find a few games that they love — keeping them occupied and happy during the journey.

Ultimate Sticker Puzzles:

License plates across states.

• Tallarico, Tony (Author)
• 24 Pages – 04/21/2005 (Publication Date) – Price Stern Sloan (Publisher)

This is a fun-filled activity book that will keep the kids occupied for hours!  It contains travel games, puzzles, mazes, word scrambles and trivia about the 50 states.  This book also has full-color license plate stickers to make playing the  license plate game  easier.

Flip to Win Hangman Game

• GUESSING GAME: Kids will love playing this classic word game with a twist!
• NO LOOSE PIECES: This travel-friendly wooden word game includes an erasable whiteboard, a self-storing dry-erase marker,…
• PLAY AND LEARN: This wooden word game encourages friendly competition, spelling practice, and fine motor skills.

If you are traveling with young children, this hands-on wooden hangman game is a great game to take with you.  It includes a wooden frame with 37 wooden flaps and an erasable white board section to enter answers.  This game helps the kids have fun while improving their vocabulary.

Sweet or Sour

This is another classic car game that has been around for decades.  The kids simply wave  at people on the street or other motorists to see if they wave back.  If they wave back, they are sweet, if they don’t they are sour!  Keep a tally to see if the journey had more sweet or sour people.

Shotgun! – The Hilarious Family Card Game for Road Trips

• Family Fun: This family game is designed for ages 12+ and is encouraged to be played with 2+ players (of all ages).
• How to Play: Nominate someone to be the card reader (person sitting shotgun, we’re lookin’ at you). If the car setup allows, you can rotate the reader. Read the card and play based on the prompt! Play until you reach your destination or until you stop for fast food.
• What’s Inside: Contains 200 cards, 1 drawstring pouch and instructions.

This exciting card game is fun for all ages.   Shotgun!  is also easy to learn, making it perfect for people of all ages.  It includes two hundred cards and a drawstring pouch (perfect for traveling).  One Amazon review said,  “I have two teenage boys that are pretty hard to impress. When I first announced we were going to play Shotgun on our road trip last week I won’t lie, I had a 19 yr old rolling his eyes and a 15 yr old that didn’t want to take his headphones off. By the time we got to the third card we were all laughing hysterically, and 2 hours of our trip flew by! I highly recommend this game for your next road trip. My teens both thought it was a lot of fun to play!” There you have it! What’s better than a mothers honest review? It is very fast-paced and the perfect game for kids to play in the back seat.

Travel Bingo

• This durable 4 Pack Assorted 6.75 x 6.5 inch Travel Bingo Cards are perfect for Roadtrips (Includes a mix of Auto Bingo…
• Spot Items from your Travel Bingo card from the Backseat on your Roadtrips
• Mark the Items with the Fingertip Shutter Windows

This is a super fun game that encourages the kids to look out the window and spot different objects.  When they see each item on their bingo sheet, they mark it off until they get the items need to win. It comes with a sturdy carry case, 4 pads of markable bingo sheets and 4 pencils.

Family Road Trip Games

These road trip games are simple to learn but interesting enough that adults will enjoy playing them.  They are an excellent choice for families that are playing together.

21 Questions

Our family loves to play 21 questions on road trips — it’s challenging, easy for the whole family to learn, and a ton of fun!  A person has to think of a person, place or object.  The other participants then have 21 questions to find out what that person, place or object is!  If a questioner correctly guesses the item, they will be the next person to start the round.

Rubberneckers

• Lore, Matthew (Author)
• 68 Pages – 02/01/1999 (Publication Date) – Chronicle Books (Publisher)

Say goodbye to “100 bottles of beer on the wall” — you can play Rubberneckers instead!  This travel game has hundreds of different challenges and fun mini-games that you can play while sitting in the car.  Some of the challenges in the game include spotting particular items — like weathervanes or satellite dishes.  The family will become eagle-eyed adventurers who are exploring the world.  Your road trip will become an exciting exploration of the world instead of a mundane journey.

Don’t Say It!

This is another great game for the entire family, because it has simple rules.  The passengers in the car think of five words that they should not say during the journey.  I they say any of those words, they will be penalized in some way.  You can be creative about the penalty — it could be something silly like being forced to sing an embarrassing song or donate 50 cents to the road trip’s candy fund.  Choose words that are often said during a road trip or words that certain passengers frequently say.

License Plate Game

• WOODEN TRAVEL GAME: The Melissa & Doug U.S.A. License Plate Game adds excitement to travel with a wooden game board…
• DURABLE AND EASY TO USE: The U.S.A. License Plate Game helps kids learn the name and location of all fifty states,…
• TWO PLAYER GAME: Color-coded edges allows for two-person play.

This exciting road trip game is guaranteed to make your family feel like they are exploring the entire country from the car!  This game includes a sturdy wooden board with a map of the United States.  Players are challenged to learn the location and name of all fifty states in the mainland.  They are can also spot license plates from different states to complete the map.

• THE ORIGINAL GUESSING GAME: This edition of the Guess Who? game features classic tabletop boards, 24 Mystery cards and 48 Face cards
• INTERACTIVE GAME FOR KIDS: Kids can have loads of fun as they use yes or no question to guess each other’s mystery character
• CLASSIC GUESS WHO? GAMEPLAY: Remember playing the Guess Who? game when you were a kid? This guessing game features classic gameplay with updated characters from the previous edition

This might not seem like a typical road trip game, but Guess Who is compact with few pieces and therefore easy to bring along for the ride. Perfect if you have two kids in the back seat. Playing this game will let them entertain themselves and give the parents up front a few moments to themselves. Guess Who has become increasingly popular in recent years as lot of “challenges” have come out like, “Guess Who? using only vibes” or “Guess Who? by their music taste.” Your kids can come up with their own challenges and have fun round after round!

Fictional Families

This is a hilarious road trip game that the entire family will enjoy.  It really harnesses the creativity of your passengers and is guaranteed to draw a few laughs along the way.  Whenever someone sees some interesting-looking people in another car, they say “Fictional Family Spotted”.  Your family then takes a good look at the occupants in the other vehicle and creates an imaginary back story about them.  The more exciting and creative the back story is, the better!  Your family will create some hilarious stories that can become a running joke during the journey.

The Geography Road Game

The best part of being on the road with the family is that they get to learn a lot about the geography of the United States — if they are not glued to their smartphone!  Help the kids learn more about the location of counties, cities and states with this simple geography game.  The game starts when one player names a location, for example Nebraska.  The next person must name a location in the United States that starts with the last letter of that word — the letter “A.”  You can score this game if you like — making states worth 1 point, towns or cities worth 2 points and national parks, waterways and mountains worth 3 points.

Melissa & Doug Flip to Win Travel Memory Games

Melissa & Doug Flip to Win Travel Memory Game – Wooden Game Board, 7 Double-Sided Cards

• WOODEN TRAVEL MEMORY GAME: The Melissa & Doug Flip-to-Win Memory Game includes a wooden frame with 25 flaps and sliding scorekeepers, and 7 double-sided, laminated, themed game cards.
• DURABLE AND EASY TO USE: This matching game features a bungee-hinge design that helps improve the durability and strength of this game. It is also easy for smaller hands to use and safe for kids 5 to 7 years.
• GREAT GIFT FOR KIDS 5 TO 7 YEARS: The Melissa & Doug Flip-to-Win Memory Game is an exceptional gift for kids from 5 to 7 years. Add the Melissa & Doug Secret Decoder Deluxe Activity Set as an engaging option for screen-free fun.

“Choose from among seven fun themes, slide a card into the gameboard and start looking for matches. This handy memory game includes one game board, seven double-sided game cards and a two-player scoreboard. There are no loose pieces and everything conveniently stores in the board. Great for travel. This matching game features a bungee-hinge design that helps improve the durability and strength of this game. It is also easy for smaller hands to use and safe for kids 5 to 7 years.”

Fortunately/Unfortunately

This is a funny game that will generate some laughs and stimulate your children’s creativity.  The first person in the car thinks of something fortunate that is happening soon.  The next person has to think of something unfortunate that is tied to the first event.  Each occupant of the car continues saying fortunate/unfortunate things until the story comes to a conclusion.  The crazier the events are in the story, the more enjoyable it will be!  For example:

“Fortunately, it’s a beautiful sunny day today!”

“Unfortunately, it is bombarding us with deadly gamma rays” “Fortunately, we can absorb those rays and become the next hulk”

“Unfortunately we’d probably destroy all of the other cars on the road”

“Fortunately, we’d get to date Jennifer Connelly or Scarlett Johansson because they have been girlfriends of the Hulk in movies!”

The Furthest License Plate Game

This games tests both the eyesight and geographical knowledge of participants!  The goal of the game is to look at the license plates around you and choose one from a state that is as far away as possible.  You can either play the game over the duration of the entire trip or have “one-offs” where you have 5 seconds to spot a far away license plate then yell it out.  It is great fun to be traveling in Florida and spot a car with an Alaskan license plate next to you!

Complainers

You might think the last thing you want to hear during the journey is a complaining child!  Surprisingly, voicing outrageous and silly complaints can actually be a fun road trip game.  Each participant gets two minutes to complain about any inane or silly thing they can think of.  For example, some ridiculous complaints you make could include:

“This beautiful sunny day is giving me skin cancer why can’t it be wet and miserable?”

“My feet are too cold and my head is too hot!”

“This shirt is itching so much it feels like I am covered by cactus leaves!”

“I hate peanuts! I just hate them!”

“Pugs aren’t cute they are annoying and have fat, wrinkly faces!”

Name That Celebrity

This game can be quite funny and makes time fly while on the road!  Passengers have to look for other people who look like well known celebrities.  When they see one they have to yell out the location of the car and the name of the celebrity.  The person  “must have”  a resemblance to the celebrity.  The other occupants of the car can either agree or disagree.  They can also name an alternate celebrity who has a closer resemblance to that person.

Adult Road Trip Games

If there are no young kids in the car, you might be looking for more advanced road trip games that have more complex puzzles or require more knowledge.  These games are useful for road trips with adult friends or road trips for families with teenage children.

Never Have I Ever…

Normally played as a drinking game,  Never Have I Ever  works well as a road trip game and makes monotonous journeys fun!   To play the game, one person makes a statement start with “Never have I ever…”  then everyone who has performed that action in their life has to have a drink.  Try to think of questions that are interesting, unusual or funny.

For example, “Never have I ever cheated on a test” or “Never have I ever eaten someone else’s lunch” can provide some interesting responses.  The people who answered yes to the proposition then have the option of providing the back story to the event.  It is a great way for people to learn more about one another!  You can also play the  Loaded Questions Card Game , which has 200 creative and interesting question cards plus a scoring system.  Also check out the  Never Have I Ever Conversation Starters card pack  — it contains over 150 cards with interesting questions on them

Cards Against Humanity

• Cards Against Humanity is a party game for horrible people.
• This is the main game. Buy this first.
• Contains 500 white cards and 100 black cards for maximum replayability.

Described as a “party game for horrible people” Cards Against Humanity poses some tricky and politically incorrect questions to each player.  The deck contains black cards and white cards.  At the start of the round, a chosen player (The Judge) draws a black card from the stack.  This card contains a question that must be answered with one of the white cards.  Each player must use one of their ten white cards to answer that question.

Players hand their white card answers to The Judge.  The Judge then chooses the answer that they like the most from the responses.  The player with the chosen answer gets a point. The tricky part is that the responses don’t go very well with the questions!  They are often politically incorrect and distasteful.  Players feel like horrible human beings, but they are guaranteed to have a few laughs.

You can play this game in the car, with the driver being the Judge — they just have other people read them the questions and answers on the cards on their behalf.

Human Jukeboxes

If everyone in your car is a music lover, you can give Human Jukeboxes a try.  To play this game, one passengers  starts singing a line from their favorite song.  The next person must think of a different song lyric that starts with the last word of the first song.  For example:

“’Cause you make me feel like I’ve been locked out of heaven”  (Bruno Mars)

“…Heaven only knows, Heaven only knows” (John Legend)

The Movie Game

This is the perfect road trip game for passengers who are film lovers.  It’s also very easy to learn!  The game is started by someone saying the name of a random actor.  The next person must say the name of a movie that the actor starred in.  The next person must say the name of another actor in the same movie.  The game goes on until someone cannot think of the name of a matching actor or movie.  The person who cannot answer or gets the answer wrong is out of the game until the next round.

Radio Roulette

If you are enjoying a road trip around America with your family and friends, you should make sure they experience as much culture as possible!   One way you can do so is by playing radio roulette.  Randomly change the radio station that you are listening to every 10 minutes.  You will hear everything from classical jazz to evangelical Christians and crazy people talkback radio!  There are some pretty bizarre radio stations out there and forcing yourself to listen to them makes the road trip much more interesting.

Explain a Film Plot Badly

This is another one for the film fanatics!  A person in the car explains a film plot very badly and the other passengers have to guess what the movie is.  Here are a couple of examples:

“Unhappy billionaire terrorizes mentally ill man” — Batman

“Man destroys family heirloom” — Lord of The Rings.

“I’m not supposed to talk about it” — Fight Club

“A boy becomes friends with a monk, goes into space, kisses his sister and kills his dad” — Star Wars

Cornhole Rules and Regulations

Road trip word games can be great fun for people of all ages.  They can help expand the vocabulary and creativity of participants — which makes these games a great choice for families with young children.  Here are a few of the best road trip word games.

• Put the laws of motion to the test with our patented Q-BA-MAZE 2
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• The ingenious pieces interlock in endless configurations, while double-exit cubes keep you guessing which way the…

Mad Libs is one of the world’s most popular word games.  Participants are presented with a story or song that has a few words missing.  They must fill in the blanks to create an original piece of work.  This is a book containing dozens of mad libs for the family to enjoy while on a road trip. The songs and stories that are created from filling them in are often hilarious!

Round Robin Story Game

This game involves participants crafting an interesting story one word at a time!  Most stories are fairly short — usually four or five sentences long.  Some of the stories that are created are quite memorable and funny.  It’s usually good idea to record the stories on your phone, so you can play them back later for a few laughs.

The game starts with a player saying the first word in the story.  The game then goes around the car in a circle, with each player contributing an additional word.  Players can also contribute punctuation to complete a sentence.

For example:

Person 1:  It

Person 2:  was

Person 3:  a

Person 4:  dark

Person 1:  night

Person 2:  in

Person 3:  Tennessee

Person 4:  and

Person 1:  the

Person 2:  clowns

Person 3:  were

Person 4:  everywhere!

The Related Words Game

To play this game, participants are given a starting word.  They must think of a word that relates to this starting word.  They then continue thinking of words that relate to the previous word in the list — with the goal of coming back to the first word.  The winner of the game is the player who uses the shortest list of words.

For example, if the word is orange:

Person 1 says: Orange, fruit, cup, drink, juice, orange.

Person 2 says: Orange, fruit, food, Cheetos, orange.  (Winner!)

I’m Going on a Picnic!

This game is a fantastic way to improve your memory and language skills.  If you have some kids in the car, it can really help them improve their vocabulary!  The game starts with a player saying: “I’m going on a picnic and I am bringing…” then the name of an object or animal that starts with the letter A.  The next person then says: “I’m going on a picnic and I am bringing…” then mentions the first item and another item starting with the letter B.  The game continues through the alphabet.

If a player cannot remember the names of all of the items in the list, they are out.  If you are playing with younger players, you can offer them a few hints if they can’t remember a specific item.

Spot the Alphabet

This is another great game for the whole family.  Each player is looking for road signs, shop names or billboards that start with each letter of the alphabet.  They start at “A” and work their way through to “Z”.  For example, if someone spots a sign for “Appalachians Mountains” they mention it — completing the letter “A” and moving on to “B”.  The object must be spotted on your side of the car and each object can only be used once.

The Rhyming Game

This is a simple road trip word game that will test your vocabulary and ability to rhyme.  A starting player says a word that is easily rhymed, then players take turns thinking of other words that rhyme with it.  Each player has 3 seconds to think of a word and words cannot be repeated.

Whether you are taking a family road trip across the country or only taking a short trip with some friends, consider unplugging and enjoying your time with others to the fullest with these fun travel games! Find the game from the above list that will work for you and your family! Never be bored on a long trip again!

We hope you enjoyed reading The Ultimate Guide to Road Trip Games!  These games are so much fun that you will be looking forward to your next road trip instead of dreading it!

Do you have any fun road trip games we didn’t list? Comment below some of your favorites!

Featured Image via  Freepik

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13 fun road trip games for kids, friends and families

Our top road trip games for all ages, to make your trip more fun. Including ‘who am I?’, 'License plate game', ‘would you rather' and more.

Jeremy Sudibyo

There’s no being bored in the car when you have a good set of road trip games at your disposal. Because while music sets the mood and a good book transports you to another world, road trip games are so much fun because all of your travel companions are involved and having a good time.

Everyone enjoys a good laugh, whether it’s kids playing ‘who am I?’ with their parents, the whole family cracking their heads over a word game, or friends goofing around with absurd proposals of ‘would you rather’. We listed fun road games to play in the car or with your RV Rental for all these types of travellers. We have listed 13 different road trip games to pass time in the car and make your time on the road more amusing.

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Table of Contents

5 best road trip games for kids

 “Let’s see who can stay quiet the longest!” Parents, don’t suggest ‘the quiet game’ to your kids in an attempt to outsmart them. Kids love a good laugh and to have their brain tickled.

If you are going camping with kids , entertainment on the road is key. A good road trip game does both and goes beyond keeping their brain occupied. It’s a super fun way for parents and kids to solve riddles and crack jokes together!

This has to be the ultimate classic car game for kids. We all remember spying with our little eyes something our siblings could never guess. 

A quick rundown of the rules for those that need a reminder: the player that is ‘it’ secretly spies something that others can see but won’t easily guess. Note that the object has to remain in sight for a while. The player then starts off by saying “I spy with my little eye, something that is…” and then gives a hint— colour, first letter, general direction, pick a clue of choice. 

The other players then ask yes-no questions until someone guesses correctly. That player then has to spy something with their little eye. 

Who am I 

Another all-time favourite, ‘who am I’ requires kids to don their detective hat and do some deductive reasoning. 

Whoever starts first (rock, papers, scissors usually decides who does) thinks of an animal or person. The other players take turns asking questions to find out who or what that person is. Players can ask anything as long as it’s answerable with a yes or no, but they can only guess at the identity of the player while it’s their turn asking a question. 

A fun alternative to playing free-for-all is by having everyone team up and getting a limited amount of questions each, as well as a maximum of three guesses. This cranks up the difficulty level as well as teaches kids how to work together. 

Don’t say it

Here’s a way to keep a long ride interesting. ‘Don’t say it’ is a road trip game for kids that 

runs for the whole journey and will keep kids alert and on their figurative toes. 

At the start of this car game for kids, players (or clever parents) come up with 3-5 words that are forbidden for the rest of the trip or until an event comes to pass, say until the next time you stop for gas. The player with the least amount of points at the end of the ride wins. 

I packed my bag

Whether or not your kids are at the age where they pack their own bags, they’ll have to get packing in this game. And they get to take anything they want.

A memory game, ‘I packed my bag’ results in long lists of packed items. Players pick a destination for an imaginary holiday and then take turns saying “I packed my bag and in it is..” adding an item they’d bring after reciting what has already been out in up to then by all players and in the right order. Good luck carrying that bag! 

Scavenger hunt

A game you can keep running for a long time and that doesn’t require much from the grownups once they’ve convinced the kids to play. Sounds good?

Like ‘I spy’, ‘scavenger hunt’ falls in the category of road trip games that involve spotting objects. In this classic travel game for kids, come up with a list of treasures that the kids need to find along the journey. The one that first spots all items wins. You might want to keep score on a piece of paper.

5 Road trip games for the whole family

With a few tweaks or simplifications, most road trip games can be played with the family. But somehow word games always get the whole family around the table trying to lay eight-letter words on a board of scrabble or keeping their stick figure from getting hanged. 

Ditto for word games on a road trip. You might not have to get everyone around the table, but you still need them on board for a fun family game on a road trip.  

License plate game

Let’s just start with the best family word game you thought you couldn’t play without the actual board game. Well, scrabble is hitting the road because here’s a how-to play scrabble in a car. 

‘The License plate game’ is played by memorizing or writing down the letters of the first license plate you spot and then forming as many words as you can. One license plate per player per round.

Apart from the letters on the license plate, two vowels are picked (unique or two of the same) per round that all players have at their disposal to add to their pool of letters. The player with the most words at the end of a predefined number of rounds wins.

The infinite word game

A fun word game where everyone works towards getting a word as long as possible. But it’s not as simple as it sounds.

‘The infinite word game’ has one player starts with a word of their choice. Players after then name a word that starts with the first letter. The caveat? A letter is added to the starting sequence every time a player names a word. Obviously, players can’t use a word that has already been named. 

With a little teamwork, let’s see how far you can get! (Hint: don’t use long words at the start.)

This car word game revolves around compound words. The rules are pretty simple: players take turns naming compound words that start with the previous ending word.

For instance, a sequence will run “animal barn – barnyard – yardstick – stick figure.. etc”.

Being on the road doesn’t mean you can’t hang stick figures. All you need is a pen and paper. Or a foggy window. 

We all know how to play hangman, don’t we? 

One player thinks of a secret word with a quantified number of letters, say 6.

The other player then guesses words (of the same length) and is told how many correct letters match in the right position in the word and how many letters are correct but in the wrong position.

The guessing continues until the player identifies the correct word!

3 Great car games to play with friends

Travelling with your long-time pals? Then these travel games for friends are a great way to bring up old memories and have a good time. Or maybe you’re a newly formed band of friends? Then break the ice and get to know each other better with these road trip games.

Two truths and a lie

Depending on what truths and lies you choose to tell, this game is great for old and new friends. 

One player makes three statements, one of which is false. The others guess which one. Sounds simple enough, right? The great thing about having to make three statements is you can get subtle mixing facts with fiction. 

For instance, retell a past event your co-travellers were part of and slip in one tiny lie. Or, have others get to know you better by revealing something about yourself two truths and a lie at a time. 

Never have I ever

Of all road trip car games, this is likely the most revealing one. Players take turns making statements starting with “never have I ever…”. The others then guess whether the statement is true or false. 

Generally, the more rounds are played, the more embarrassing the statements that are made. Or maybe that’s just because the last time we played this game was in college and with drinks of choice on the table.

While you were sleeping

Play this hilarious game when someone dozes off. Which is bound to happen on a long road trip.

When you’ve made sure the unwitting snoozer is asleep, players make up a story that supposedly happened while that person was asleep. Everyone awake takes turns adding to the story. When the person wakes up again you all try to convince them of your made-up story. Whoever breaks character first or is caught by the person that just woke up telling a lie has to do the dishes later. 

Got away with feeding the sleeper a fake story? (Everyone will have to have told their part of the story convincingly.) The person who fell for the story will then have to do the dishes later.

Hopefully, this list of Indie’s favourite road trip games can make road travel entertaining and playful for the young and the old alike.

Don’t forget George Bernard Shaw wise words “We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing“.

About the Autor

Seasonal vanlifer on a permanent holiday. Does occasional creative work to sustain his diet of beachside margaritas and paperback thrills.

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10 Best Road Trip Games for Adults (+ Activities for Passengers)

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no extra cost for you!

Are you looking for some fun games to play in the car during a road trip? You’ve come to the right place!

Of all the types of travel available, road tripping is one of my favourites and after doing road trips in loads of countries, including a 35,000-kilometre one in Australia, I now have a lot of games that I can play in the car.

In this article, you will find my full list of road trip games. This includes some that you can buy online but also others that are free and don’t require any equipment.

🔎 Table of Contents

Best Games to Play in the Car

Let’s get started with some fun road trip games that everyone in the car can play safely.

1. Shotgun! Road Trip Game

This is the ultimate road trip game. It was specifically designed for road trips.

You’ll find in the box many cards to use during your road trip. The driver will be able to play as you only need one person to read the cards.

Each card has a question or a challenge that is doable in the car (for instance: “first person to say the word “car” loses a point”).

Each player will be able to score points but be careful with these challenges as you may lose some points there.

Not only is this game affordable, good for all ages but it also gathers a bit of all the other games mentioned in this article.

Click here to see the game.

2. So…Cards

It can be difficult to find topic of conversation sometimes. So…Cards will solve the problem very quickly! This travel game is ideal for long road trips.

Basically, you’ll get loads of cards with conversation starters. They can be about anything. It’s a great way to talk about things we don’t usually think of in our daily life and get some very interesting discussion going.

The pack of card is travel sized so you can take it anywhere with you.

If you are in the car, one of the passengers can read the cards and you can all start discussing it from there. Obviously, the driver won’t read any cards but will be able to participate as there is nothing but talking involved.

3. Mini-Mysteries

If you love game nights and murder mysteries, you will be happy to know that you can also do that on a road trip! You can easily buy a book with plenty of 5-min mysteries and try to solve them during your trip.

One of the passenger can read the mysteries and you can all work as a team to solve them. The clues and puzzles vary and can include a bit of maths, logic and confusing facts.

The great thing about this is that it’s very entertaining and will get everyone in the car involved. The driver can play as well as he won’t need to look at anything. He just needs to listen to the stories and try to figure it out.

Each mystery take 5 to 10 minutes to solve which means you can do a few in a row or just stop after one if you had enough.

You can get one of the books before the trip or, if you are already in the car, get the ebook version and have it on your phone.

Click here to see all the mini-mysteries books.

4. Road trip Trivia

Nothing better than a good trivia quiz on a road trip! Not only is that entertaining but it will also be a good opportunity to learn new things!

You can find many quizzes online or print them in advance. For more fun, think about getting a quiz about the destination you’re heading to.

To make it even easier for you, we created the ultimate travel trivia quiz!

If you are interesting in more road trip trivias, make sure to check all of our quizzes !

5. 21 Questions 

21 Questions is a classic conversation starter game. You only need two people to play but can also play with more.

It’s very simple. Basically, you ask a total of 21 questions to the others. You can do one question each and the others answer. Altogether, each player will ask 21 questions.

It’s a great way to start some interesting conversations and get to know the people you’re travelling with.

Here are some examples of questions that you can ask:

• “What is your best childhood memory?”
• “What is your best travel memory?”
• “Who is your celebrity crush?”

6. Don’t say it

This is a simple but very fun game! Basically, you need to pick 5 common words (not each, 5 in total) and the passengers in the car are not allowed to say them during the road trip.

To make it more fun, try to think of words that you would usually use a lot during a car journey such as “arrive,” “car,” “look,” and “see,” for example.

If someone says one of those words, then they have to be ‘punished’ in some way. This can be by doing a dare after the trip or put a coin in a jar.

The coin idea is quite good because you can use the money to buy a round of drinks or something similar when you arrive.

7. Never have I ever

This is a classic and while it has been categorised as a drinking game, it really doesn’t have to be.

It starts with one person saying a statement “never have I ever” and then following it up with something they have never done.

If you (or someone else in the car) have done it, then you would have to do something in exchange. Usually it’s a drink but since we are on a road trip, I recommend using the money pot system and use the money for a common activity then.

8. Would you rather 

This is when you think of two strange things such as “would you rather have hands for feet or feet for hands” or strange activities.

You can make this as gruesome or as wholesome as you want it to be, just know your audience when it comes to some of the things you say. 

9. The movie game 

This is a great game for movie lovers. It starts with someone naming an actor or actress, the next person then has to name a film they starred in.

The next person will name another actor or actress in that film, and so it continues. You carry on until you can no longer think of anything.

So for example, Leonardo Dicaprio, Titanic, Kate Winslet, The Holiday, Cameron Diaz, and so on. 

10. Post it Game (without the post it)

Do you know the post it game where you write the name of someone famous on a post it and stick it on the forehead of someone and they have to guess who they are?

Well this is basically a car version of this. One passenger think of a famous person or character and the others have to guess who it is.

To get more information, they can ask any yes or no question such as ‘Are you a man?’ or ‘Are you a singer?’…

The games goes on until someone guessed and then another passenger can be the one answering questions.

Hopefully, that has given you some inspiration for some of the games and activities you can enjoy on your next road trip. 

Founder of Beeloved City, I am originally from France and have been living in the UK since 2016. I've travelled to 25 countries as a backpacker, travel coordinator and for holidays. I spent a year in Australia before eventually settling down in Manchester, England