There is nothing like a good road trip. With that said, sometimes people start to get antsy and you need something to keep everyone in the vehicle occupied. Here are all my favorite games to play during long car rides.
License Plate Game
My all-time favorite road trip game is the License Plate Game. I have been playing this game since I was a kid and I still obsessively watch for license plates any time I am on the road. This is one of those games that is great for long car rides because the longer you drive, the better you chances are to complete the game.
The objective is to see the license plate for all 50 states and 13 provinces/territories. All you need is someway to keep track of the license plates — a pen and notebook, the Notes app on your phone, a handy printable…
When you see the license plate for a state or province that you haven’t seen, you write it down or cross it off. The whole car can play together. If you don’t live in North America, you can modify the game to suit your area.
The License Plate Game is exponentially more fun when you are driving a long distance or through a big city, so make sure you start as soon as you leave home. Obviously, the further you get into the back country, the less fun this game is going to be.
I’ve never finished the game in one trip. My closest games were once during a road trip along the west coast, and once while driving through New York.
Alphabet Game
The Alphabet Game is another one of my top games for long car rides. The goal is to find a word (on a sign, a building, etc.) that starts with “A” and then work your way through the entire alphabet. For example, someone would say “Arby’s”, then”Bank”, then “Charles Street” — and so on. Everyone works together to finish the game.
Like the License Plate Game, this game is only good until you make it out of civilization. Once you make it out of town, stop looking for signs and license plates, and start looking at nature.
But sometimes you can look at nature for too long and now you are back to needing a new road trip game to keep you occupied for a while. Unlike the last games, the next few games don’t require anything external to the vehicle, making them perfect for the backroads.
Name That Tune
One of the best games for hyping everyone up on long car rides is Name That Tune. Play a song and have everyone guess what it is. This game is much better when the person picking the songs is choosing songs that everyone knows.
In case you need some inspiration, I have made a playlist of songs that almost everybody (from North America) will know. Think of songs like “Come On Eileen”, “Thriller”, and “Shake It Off”. Even if you only listen to the radio when you are picking up groceries at Walmart, you will still know at least some of the songs on this playlist.
Check out my playlist on Spotify!
The best part? At the time of writing this, the playlist is 19 hours long. That is what I call a game for a looong car ride.
Wavelength
Wavelength is a great game to play with people you know, but also with people that you are just getting to know. The idea is that you want to “be on the same wavelength”.
One person needs to be the guesser. The guesser closes their eyes and everyone else silently decides together on a number between 1 and 10 — everyone is going to give answers for the same number. Next, the guesser gets to give each person a topic, and on a scale of 1 to 10, the person gives the guesser an answer that matches the number that the group picked. Finally, the guesser needs to guess the number based on the group’s answers.
Let’s say the group picks the number 1; 1 is the worst, 10 is the best. The guessers gives the first person a topic: days of the week. The person must answer with the day of the week that they would rate as 1. In this case, most people would probably say “Monday” — Monday is the stereotypical worst day of the week. The guesser gives the next person a topic: food. This person is going to pick something that they don’t like and would rate a 1, so they might say something like “Brussels sprouts” or “gizzards” or “pickle-flavoured ice cream”. Once the guesser gives every person a topic, the guesser must use the groups answers to guess what the chosen number was. These answers all seemed bad, so the guesser should guess a low number like 1 or 2.
Here is another example. The group picks the number 5. From 1 to 10, with 1 being the worst and 10 being the best, the number 5 is flat out average. The guesser picks the first topic: grocery stores. The person says “Walmart” — a totally average grocery store. The guesser picks the second topic: sandwiches. The person says “ham and cheese” — a totally average sandwich. The guesser picks the third topic: occupations. The person says “a 9-to-5” — a totally average job. The guesser now takes all the answers and tries to guess the number. All of the answers were just average. The guesser should choose an average number: something between 4 and 6.
The goal isn’t to trick the guesser; the goal is to give helpful answers so that the guesser is correct. After the guesser guesses what number the group selected, a new person becomes the guesser and the game starts again.
I’m Going on a Camping Trip
This is a game where you are trying to find out what the “rule” is. The first person picks a rule and the other players make guesses until they figure out what the rule is.
I am going on a camping trip and I am bringing a red apple. The first player picks their rule (e.g., must include a colour) and says “I am going on a camping trip and I am bringing…” and then they list something that satisfies their rule (e.g., a red apple).
Can I come on your camping trip if I bring a carrot? The second player says “Can I come on your camping trip if I bring a…” and then they make a guess (e.g., a carrot).
No, sorry. I am going on a camping trip and I am bringing green grapes. The first player says no because it didn’t match the rule, and the repeats the first statement but lists something new that satisfies the rule.
Can I come on your camping trip if I bring an orange? The second player makes another guess.
You can come on my camping trip. This time, the second player guessed something that matched the rule (it was a colour). The first person tells them that they can come on the camping trip.
Types of fruit? The second player can guess the rule if they think they know what it is. Or they can guess another item to bring.
No, sorry. I am going on a camping trip and I am bringing blueberries. The first player can keep giving hints after each guess or the second player can keep guessing without more hints.
Can I come on your camping trip if I bring a kiwi? The second player makes another guess, trying to figure out the rule.
No, sorry. I am going on a camping trip and I am bringing purple shoes. The first person says no because it didn’t match the rule, and then lists something else that satisfies the rule.
Can I come on your camping trip if I bring an orange basketball? The second player makes another guess.
You can come on my camping trip. The first player will keep answering whether or not the second player’s guess matches the rule. This goes on until the second player guesses the rule correctly.
Some ideas for “rules”:
- Must start with the letter “B”
- Must be something you would use in the shower
- Must be something soft
- Must have two of the same letters in a row
- Must be something you would pack in your hiking backpack
Twenty Questions
Twenty Questions another one of the classic games for long car rides. You pick a person, place, or thing, and the other people in the car get to ask twenty questions to try and figure out what you picked (we like to pick famous people). You don’t need to put a cap on the number of questions either — if it is a long drive, make it Infinite Questions.
Punching Games
Sometimes the best way to pass the time is with violence. Here are a few road trip games that involve punching your family and friends. During long car rides, these punching games are sure to be a “hit”!
Punch Buggy
The most popular excuse for one sibling to hit the other as hard as possible. If you see a Volkswagen Beetle (A.K.A. — a punch buggy), you yell “Punch Buggy!” and get to hit everyone in the car.
Bobtailer
Bobtailer is another variation, except you punch each other when you see a semi truck without a trailer (A.K.A. — a bobtailer). In this case, you yell “Bobtailer!” and then hit everyone in the car.
Moose
The final variation is Moose. In this version, if you see an yellow vehicle, you yell “Moose!” and then hit everyone in the car.
Do you have any road trip games that you would add? Let me know!
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