Who doesn’t love staring out the window during a long car ride at the amazing scenery as it passes by on a cross-country trip? That’s right probably everyone loves looking at the historical mountains, breathtaking coastlines, and oceans of trees that engulf our wildest daydreams. However, those same beautiful sceneries can get old pretty quickly when you’re talking about an 8-hour road trip.
This is why it’s so important to make sure you’re prepared for the boring moments by bringing along the top best road trip games! Car ride games are specifically made for those dull moments that can’t be wished away because you’re stuck in a moving car and are limited in your ability to alleviate your boredom.
Instead, pull out a notebook and write down these top picks, or better yet pin this post so you have it saved for later, for having a blast on your next road trip with the best road trip games for everyone! Including kids, families, couples, friends, adults, and more! We made sure to thoroughly research the best of the best because the last thing you want to be doing is play 4 hours of I SPY (don’t get us wrong it’s a fun kids’ game, but not for 4 hours).
Road Trip Games For Everyone
Commonly Asked Questions for Road Trip Games:
How can I make road trips more fun?
Well for starters we always recommend bringing along different sources of entertainment so you dont get bored of doing the same thing after a couple of hours.
What Should I Bring on a Road Trip For Entertainment?
We recommend bringing the following:
Portable Game Console:
Nintendo Switch or old-school DS is always fun to bring along for long car trips because you never realize how much time you can invest in playing a game and trying to master a level in an RPG like Zelda, beat your friends in Mario Kart, or other fun games like Pokemon.
Drawing journal or travel journal:
Even though you’ll be driving and are bound to hit some bumps along the way, it’s always recommended to bring an activity that won’t kill your eyes. Drawing or journalling solve this issue since you won’t have to worry about harsh blue light. The only downfall is you’ll need a portable light to be able to draw or journal at night when it’s dark.
Loose Papers:
It works perfectly to have a few pieces of loose paper to play car games like Hangman, and Tik-Tac-Toe. The Loose papers can also be shaped to make fortune-tellers or origami in the car for a quick craft session.
Laptop or Tablet:
While your mind on vacation isn’t to work, it can be helpful to be productive and see what things can get organized while youre sitting in the car or you can have fun whichever the choice here are some things to do while on a road trip.
- organize files on the laptop or tablet
- clean out unused files
- edit photos or videos from trips
- play app games like scrabble or pop the balloons
- grow an army in an app game
- play your favorite MMO or RPG if you have great internet in the car or a wifi hotspot
- Watch movies or your favorite show
Wifi Hotspot:
We recommend bringing a designated wifi device when you’re on the road, so you can give wifi to multiple devices in the car. The kids will be able to use it for their iPads and game consoles, friends can use it for entertainment or work and etc.
Board Games and Card Games:
Well go over this more later on this post but bring your favorite board game and card game so you guys can play while at the park, pit stop, or at night after a long day of driving.
What is are some fun road trip games for everyone?
There are various fun games for road trips and they will vary for different audiences. Kids and families will love interactive games such as the alphabet game, I spy, singing challenges, license plate game, never have I ever, local food pit stop game, card games, board games, videogames, and more.
While, Adults, couples, and friends may prefer games like – truth or lie, never have I ever, complete the sentence, card games, part video games, and more.
What games can you play on a long car journey?
Popular car games would be movie and show trivia games, card games, board games, video games, and games that include everyone including the driver will be more hands-free such as I spy. memory game, a sentence with a letter, never have I ever and others. Singing games, name famous people, license plate games, and name the most in the same category game, also all promote healthy competition. While more hands-on games such as video games or card games can create intense copemtion between car mates.
How do I Entertain my Kids While on the Road?
Keep them entertained by being prepared for the road trip: Always bring multiple sources of entertainment such as an iPad, game console, paper for drawing and crafts, board games, card games, and check-in on the mand try to play hands-free games like alphabet game, I spy, I have never, and others so the kids know you’re paying attention them.
Also, make sure to regularly make stops so the kids can stretch and run around a bit so they don’t get fidgety, and make sure they are eating healthy snacks while traveling!
What can adults do on long car rides so they dont fall asleep from boredom ?
Travel for adults can be anything from listening to music. being obnoxious and taking turns having fun playing karaoke with friends on carpools. Listen to podcasts to learn about new things or listen to murder mysteries ?.
Make art with paper, draw, paint, and doodle on an iPad
Read a book and get caught up o your summer must-read list.
Try Road trip games like Movie Trivia! Play quiz games and spark conversations on who got the best result or if the quiz was a load of crap. Play classic road trip games such as never have ever, 21 questions, truth and lies, and our personal favorite and a popular road trip game come up with as many words as possible for a certain theme. For example, travel would be like a vacation, trip, wanderlust, road trip, nomad, etc
What are games to play in the car with family?
You want to focus on games that can include the whole family, kids, seniors, parents, friends, and more. This is why we recommend games that are hands-free such as word association games, yes or no question games, letter games, and the license plate or road sign gme are also both good. These games are perfect for keeping the kids entertained, and involving all age ranges to work together so no one feels left out.
How do you make a road trip fun for couples?
Learn about each other views on interactive games such as 21 questions, truths, and lies, never have I ever.
Listen to podcasts or audiobooks together and have conversations afterward to get each other opinions on important matters
Stop and take photos when crossing state lines
Try new foods together at gas stations and vote who got the best food picking skills
Best Road Trip Games For Adults
Never Have I Ever
We recommend getting the card game never have I ever for adults as it’s funnier and involves questions you never would have even thought of!
Cards Against Humanity
Buy it! Funny as heck game and is perfect for road trips when you take a break from driving.
Car Games For Kids
Interactive Games:
Alphabet games.
The classic road trip games for kids and adults will make a fun game for all ages as long as you can see letters A-Z inside the doorways of your house! The game involves finding all 26 letter alphabetic words on something as you travel down the road.
I Spy
Kids love this game as they find the I SPY objects, basically a person in the car says they I SPY something and kinda describes it vaguely and the kids guess what it is.
Board Games and Card Games for Car Rides:
Top Games to Play
Scrabble
This game was made for car rides when you consider the mobile version aka words with friends. It’s a super fun game and it’s always surprising who can come up with the craziest words for points. Make sure someone is a referee because things can get heated when it comes to scrabble
sorry
This game is perfect for when youre making a pit stop and having a picnic or late a night after a long drive. It involves up to 4 players playing with their chosen color of game pieces and seeing who can get all their pieces to the center first. This game can get competitive so we dont recommend playing if someone gets bent out of shape whenever they lose ?. The game itself fits neatly in its box and is lightweight so no worries about it adding extra bulk to the car. We recommend shoving the game pieces into a ziplock bag so the pieces don’t get lost when you’re done playing.
Uno
If you haven’t heard of Uno, then you must have lived under a rock because no way in the heck did you not play this game throughout childhood or at get-togethers with friends and family. This game is a deck of cards that are distributed partly to players and the majority of cars are left in the middle to draw from. The cards you get allow you to match and get rid of, sabotage other players and do reversals. The person with the no cards is the winner! Watch out for those reversals ?
Video games- Nintendo switch
Games to Play
Mario Cart
Depending on how many people are in the car you might have to take turns playing unless someone has extra switch joysticks. We recommend playing Mario Kart or Mario Party as the board game can really show everyone’s true colors ? and dont get us started on dropping bombs and bananas on people’s Karts in Mario kart! There will be enemies made in these games but keep it fun and light-hearted after all it’s just a game ?
Super smash bros
Are siblings getting on each other nerves in the car? Have no fear let them duke it out on the super smash bros unit they’re laughing in frustration ?.
Pokemon
Pokemon was our go-to game when we were kids and going on road trips. The game involves finding pokemon and training the to go against gym leaders and get all the pokemon badges to become pokemon masters while avoiding the evil team rocket ?. Anyways, this game will keep the kid’s plenty busy, and if not them your significant other or yourself will become obsessed with it over the nostalgia and you guys might even steal it from them ?
Games For Couples
21 questions
No matter how long you have been dating someone it’s always nice to get to know them better via a good ole game of 21 questions. This game involves someone being asked 21 questions and having to answer them honestly. Word of caution: Dont ask a question if youre not ready for an honest reply ? the last thing you want is a tub of worms. Besides, this game is meant to be fun and not a chance to badger someone with deep questions.
Guess the lyrics
Are you friends with or dating someone who can’t remember lyrics or song names to save their life? Then play this game lol it’s an easy win for you ? Basically this game involves singing a song or playing a song and someone guessing the rest of the lyrics at a crucial part. Usually, people mess up and it’s actually super fun to see how bad they are ?. You can also play guess that song or artist after to see who knows their artist and music best!
Sentence with a letter- word association game
This game involves going in order of the alphabet or randomly choosing letters which is harder. The first person chooses either method and creates a sentence such as “I’m going to pick an apple” second person goes and says “Apple picking? Aren’t you happy we have bees” and the third person says “bees need to be saved not caught” and etc. If it’s the random version, it goes more like this: ” I told my mom I hate Chocolate” second person” chocolate gives me the poops” third person “poops is an essential process of the body”, etc.
Fan Trivia
Chances are you guys make like the same things or have drastically different tastes but know each other’s favorite shows and movies. In either case, play fun Fan trivia via a smartphone or you can get fan trivia card games at game stores or even Target. We Love Harry Potter so we usually play some sort of potter trivia and try to guess scenes from the movie, acter fun facts, and the book’s trivia. You never realize how little you know something until you fail at fan trivia and find out you are a horrible fan ?.
lie or truth
So this game is fun because you can be incredibly far-fetched in your stories and convince people they are the truth even though they are lies. You’ll tell 3 stories all usually stories from the past and people have to guess if they are truths or lies ?.
Classic Road Trip Game and Activities For Families
Fortunate and Unfortunate Situations
This word game is popular with everyone and a favorite road trip game: It is played by looking out the window and choosing the area around you or the cars passing by creating a story for the people in the car the or the animals in forest etc. the Game starts when someones starts and says “fortunately the cows have a ton of grass” Second person goes and is a buzz kill and says ” unfortunately the fatter they get the sooner they get cooked ?” the games continue with back and forth scenarios and its pretty funny to see both sides of the coins.
License Plate Game
This game is a long game and requires you to remember that youre playing it throughout the whole car ride. Basically, the person who finds the most different license plates and writes them down is the winner of the game. Be careful, if the kids start talking to you to get your mind off task they are up to something ?.
Never Have I Ever Family Edition
This word game starts with everyone having 10 lives and someone goes first to start the game and says “never have I ever ate a hamburger” everyone either puts a finger down if they have or keeps their fingers up if they haven’t. The second person repeats the “never have. River with a different statement and the game continues until one person remains.
You can also buy a deck of cards specifically called family edition never have I ever from Target as it has a large set of questions that you never would have even considered asking. They recommend above ages 8 though.
Bingo
This game is best played when everyone can join in, especially the driver sow e recommend playing it during a break at a pit stop or at night when youre unwinding from a long car ride. Plus the whole family will appreciate the undivided attention towards the game. Make sure you dont forget to bring the bingo cards and markers. We chose markers since they are easier to keep track of than bingo pieces. Whoever has a blackout or line of marks at the end wins!
Favorite Show or Movie Trivia- One of the best car games
You’ll need a card deck or app on your phone t play trivia fact games for movies and shows. We love playing these with our family and friends’ kids because kids are either horrible or really good and beat everyone ?.
Guess The Show/Movie- Involves the whole family
You guessed it! You can play this game by reciting famous lines from the mobile and the others guessing where it’s from, you can also name-drop actors and actresses and see if someone can guess the movie, or you can describe the movie vaguely and see if someone gets it.
Don’t Fall Asleep
Nothing too crazy about this game, whoever falls asleep first is the loser ?.
Count the Most Road Signs – great game
Whoever can write down the most road signs while on the trip is the winner! Bonus points if they can relate that road sign to a famous person in the area!
Memory Game- Perfect for younger kids
This is a visual recall game and basically is determined how well your memory can recall images from the cards you select, it can also be played on; one for easier manageability and to change the difficulty.
Guess the drawing- A fun guessing game
For this game, you’ll want to have mini-whiteboards or you can draw on your phone or tablet and you’ll want to do this as a pit stock break. Each person in the group draws a drawing and passes the drawing around to see if someone can guess it.
You can also have the others draw their version of it and switch it until lit gets back to the main person and see if anyone guessed write or see where the interpretation veered off too. one time I drew a fish and it became a cheese wheel by the 4th person…. what????
Road Trip Games That Will Make Your Trip Better!
That wraps up what we think are the best road trip car games that are perfect for a family road trip, couples road trip, friends trip, and adults trips. We all have different ideas of fun so we wanted to make sure we compiled a list of games that can work for couples, families, kids, friends, and others without feeling too cheesy or too difficult.
We hope you enjoyed this post and if you did please share it as every share really helps out our little blog, We truly appreciate you guys for taking the time to read our post and you’ll look for other trip guides, Road trip tips, and destination itineraries then make sure to read some of our other travel posts!