Road trips are full of fun, adventure, breathtaking landscapes, and weird roadside attractions. But sometimes they also involve long stretches of driving with nothing on your itinerary and nothing but corn out your window. In those cases, you might be looking for something to keep you and your friends entertained in the car. Enter these fun road trip games for adults.
Kids aren’t the only ones who should be able to have fun in the car. So all of these game ideas are perfect for a road trip with friends or a couples trip. Most of them can even be enjoyed by the whole family.
Read on to find some of the best road trip games for adults, and get ready for a memorable road trip!
Want more fun road trip games?
The Road Trip Journal & Activity Book
Enjoy fun games and challenges to pass the time on your next road trip and have a keepsake to look back on for years to come with this entertaining must-have for your next vacation.
- Fun Road Trip Games for Adults to Play in the Car
- Classic Road Trip Games for Adults
- Get to Know You Road Trip Games for Adults
- Watch out the Window Road Trip Games
- Travel Board Games
- Story Games to Play in the Car
- Word and Number Road Trip Games
- Guessing Games to Play in the Car
- Movie/Celebrity-Based Adult Road Trip Games
- Music Car Games
- More Road Trip Games for Adults
- Road Trip Game Apps
- Pin these Road Trip Games for Adults to Save to Play on Your Next Road Trip!
Fun Road Trip Games for Adults to Play in the Car
Classic Road Trip Games for Adults
Everyone knows these standard road trip games. They are such classics that everyone will have fun playing, no matter their age!
The License Plate Game
How do you play the license plate game? All you have to do is keep a look out your windows and keep track of all the different license plates you see. To win: try to be the first to spot one from every state! Each individual vehicle can only be claimed by one person, so think fast! For example, if Jane sees a red Toyota with a Montana plate, she can claim that car. John will have to wait for another Montana plate to go by. You can play this game with just a pen and paper, or you can click here to learn more about the game, get a free license plate game printable, or find versions you can play online or buy.
Road Trip Scavenger Hunt
Keep your eye out for these common road trip sites. Compete in a road trip scavenger hunt to see who will claim each item first or make it a photo challenge and see who can get the best pic of or selfie with each item.
Road Sign Bingo
Play a friendly game of Road Sign Bingo. Play a traditional game where you try to get four in a row on a game sheet. Or print out a road sign checklist full of some of the most common road signs you’ll see on your road trip. Keep an eye out to see who can spot the most the fastest!
Get to Know You Road Trip Games for Adults
Traveling with friends, family, or a husband, wife, boyfriend, or girlfriend? Want to get to know them a little more? These Get To Know You road trip games for adults will have everyone in the car talking.
Road Trip Questions
With all the free time you have in the car, why not spend some of it getting to know your passengers by taking turns answering fun road trip questions. This game of ice breakers and conversation starters will get the chat going. Use these 100 fun road trip questions to get everyone in the car talking. Ready to get to know your travel companions? Start asking away!
TableTopics to GO Road Trip
What was your all-time favorite vacation? Answer this and 39 other conversation starter question cards in this portable question and answer game designed for road trips.
Truth or Dare
Would you rather reveal something potentially embarrassing about yourself or do something potentially embarrassing? Play a friendly round of truth or dare while driving in your car. Take turns asking passengers, “truth or dare?” If truth is picked they have to answer any question you ask them. If they pick dare, give a wild (but car friendly) dare. A game of truth or dare in the car can be as tame or wild as you desire, and will let you really get to know your friends.
Two Truths and a Lie
Go around the car and have everyone say three facts about themselves: I studied abroad in Rome, I’ve traveled to all fifty states, my favorite color is blue. They can be anything you want…but one of them must be a lie. State two truths and one lie about yourself and then everyone else has to guess which of those facts is not so factual.
Never Have I Ever
Traditionally played as a drinking game, Never Have I Ever allows you to say something you’ve never done and learn which of your friends have. You definitely don’t want to drink and drive, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still have fun with this get to know you game. Each person takes turns saying something they have never done using the phrase “never have I ever.” For example: “Never Have I Ever Been to Alaska,” Never Have I Ever Driven for 12 hours straight,” or “Never Have I Ever gone camping.” Then everyone else in the car has to chime in to say whether they have done the things you haven’t. If you’re playing at night by your hotel’s pool or the light of a campfire, have everyone take a drink if they have done the action in question. If you’re playing in the car, have the guilty raise their hand and yell “I have!”
The Hot Seat
Want to ask your friends questions you’d normal shy away from? Put them in the hot seat. In this road trip game everyone takes a turn in the hot seat. When it’s their turn everyone else gets to ask them any question they want. Any question they want. And the person in the hot seat has to answer. You can set a timer (like five minutes), a maximum question amount (like 5 questions), or a per person quota (everyone gets to ask two questions). Whichever way you choose to play, this game will let you all get to know each other on a whole new level.
Would You Rather
Would you rather eat only hamburgers for the rest of your life or never eat tacos again? In this game you pit two things against each other and decide which scenario you’d rather do over the other. Take tuns posing hypothetical battles and see how your answers compare to everyone else in the car!
Kiss, Marry, Kill
Say you had to choose from Joey, Chandler, and Ross on Friends. Which one would you kiss, which one would you marry, and which one would you prefer to throw off a cliff. Take turns listing three people (they can be celebrities; movie, book, or TV characters; or even people you know) and make arguments for who you would kiss, marry, or kill.
The Compliment Game
Go through the alphabet and take turns giving each other compliments that start with each letter. Tom is an amazing athlete. Danielle is a badass beatboxer. Go from A to Z and brighten your car mates’ days.
Most Likely To Game
Remember senior superlatives? At the end of the school year everyone would choose from their class who was the “most likely to succeed,” the “most athletic,” or the “biggest flirt.” Turn that into a road trip game by coming up with superlatives for everyone in the car!
Watch out the Window Road Trip Games
What makes a good road trip game for adults? Most of the time you’ll be playing within the confines of the car, so you want something that can be done with minimal movement and minimal supplies. These car games are fun to play and are only dependent on what you can see out the car’s window.
Cows on My Side
If you’re driving across certain areas of the country, you’re going to see a lot of cows out your window. A lot of cows. Make spotting bovines a game by playing a friendly game of Cows on My Side. Game play for this one is easy. If you see cows out the window on your side of the car yell out, “cows on my side!” to get one point. If you see cows out the window on the other side of the car, yell out, “cows on your side!” before someone on that side does, to steal one point. When you pass a cemetery, be the first to yell out, “ghost cow!” to steal all the points.
There are plenty of other cow-related games to play on a road trip. Here are some of my favorite variations.
My Cows
Similar to Cows on My Side, but with slightly different rules. For this version, every time you see a herd of cows, the first person to yell out, “my cows!” gets a point. If you see a church, the first to yell out, “marry my cows!” doubles their points. If you see a cemetery, the first to yell out, “bury your cows!” steals everyone’s points.
Hey Cow!
To play Hey Cow! you just yell out, “hey cow!” whenever you pass a herd of cows. For every cow that turns their head to look at you, you get a point.
Counting Cows (AKA Cow Poker)
Pit the left side of the car against the right side of the car and count all the cows you can see from your side of the window. It can get tricky when you pass a large field, so count fast! Whoever has counted the most cows at the end of the journey wins, but watch for cemeteries, if someone calls out, “your cows are buried!” they can steal all the other side’s points.
The RV Game
RVs are known to have some interesting names on their own. Make them even more interesting by adding the word “anal” before them for a bit of a juvenile laugh. Keep an eye out for RVs and make the one marked “commander” a little more interesting.
Slug Bug (AKA Punch Buggy)
The rules of this game are simple: every time you see a Volkswagon Beetle out the window, yell out “Slug Bug!” (or “Punch Buggy!” if you prefer), and give your travel companion a gentle punch on the arm.
Padiddle
The object of this road trip game is to be the first person in the car to spot a car with a burnt out headlight or taillight. This game is best played when driving at night (or through long tunnels) where the surroundings are dark and most cars have their lights on. Whoever spots a car with a light out yells out, “Padiddle,” and touches the ceiling of the car. Play throughout your trip and whoever has the most padiddles when your travels end wins.
Odd Colored Cars
Pick an odd-for-a-car color, something like pink or purple or orange. Keep your eyes on the road and see who can spot a car of that color first or see the most through the entire trip.
The Alphabet Game
Try to go through the entire alphabet (in alphabetical order) by referencing words on signs you see from the car. Look for words on billboards, highway signs, road signs, and businesses. Each individual word can only be used by one person. The first person to get from A to Z wins!
The Gas Price is Right
Gas prices are ever changed and can vary widely by state or city. Make it a game to try to guess the prices that gas will be for the next station you pass. Try to guess to the nearest tenth and see who is closest.
Fictional Families
Do you ever look at other cars on the road and wonder what their story is? In this road trip game for adults, you pick out another vehicle on the road and come up with a story about who they are and where they’re going.
Vehicle Identification Game
When you spot an oncoming car try to be the first person to identify the make and model and see who is the best at identifying the vehicles on the road.
Travel Board Games
Bring along a variety of travel-sized versions of your favorite board games. Look for smaller, simplified games that come with cards or magnetic boards that can easily be played by backseat passengers in the car. But even though they are meant for travel, many travel board games work better as games to play in a hotel after a long day on the road. Pack your favs to play in your hotel room or by the pool! Here are some of the most popular travel board games:
Monopoly Grab and Go Game
Play a compact game of Monopoly with all your favorite features in a small package that also serves as storage.
Connect 4 Grab and Go Game
Try to get four checkers in a row and block your opponent from getting it first. Connect 4 Grab and Go is a compact travel version of the popular board game.
Clue Grab and Go Game
Solve a whodunit mystery by following the clues. Move around the board and try to piece together what you find to be the first to crack the case in a friendly game of Clue.
Buy Travel Clue
Scrabble to Go
Challenge each other to come up with the most impressive words. A travel edition of scrabble not only allows you to play this fun board game in a hotel room, latching pieces mean you can bring your unfinished game with you to pick up at the next day and the next hotel.
Story Games to Play in the Car
These games are perfect for bringing out your creative side. Use your time in the car to make up stories with your friends.
While You Were Sleeping
On a road trip with friends one thing is for certain: someone is going to fall asleep in the back seat. And that’s the perfect time to play a fun game of While You Were Sleeping. Once your sleeping car mate awakens from their backseat nap, tell them a story of what happened while they were sleeping. The catch? It’s a completely made up story. Try to make up a ridiculous story and see how long you can go and how much you can convince your sleepy car mate that it actually happened.
Fortunately/Unfortunately
Tell a story where everything goes right…and wrong. In Fortunately/Unfortunately you alternate sentences that start with fortunately or unfortunately. For example: Marissa was driving on a road trip. Fortunately she was almost to her hotel. Unfortunately her phone (and Google Maps) was about to die. Fortunately she had a paper map.
See how long your fortunate and unfortunate can go and where it takes you.
Mad Libs
Mad libs are fun for all ages. There are a wide variety of these fill-in-the-blank stories, from adult-friendly options to ones based on your favorite TV shows to road trip focused stories. Whichever version you choose, you can pick adjectives and verbs to create your own hilarious stories.
Sorry I am Late
“Sorry I am late, but I accidentally traveled back in time and had to make sure my parents still got together so I would be born.” In this story telling game you start with “Sorry I am late but…” and then fill in the rest with a movie plot. Then see who in the car can guess what movie you are recapping.
Story Time
Tell a story one word at a time. Have one person in the car start a story by saying a single word. Then the next person adds the next word. Keep going around the car one word at a time and see where this story time leads you!
Word and Number Road Trip Games
These road trip games rely on simplicity: words, wordplay, and numbers.
Don’t Say It
Before your trip come up with a “Don’t Say It” word: something everyone is forbidden to say. Whenever someone says that word, they get a point. The person with the most amount of points at the end of the trip loses, and has to buy the car a round of soft drinks.
The Name Game
Start with one person saying a name, like Rebecca. The next person then says a name that starts with the last letter of that name. Rebecca ends with an A so the next person might say Amy. No repeat allowed, keep going until no one can think of a new name that fits!
The Counting Game
The goal of this game is to collectively count to 20. Sounds easy, right? But the trick here is you don’t know where or when the next person is taking a turn. One person starts by saying the number one. Then anyone can say the number two. But, if more than one person speaks at the same time, the game is done and you have to start over. If more than five seconds pass in between, the game is also done, so act fast!
Scattergories
This car game only requires a pen and paper. Come up with a list of categories. It can be anything you want, but try to find things that might have a lot of possible answers, like dog breeds, items of clothing, body parts, or cars. Write those all down in a list. The driver can then pick a random letter and all the passengers race to see who can fill in the list of categories with something starting with that letter the fastest.
Categories
In this easy car game, everyone picks any category they want: Taylor Swift songs, MLB teams, La Croix flavors, etc. And then everyone takes turns naming something that fits that category until someone is stumped and can’t think of anything that fits.
Guessing Games to Play in the Car
Try and guess what your car mates are thinking with these guessing games that are perfect to play in the car.
20 Questions
Read your friend’s mind in 20 questions of less. In this game, one person in the car has to think of something, anything. It can be a movie, a book, a person, place, or thing. Then everyone else in the car gets to ask questions to see who can guess what the person is thinking of. Choose your questions wisely, because you only have 20 tries.
I’m Going on a Picnic
In this game, players take turns saying what they might bring on a picnic (bananas, sandwiches, paper plates…). But one leader is in charge of saying whether you are allowed to bring that item or not, all based on a secret rule they have. For example, if Amanda is the leader she might have a secret rule that all items brought to the picnic must start with the first letter of her name. So if someone wanted to bring guacamole, they would be denied but someone bringing avocados would be OK. Players take turns naming items and trying to figure out what the secret rule is.
Movie/Celebrity-Based Adult Road Trip Games
How much do you know about movies, TV shows, or celebrities? These games rely on your knowledge of films and those who star in them.
6 Degrees of Separation
Based on the popular “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon,” where it is said you can link any celebrity to Kevin Bacon (via mutual movie/television appearances) in six connections or less, in this version you can link any celebrities you want. Pick any two celebrities, like Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Frank Sinatra and connect them through their mutual crossovers.
The Movie Game
Similar to 6 Degrees of Separation, this road trip game also involves linking celebrities. But in this version, you have to come up with the next celebrity to link an actor to. To play, have one person name an actor or actress. Then, the next person has to name a movie they were in. The next person then has to name another actor or actress from that movie. Keep going until someone is stumped. That person has to sit out the next round. Keep playing until only one person is left and a winner is declared.
Bad Movie Plot
The goal of this game is to explain a movie plot badly and see who can guess what it is. For example, you might say, “an elderly man uses balloons to kidnap a young boy,” and others would have to try to guess that you’re explaining the plot to the Pixar movie Up.
Music Car Games
Whether you love to sing or can’t hold a tune and prefer to leave it to the professionals, many fun road trip games for adults rely on music to guide them. These games are based on music knowledge, singing, or your favorite playlists.
Name That Tune
Use the scanner or seek on your radio or the shuffle feature on an app like Spotify. For every new song that comes up, try to be the first one to guess the name of the song and the musical artist. Or, take turns choosing a song to play and see if you can stump your friends.
Battle Of The Bands
Battle it out among the car to see which song reigns supreme. Choose a category. Any category. You can pick anything from “Best Emo Love Ballad” to “Songs that mention Birds.” Have two eople in the car think of a song that fits and then play them both for the whole car to hear. It’s then up to everyone in the car to vote and see which song, and which player, wins.
Human Jukebox
Channel your best Pitch Perfect impressions for this road trip game. To play, one person starts singing a song. Then the next person has to pick up with a new song that borrows the last word of the last phrase of the song before. Keep going until someone gets stumped, then start the Human Jukebox all over again.
More Road Trip Games for Adults
There are so many different road trip games adults can play in the car. Here are some more games that will keep you entertained on long stretches of road.
The Road Trip Journal & Activity Book
Enjoy fun games and challenges to pass the time on your next road trip and have a keepsake to look back on for years to come with this entertaining must-have for your next vacation. The Road Trip Journal & Activity Book features fun and engaging journal prompts. plus 100 activities and games to play in the car, at your hotel, or at stops along your route.
Shotgun! Road Trip Game
Shotgun! is a fun card game and car game. Designate a reader and then take turns answering road trip related questions and doing activities.
Road Trip Trivia
Have a fun time challenging each other to road trip trivia. Find trivia questions based on road trips, the route you’re on, your destination, or America.
Regional Snack Master
Every time you pull over at a gas station or travel center, have everyone try to find a local snack. Something you can really only find in the city or state you’re in. Compare your finds and see who found the tastiest (or weirdest) ones.
Car Rules
At the beginning of your road trip, have everyone make up a rule for the car. The sillier, the better. Something like at every red light you have to open all the windows and cheer. Try to keep up these funny road trip rules throughout the course of your trip.
Telephone
In this game, start with one passenger coming up with a sentence or phrase. They whisper it into another passenger’s ear, and it should go all the way around until it gets to the last person in the car. That person then has to say out loud what they think they heard, and see how close or far it was from the original phrase.
Road Trip Game Apps
Almost any game app can be a road trip game app. Here are some of our favorites that work well with a group of people traveling in a car.
Drive.fm: Car & Home Trivia
Have a knack for knowledge and want to put your brain to the test? Drive.fm is a game app controlled using your voice, making it the perfect hands-free trivia game to play in your car.
SongPop
This musical trivia game features real song clips from popular artists. See who can guess the song the fastest!
StarMaker
A fun road trip game app for singing karaoke songs in the car.
Want more fun road trip games?
The Road Trip Journal & Activity Book
Enjoy fun games and challenges to pass the time on your next road trip and have a keepsake to look back on for years to come with this entertaining must-have for your next vacation.
Pin these Road Trip Games for Adults to Save to Play on Your Next Road Trip!
Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash
