Roadtrip Games – A first installment
Roadtrips can mean miles and miles of highway with nothing very interesting to see. It can also mean kids in the backseat who run out of ways to entertain themselves. Roadtrip games can help make the trip go faster and also help keep the driver awake during those long stretches of endless highway! Over the years, we have played many roadtrip games. Some of them store bought, and some we have just made up over the years. Here are just a few that we have had some great success with. How about yours? Have you tried these?
Alphabet Game
This is a classic game that I have played my entire life. The nice thing about this game is that you can even play it by yourself for something to do while driving or riding. It requires that all players know how to read. There are many variations, I’m sure, but these are the ‘rules’ that we always play:
Objective of the Game: Starting with the letter ‘A’, find words on road signs, billboards, or business signs that include that letter and call it out (e.g. ‘A’, highway!). The first one to find it and call it out gets it. No one else can use that sign. That person is now on letter ‘B’ while everyone else is still looking for letter ‘A’. First one to get to through the entire alphabet (through ‘Z’) wins the game. You can continue playing until everyone gets through it or start a new game after the first person gets through. License plates and words on vehicles can not be used. The hardest letters are J and Q. Oftentimes, these are ‘catchup’ letters to even out where everyone is! Sometimes roads don’t have enough signs to play this game. It’s a judgement call whether or not you have to give up on the game and try something else.
License Plate Sayings
This is a game that can be fun to play if there are a lot of vehicles on the road with you. Typically there are three letters on every license plate that goes by. The group picks a license plate letter combo (e.g. ‘AWT’) and everyone shouts out three word sayings that start with those letters (e.g. ‘All Whales Talk!’). These can be total nonsense – and many times those are the funniest. You continue on until you tire of those three letters or run out of sayings. This game requires everyone to at least know what letters words start with, but doesn’t mean they know yet how to read. It can be quite fun with smaller kids who sometimes come up with the funniest sayings.
Would You Rather?
This is a game that is best done with the deck of cards for this game, but can also be played by just making things up. Usually, you pick two very challenging or disgusting things and ask everyone else if they would rather do ‘X’ or ‘Y’. The more challenging or disgusting, the funnier it is what people say to reason out what they would choose. E.g. Would you rather eat your own boogers or a live centipede? People have to pick – otherwise, it’s not a fun game.
These are just a few of the games we like to play! Have you played these? What are your favorites?
Thanks for reading!
Kristi
Hey Kristi,
I have planned a road trip with my friends and was looking for as many road trip games as I can possibly get.
I love “Would you rather” as it seems interesting. Can I get more nasty games like that? I would like to give my buds a real treat this time.
Hope I can get like twenty. Or may be you can refer me to some place which has got lots of them?
Hi Dave! Glad you liked it! I will create a page full of games. Check back here for a link!
Here’s a link: https://roadtrippersrus.com/tips/roadtrip-games. Let me know what you think!
Thanks so much for this delightful post!
I’ve played the first and the third one. The license plate one is new to me. It seems like it would be hilarious! I definitely need to try that one.
I have one for you. It’s called Cows On My Side. If you see a cow/cows on your side of the road you yell out “Cows On My Side” and you get a point. If you see a cow/cows on the other side, you say “Cows On The Other Side” and you get a point. If you yell out “Cows On Your Side before the other person sees the cows, you steal a point. And, if anybody sees a graveyard, they yell “Ghost Cow” stealing all the other sides points!
What a great game! I haven’t played that one. Will definitely need to try it!
check out my Roadtrip Games page for more Games! https://roadtrippersrus.com/tips/roadtrip-games