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Games Are Reimagining the Road Trip for a Modern Era

Road 96 promises the thrill of the open road and the unexpected. Maybe freedom. Maybe death. Plenty in between. The walking, driving, and hitchhiking adventure from French studio DigixArt, coming later this year, taps into the spirit of classic road movies, from Easy Rider to Thelma and Louise , where encounters with the outside world are strange, life-changing, and potentially fatal.

“The road trip structure was the perfect canvas for us to feel the random nature of traveling on your own,” says Yoan Fanise, Road 96’s creative director. “When you travel as a backpacker you don’t know who you're going to meet, what’s going to happen, good or bad. That’s the essence of a road trip, and of life.”

This confrontation with the unknown is just one way that games are proving to be ideal hosts for the road trip genre. What unites road movies and novels, serious or comic, is how they bring the social background into focus, shining a light on cultural tensions and marginalization, all while their characters reconnect with each other, and themselves. A recent crop of road games are doing all this in a way that feels especially pertinent to our times.

Road 96 isn’t just about adventure. Set in a dystopian land that blends ’90s Arizona with Soviet totalitarianism, you play a teenager fleeing to the border, by any means available. Fanise explains that the political aspects of the game have only become more relevant during development. “We started writing this story three years ago,” he says, “mostly inspired by 1989 iron curtain history and the struggles of countries like Venezuela or North Korea. But recently we were shocked by the similarity of real events that happened in ‘modern democracies’ such as the USA.”

As in many road trip stories, the freedom of travel clashes against conservative values and laws. But there are also hints of resistance and change, as you make decisions to help yourself and potentially affect the wider political situation. The game’s procedurally generated encounters should be crucial here, as each restart produces random combinations of Road 96 ’s characters, including a cop, a truck driver, and a pair of clownish robbers.

Matt Jancer

David Nield

“This is the biggest innovation for a narrative game,” says Fanise. “We developers don’t know, even from the start, which character and sequence you're going to get.” The flow of the game, he explains, alternates between open exploration and vehicle journeys where relationships develop. “This creates a very nice rhythm and enables deeper discussions about the state, the politics, and the intertwined stories of the eight main characters,” he says. Who you decide to travel with and how you bond with them should lead to highly varied perspectives and outcomes.

Road 96 isn’t the only game to link road trips to procedural generation. In 2019’s Overland , you drive across an American wasteland overrun by alien predators, and turn-based supply runs on random maps serve familiar road trip themes. Indeed, explains Adam Saltsman, cofounder of Overland developer Finji, one inspiration for the game was real-life road trips. “We traveled by highway a pretty fair amount growing up, and got to visit a lot of weird places in the US,” he tells us. “Bekah [Rebekah Saltsman, Finji’s other cofounder] and I especially, as kids growing up in the Midwest, drove through a lot of weird or boring or abandoned or changing places every summer.”

Saltsman sees Overland as an “amped-up” version of these journeys, with their sense of urgency and potential for unexpected events. “There’s already kind of an adventurous core to the idea of going on a road trip,” he says. “But all the real parts of the road trip have higher stakes, and stranger outcomes, and bigger surprises.” The procedural element makes each trip unique, just like traveling to different places, with different people.

And as with many a road trip story, Overland is really about personal relationships, in this case among randomized strangers who have to share a car and collaborate to survive. “ Overland ended up being a game about taking care of strangers,” says Saltsman. With minimal dialog and plot, these connections develop through grid-based tactics, focusing on mutual consideration rather than combat. “I’m still surprised as a designer how powerful the act of nurturing is,” he adds. “We worked a lot on helping players bond with the party members and the vehicle through different features. But including nurturing verbs like Heal, Repair, and Upgrade, when you’re starting with a vulnerable origin, I think that is interesting.”

This notion of bonding with your vehicle as well as people highlights another important aspect of road trips—the role of the mode of transport itself. In films like Easy Rider or Vanishing Point, it represents freedom from social rules. In Overland , your very ordinary and vulnerable car is more a refuge. The last fragile remnant of the old world in a terrible new reality.

It’s a point that links Overland to a very different journey, Just Add Oil’s Road to Guangdong . This is the tale of Sunny, a young woman who inherits her family restaurant after the death of her parents, and travels with her Guu Ma (eldest aunt) to visit relatives across the province and obtain their blessings. “The road trip in the game is how the protagonist, Sunny, connects and reconnects with her family,” explains author Yen Ooi, writer of Road to Guangdong . Ooi cites the great classic 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the West as an inspiration for the story’s tone. “We wanted Road to Guangdong to have the traveling-buddy feel,” she says.

So nothing like Overland . Except one key aspect of Road to Guangdong is how you travel, in a rusty jalopy named Sandy, which you both drive and maintain with fuel and parts. “Sunny sees Sandy—her father’s old car—as her connection to her parents,” says Ooi, “to her childhood, and to visiting families. Sandy carries nostalgia and reassurance in a time of turmoil for Sunny, while being the unspeaking member of their family.” The last fragile remnant of the old world in a terrible new reality.

Equally important to Road to Guangdong’s themes are the narrative choices you make, which ask you to consider what others want or expect. “Life, family and the way we experience and manage our relationships are not clearly distributed to right and wrong answers,” says Ooi. “The choices we present in the game are more aligned to ethical and moral considerations, taking into account the background of the characters and the story that is presented.” Like caring for Sandy, these choices are a means of reconnecting with those around us.

This tension between alienation and human connection is also at the heart of gaming’s most enduring road trip of recent times. Kentucky Route Zero , released in five acts over seven years, is most striking for its uncanny rendering of a crumbling modern America, and its disenfranchised citizens. The game’s creators, Jake Elliott, Tamas Kemenczy and Ben Babbitt of Cardboard Computer, see the 1980s film True Stories as one inspiration, for its slow pace and shots lingering on background details that highlight the strangeness of the everyday. “Those are important moments in a road trip,” they say, “stopping somewhere for a moment to check the map, and seeing something weird.”

But Kentucky Route Zero explores both this social disconnect and our desire for company and community, using limited forms of interaction, not least when driving. “We were trying to give the player a sense of being lost on the road,” Elliott, Kemenczy, and Babbitt explain in a group interview by email. “You're working with a map directly, which should make it easy to find things, but then you have to follow directions given by people you meet.” In the game’s fourth act, you board a steam boat, and the developers explain that this switch, along with the game’s dialog options, highlight another crucial aspect of a road trip–being a passenger. “If nothing else, the driver needs someone to keep them awake,” they say. “That's what dialog choices are for, whether you think of the player as driver or passenger.”

Kentucky Route Zero thus reflects genuine social decline. “A lot of the social crises reflected in the game have been happening for a long time; call them patterns, strategies, or chronic symptoms,” say Elliott, Kemenczy, and Babbitt. But in the final episode your band of misfit travelers forms a kind of family of their own, and finds a haven where they might start afresh. If real “chronic symptoms” are the root of road trip fiction, so is the hope of moving beyond them.

It’s the same even in the post-apocalyptic Overland . In some ways its world resembles a reality in which towns are already overgrown and abandoned. “Places where I grew up are in internet ‘abandoned building porn’ slideshows,” says Saltsman. Yet even in a road trip to oblivion, there’s the hint of new beginnings. “I subscribe strongly to Ursula Le Guin’s idea that dystopias and utopias are intimately coupled,” he says. “That utopias for some are dystopias for others, and vice versa.”

Similarly for Fanise, road trips are about surviving a hostile society, but also forging relationships within it. Being on the road drags you out of your comfort zone, he explains, forcing you to meet people you would have never met. “By doing that you realize that all the fears of the others we have in our modern societies are biased,” he adds, “based on the tiny percent of worst things we see on the news, on the internet.”

In that sense, games are the medium we need for the modern road trip, planting seeds within our digital bubbles that encourage us to embrace the unknown, and link with those both near and far away. “Road trips are journeys that expand our experiences of society around us,” says Ooi. “This encourages us to be more open, more tolerant, and can prepare us to be more able and willing to learn about new and/or different cultures, social settings and communities.”

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10 Best Roadtrip Games

If you're stuck in a car for quite some time, and aren't the unlucky one driving, then you might want a good game to pass the time.

Road trips always start out entertaining; everyone is either buzzing with the excitement of the journey or stressing over how much they packed and if they are prepared enough. Soon enough, though, there comes a point on every trip where the monotony starts to set in and you need a little entertainment.

RELATED: Great Nintendo Switch Games For Killing Time

Luckily for you, video games became portable over twenty years ago and have only gotten better since then. That means they can be played on the go, and more importantly, they can be played on road trips, making that monotonous journey a little easier to deal with. Just don't play any video games if you're the one driving, the road should be more than enough to keep you occupied.

Updated September 1, 2022, by Gabrielle Huston: Every summer, as tourists travel to New Orleans, Paris, Cape Town, Vatican City, Hong Kong, and beyond, we're called to consider what the best games are to take with them! We've refreshed and added additional entries to this list so that you'll have lots of options for your next trip.

10 Animal Crossing: New Horizons

It's hard to go wrong when it comes to gaming on the go if you own a Nintendo Switch . It's practically built for it!

The Switch's huge array of games offers up seemingly endless options, but one that stands out is Animal Crossing: New Horizons . If you're new to the game, then you have hours of content to keep you entertained, while experienced players can get to some of those island chores they've been meaning to do for a while.

Plus, this is a game that you can save at any point, meaning any time you need to stop gaming to enjoy your road trip or make a stop, you don't have to worry about losing any progress, making it ideal when you're on the go.

Get it on Amazon here!

9 Minecraft

Minecraft is a beloved game that has made billions of dollars in the last decade as it has rocketed to popularity. Who can blame us for loving it so much? After all, it has something to attract lots of gamers and be enjoyed in many contexts.

One of those many contexts? Well, while traveling, of course! It's a great game to play on the road in some portable context. There are tons of activities to keep you occupied, including exploring caves, building houses, growing food, raising cattle, fighting monsters, and more!

Get it for Nintendo Switch on Amazon here!

Get it for Xbox One on Amazon here!

Get it for PlayStation 4 on Amazon here!

8 Super Mario Odyssey

Mario is a classic and has been keeping gamers happy on road trips for years; the series made its debut on the handheld scene. However, with the processing power available on the Switch, you no longer have to be satisfied by a linear series of platforming challenges.

Instead, Mario Odyssey provides a world as open as the roads you are traveling on. And, as with any Mario game, there are levels that suit all abilities, so if you need to keep younger siblings or children entertained, then this is the perfect game to occupy them too.

RELATED: Gaming Shirts Too Cool For Summer

A classic video game that we never seem to shake, Skyrim has dominated gaming culture for years and will not soon be forgotten. Few people have seen everything there is to see in the game, and a road trip where you have lots of time on your hands is a great place to start.

There are dozens of side quests you probably never bothered to finish in your playthrough that you might want to revisit now, not to mention all three DLCs. Plus, the Special Edition of the game added a new survival mode, which players have praised as being a more immersive, interesting roleplaying experience.

Get it for PS4 and Xbox One on Amazon here!

6 Pokemon Legends: Arceus

Pokemon Legends: Arceus broke the usual Pokemon formula by turning it into an open-world experience. You can catch Pokemon with just the throw of a ball, you can distract them with delicious fruit, and you can enjoy five major areas stuffed to the brim with varied species.

The game's story is significant, so you'll be able to sink plenty of hours in there, but if you've already beaten the story, then the endgame is equally engaging! There are hundreds of Pokemon to collect across the region, after all !

Get it on PlayStation 4 on Amazon here!

5 Bridge Constructor Portal

Bridge Constructor Portal is a rare game that challenges you to use your brain while also making you laugh out loud. The unique humor of the Portal series will do wonders to break up the endless monotony of your road trip, while the Bridge Constructor puzzles make sure your brain is doing something for at least some of your journey.

It's also another game that is great to pass around the car when you can't solve a particular level. And whether the people you are traveling with can help or not, you're bound to have a good time seeing each other try and fail to solve these physics-based puzzles.

RELATED: The Best Games For Kids To Play This Summer

4 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Another gem from the vast library of the Nintendo Switch, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is a great game if you want something that will really keep you engaged during the journey but that you can pause at any moment you need to.

Enjoy the Kingdom of Hyrule and allow one of the best games the Switch has to offer to eat up the hours of your road trip. Just make sure to take breaks, or y ou might find yourself wanting to be in Hyrule more than you want to be at your destination.

3 Stardew Valley

Stardew Valley is one of the best farming games no matter when or where you play it, but on a road trip, it's excellent for making the hours pass that much quicker. Plus, its relatively short day/night cycle means you're never far from being able to save your progress when you need to make a stop on your trip.

Even if it doesn't keep you occupied continuously, a road trip is a great time to grind through some more days as you wait for your crops to bloom and the seasons to change.

Get it on PS4 and Xbox One on Amazon here!

2 Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes

Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes is a new title; it's a narrative and gameplay spin on the latest mainline installment, Fire Emblem: Three Houses . The Warriors franchise focuses on strategic combat and exciting action.

This game, like Three Houses, allows you to pick a story and stick with it. There are three main routes to take through the game , meaning there are three stories to complete and three houses full of characters you'll get to know. Whether you're new to the game or want to return to it and sink your teeth into a new storyline, this game is a great choice for a long trip.

RELATED: Gaming Art Prints That Will Take Your Room To The Next Level

1 Mario Strikers: Battle League

Soccer (or football) is a beloved summertime sport, and no one could complain about starting a game or two on a road trip! The recently-released Mario Strikers: Battle League game is a way to get that experience on the go - with a few exciting, super-powered additions.

Up to eight people can play a game together, which means that you won't have to leave anyone on the trip out (except the driver, if you play in the car)!

We hope you like the items we recommend and discuss! TheGamer has affiliate and sponsored partnerships, so we receive a share of the revenue from some of your purchases. This won’t affect the price you pay and helps us offer the best product recommendations.

NEXT: The Best Games To Play On iPad

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In Open Roads, you either explore everything or miss out

The good news is that it’s not hard to explore everything

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There are some secrets that feel too big or too painful to share. It’s easier to take on the burden yourself, you say, to withhold knowledge in the desperate desire to prevent someone else’s pain. Open Roads , the Gone Home -style road trip game published by Annapurna Interactive, is about those secrets, and what happens when those secrets slip — no, explode — out into the world.

Open Roads begins at home — specifically, a home that once held three generations of women: the grandmother, Helen, recently deceased; her daughter, Opal; and Opal’s daughter, Tess. Much of the simple, two-story house has been picked through by estate sale shoppers by the time the game begins, but the stuff left behind reveals a whole lot of secrets. Players begin in Tess’ room, where you’re encouraged to pack up her things, since with Helen gone, the house will be sold.

It’s also where developer Open Roads Team defines the next two hours. Like Gone Home before it, this story rewards curiosity, because the narrative is told mostly through the objects you pick up. You’ll learn about the family by checking out items in Tess’ room, and then elsewhere in the house — namely, the basement and attic — many objects untouched by strangers’ hands. Helen was a single mother and an accomplished potter, and she kept her business close to her chest. Opal, on the brink of a divorce, is struggling to keep her community theater alive. Tess has a different idea of success than her mother and, like most teenagers, feels misunderstood. Each of these women has her own secrets that define her, but it’s one major revelation, discovered in an old suitcase in the attic, that sets Opal and Tess out on the titular highways.

For a game called Open Roads , you don’t spend much time physically on the road. Each small but important location — the secret family summer house, a mobile home, a motel room, and a houseboat — is stitched together with a brief segment in the car, where you, as Tess, fiddle with your phone and talk (or argue!) with your mom. While these moments are just a small part of the two-hour experience, they’re at its core. Through text messages to Tess’ friends and father, we learn about her and her mom’s strained relationship and, again, those secrets. Sometimes, Opal and Tess work through things during their road trip stops, but at other times, they seem to be talking through each other, unable to fully understand the other’s perspective.

You’ll have a lot of stuff to pick up at each of these locations, but the most important items will often provide a “Hey mom!” option, which lets Tess call Opal over. Opal’s role in these situations is to provide context about her childhood, how she experienced the past, and what these items (and the secrets that come with them) do to color those memories. They’re all essential conversations related to the big, overarching mystery, but they sometimes feel stilted; the “Hey mom!” button gets repetitive, making all the potential sincerity feel cheapened.

There are very few items in Open Roads that you have to pick up. Those are largely keys, which are what literally unlock a lot of the story’s secrets. If you aren’t curious enough to pick up other items, let alone call your mom over, then you’ll miss some of the crucial context that builds out Tess’ and Opal’s worlds. Open Roads rewards that curiosity, both for the player, who gets a more nuanced story, and narratively, with Tess’ and Opal’s understanding of each other. For instance, in Tess’ room, there’s a printout of a forum post about how to cope with a grandparent’s dementia; Open Roads Team, therefore, didn’t have to say anything about the last several years of Helen’s life, with Tess and Opal caring for her.

One of the best usages of this sort of gameplay comes when Tess is alone at the motel while her mother is picking up takeout. Playing as Tess, you move around the room alone, rifling through your mom’s things. If you’ve got your flip phone on you, you can text your best friend about your discoveries: I found some pills in my mom’s bag. What do you think it’s for? If you choose to snoop and get this moment, it widens the split between mother and daughter, with Tess feeling like her mom doesn’t trust her. But for the player, it’s also some important context: The pills are antidepressants, and they set the tone that Opal is struggling, too. The game is about picking things up, but it’s also about choice. Because you found the antidepressants, you’ll later be able to ask Opal about them. But, again, you don’t have to — there’s another option to turn the conversation toward a different secret.

The tension between the two characters — and what the player knows but the characters don’t — is both poignant and mundane. Most people with strained parental relationships will see the authenticity of the conversations, played out with brilliant voice acting by Kaitlyn Dever ( Booksmart ), who plays Tess, and Keri Russell ( The Americans ), who plays Opal. (Unfortunately, Open Roads ’ conversations are only semi-animated, so eventually mouths will stop moving while the voice actors talk over a static screen. It’s not a dealbreaker, but it can be jarring.) It’s so rare for a video game to explore the nuanced, everyday experiences of women, let alone a mother and daughter. The video game industry has spent a lot of time thinking about fathers and sons , but very little about mothers and daughters. Regardless of how they pan out, Open Roads ’ car scenes are short, but crucial. I almost wish they were longer and more drawn out, allowing you to revel in the boredom, tension, and awkward moments. (I may be alone in this conclusion!)

At just two hours long, Open Roads moves too fast through its most impactful moments. Still, it’s a game that I’m so glad exists. It’s a touching, sweet introspection on the relationships between mothers and daughters, and the secrets that families keep from one another. It can be a bumpy road at times, both narratively and control-wise — playing on Nintendo Switch, I found it hard to find the exact right place to trigger a prompt to pick things up. But at the end of the trip, it’s easy to look back at the game and know that Open Roads ’ sentimentality was worth the ride.

Open Roads was released March 28 on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. The game was reviewed using a pre-release download code provided by Annapurna Interactive. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content, though Vox Media may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links. You can find additional information about Polygon’s ethics policy here .

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23 Fun Road Trip Games for Adults

Make time fly by faster than that maniac in the left lane with these road trip games for adults.

Samantha Leal is a food, travel, and lifestyle writer with over a decade of experience in print and digital media. Highlights: * Editorial intern at Glamour and Elegant Bride * Managing editor at Abroad View Magazine * Assistant editor at The Nest * Deputy editor at Latina.com * Senior web editor at Marie Claire * Freelance writer at Real Simple, InStyle.com , Glamour.com , and TeenVogue.com , among others * Currently the deputy editor of Well+Good.

Road trips are fun—at least, in theory. But after a couple of hours of music, podcasts , and "I'm just going to take a quick nap while you drive," things can quickly turn boring. Sometimes you can adapt party games for the car, but they don't always translate to sitting in a moving metal box. That's where these road trip games come in.

"I Spy" may have kept your attention when you were young—impressive, given that you had the attention span of a goldfish—but this list of car-ride games up the ante a bit. Pick a few of these best road trip games for adults for your next long ride.

Spin a Story From the Past

Think of this as "Who can lie better?" One player begins by telling a story about their past, and players have to guess whether they're telling the truth or spinning a tale.

Each guesser gets two follow-up questions, and then it's time for an answer. Every correct answer is two points, and the first player to 10 wins. (The loser has to reveal a super-embarrassing story.)

While the traditional license plate game involves finding a plate from each of the 50 states (yawn), this competition involves finding a license plate with random letters and creating a word with those letters. For example, if the license plate is YMT23, the answer could be "Yosemite".

Think of it as Road Trip Scrabble but, instead of taking turns, just yell when you see one and come up with a word. Other players can challenge by creating a longer word with those same letters.

To up the stakes, stipulate that the letters have to be in the exact order to make the word, and can't be scrambled. Award two points for each winning answer, and two extra points for anyone who spots a vanity plate. The winner is the first to reach 10 points.

Explain a Movie Plot Badly

This party game also works when you're trapped in a car. One player thinks of a movie and explains its plot in a way that is factual and terrible, and the other players have to guess.

The first player to guess correctly gets a point. If no one guesses correctly, the plot explainer gets a point. Our favorite: "Girl can't commit. Loses cat." (Yep, Breakfast at Tiffany's !)

Essentially the Same Movie

In another film-related game, a player starts by naming a movie. The next player has to name another movie that has the same basic plot. For example, Pretty in Pink and Some Kind of Wonderful, or No Strings Attached and Friends with Benefits .

Players continue to take turns naming flicks with essentially the same narrative until someone gets stumped. The last person to come up with a film that fits wins.

Radio Roulette

This is essentially a game of Name That Tune. Flip among radio stations until you hear a song (presets work best) and let it play for 15 seconds. Players are challenged to name that song and its artist, earning one point for each, with an extra point for naming its album. The first one to reach 15 points wins.

You know Mad Libs, that hilarious word game that solicits nouns, adjectives, and verbs from players to create an imaginative narrative. If you plan ahead, you can access a free printable Funny Mad Libs For Adults  to take with you on the road. (Don't forget to bring a pen!)

If you're not a fan of pre-technology, whip out a smartphone and play WordLibs online for free, with no app or downloads required. You can even create your own stories!

Fortunately, Unfortunately

To start this storytelling game, one player makes a declarative statement that begins with "Fortunately..." For example, "Fortunately, on this highway we will soon pass a cool roadside attraction." The next player must follow up with an "unfortunately" statement such as "Unfortunately, the attraction is a giant booger."

The subsequent player must give a "fortunately" statement, and so on as you go around from player to player. Switch from "fortunately" to "unfortunately" statements until everyone runs out of steam!

Snack the Rainbow

Along your road trip route, plan to stop at seven gas stations. At each station, find a snack that's a specific color of the rainbow. (Remember it's ROYGBIV!) You can only get one snack item per gas station.

Famous Names

Someone starts by saying the first and last names of a famous person. The next player must name another famous person whose first name starts with the first letter of the previous celebrity's last name.

For example, Justin Bieber leads to Billy Crystal. Billy Crystal leads to Catherine O'Hara. Catherine O'Hara leads to Owen Wilson, and so on. If a player is stumped, they're out, and the group moves on to the next player.

Road Sign Alphabet Game

Each player must find a word on a road sign that starts with the letter A, and then a word that starts with B, and so on through the alphabet. Once a player has claimed a word, the other players can't use that word. Whoever gets to the end of the alphabet first, wins.

Road Trip Trivia

For each city you pass through on your trip, designate one person to be the "expert" about that city's population, industry, dining establishments, and anything it might be known for. The expert can use their smartphone, but guessers cannot.

As you pass through each city, the expert asks trivia questions that other players guess the answers to. Examples are, "How many people live in Scranton?" and "Which fast food restaurant does Cedar Key have five of?"

Road Trip Bingo

Bingo is always a crowd-pleaser. Before you leave, you can create your own paper bingo cards or print road trip Bingo cards for free to distribute to each player.

If you make your own, consider a theme of fast food restaurants (McDonald's, Chick-Fil-A, KFC), gas stations (BP, Shell, Texaco), or types of cars (Honda Civic, Subaru Outback, Toyota Tacoma). Whichever you choose, make sure there are enough markers or stickers for everyone to mark their cards.

Guess the Time

Look up which cities you'll be passing through on the way to your final destination, and have everyone in the car guess the exact time you'll arrive at each one. (The use of map apps are prohibited.) For example, what time does your car pass the sign that says "Entering Sacramento"? The player whose guess is the closest wins that round.

Someone chooses a category, such as movies, sweet treats, or flowers. The first player must name something in that category that starts with the letter A. The second player has the letter B, and so on.

For example, if the category is flowers, the first player might say "amaryllis." The second person might say "begonia." The third person might say "carnation," and so on. Be sure to choose the categories based on the players' knowledge base. (If no one in the car is interested in gardening, flowers might not be the best category!)

The Price is Right

Based on the TV game show, each player guesses the price for regular unleaded gas at the next gas station you see. Whoever gets the price to the nearest tenth gets a point. When it's time to stop for gas, the player with the least number of points buys snacks for everyone.

Guess the Song

One player sings or says lyrics to a song and the other players must name the title of that song. Stating the lyrics in a monotone makes the game harder.

For example, someone says, "And he's long gone when he's next to me. And I realize the blame is on me." The winner is whoever correctly names the song's title, Taylor Swift's "I Knew You Were Trouble."

Players must name the exact title. So, if a player says, "I Knew You Were Trouble When You Walked In," that answer is wrong, and someone else gets a chance to name the exact title.

Guess the Quote

One player looks up a famous quote on their smartphone and reads it to the other the players, who must name the person (or fictional character) who uttered it. The quote could be from a famous speech, like "Give me liberty or give me death!" (Patrick Henry) or a movie, like "There's no place like home," (Judy Garland as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz ).

While You Were Sleeping

This is a group game to play when one or two passengers are taking a nap. While they're sleeping, the rest of the passengers work together to create a story about something the sleepers missed.

For example, you all spotted a famous person who was stopped by the side of the road with a flat tire. The celebrity lets you hold their dog, eat some of their delicious snacks, and so on. Storytellers collectively agree on the specific, weird details for optimal believability. Too bad you didn't take any photos!

Who's Most Likely To...?

Someone starts by asking the question, "Who in this car is most likely to...?" The other players have 3 seconds to name the person that fits the statement best.

Players take turns asking a new question. Here are some possibilities:

• Who is most likely to answer the phone at 3 am?
• Who is most likely to throw their friend a surprise party?
• Who is most likely to give you a nickname?

If you have trouble thinking up questions, visit teambuilding.com for a list of dozens of them that'll keep you asking and answering for miles.

Triple Threat

Someone starts in the role of the judge by saying three random words, and each player has to tell a story using those three words. The player who thought up the best story, according to the judge, wins. The winner becomes the judge for the next round, offering the next trio of random words, and the game continues.

20 Questions

This classic guessing game easily adapts to a road trip. It starts with a player thinking of a person, place, or thing. The other players take turns asking yes-or-no questions to determine what they're thinking about.

Whoever guesses correctly gets a point but, if no one guesses after 20 questions, the originator gets a point. Make sure someone is keeping track of the number of questions!

Spot the Car

This game keeps everyone's eyes on the road. One player names a particular type of vehicle—like a double tractor-trailer, RV, or a Ram pickup—and players compete to be the first to see one and score a point. For a variation, consider non-vehicle items like signs or landscape items.

Scavenger Hunt

This activity works as well in a car as it does out of one, and demands much less legwork. If you're a planner, create your own list ahead of time based on what you expect to see along your drive. If not, print out a generic list for free . Either way, make a copy for each player, and whoever has seen (checked off) the most list items wins!

Related Articles

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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Home » Roadside Attractions Blog » Road Trip Games » 25 Best Road Trip Games for Two

25 Best Road Trip Games for Two

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Two’s company, three’s a crowd. When it comes to road trips, you can go it alone, you can go in a big group, or you can go with just you and your ride or die. Road trips for two require entertainment meant for two. And these road trip games for two will entertain you the whole way to your destination.

Whether you are road tripping with a friend , a family member, or your boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, or wife, these games will help you pass the time on long stretches when there isn’t much to see or stop for.

Unlike traveling in a group, traveling in a pair means both people will always have specific roles. The dynamic is always going to be driver and passenger. The driver’s job is to keep their eyes on the road and keep the road trip moving. The passenger is often in charge of picking the music, plugging in addresses in Google Maps, and, in this case, being the one to drive these road trip games.

What separates road trip games for two people versus those for groups or for kids is that every game has to be driver friendly. That means it is non distracting, doesn’t require anything to be read (by the driver) or written down, and is simple and easy enough to be done while driving. We’ve gathered some of our favorite games that work for couples or a pair of friends in a car. These fit all the criteria you need to have a safe and entertaining journey. Ready to roll?

Need more inspiration? Find even more options on our list of 55 Road Trip Games for Adults .

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.

The License Plate Game

Road trip scavenger hunt, road trip questions, tabletopics to go road trip, truth or dare, two truths and a lie, true confessions, never have i ever, would you rather, kiss, marry, kill, the compliment game, radio roulette, cows on my side, the rv game, odd colored cars, fictional families, sorry i am late, forbidden word, 20 questions, describe a movie plot badly, regional snack master, mystery souvenir, pin this list of the best road trip games for two to save for later, road trip games for two.

To 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 Adam sees a black Jetta with an Oregon plate, he can claim that car. Rebecca will have to wait for another Oregon plate to go by. You can play this game with just a pen and paper (have the passenger keep track!), 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 .

Make a list of common road trip sites (a roadside attraction, a scenic overlook, a road work sign) or things specific to the trip you’re taking (the world’s largest strawberry , the entrance to Yosemite, a WaWa). Keep your eye out and 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.

With all the free time you have in the car, it’s a great time to get to know your travel companion a little bit more by taking turns answering fun road trip questions. Whether you’ve been married for 20 years or are new BFFs, this game of ice breakers and conversation starters will get the chat going and, hopefully, let you learn something new about each other. Use these 100 fun road trip questions to get talking. Ready to get to know your road trip buddy? Start asking away!

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.

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 each other, “truth or dare?” If truth is picked your road trip companion has to answer any question you ask them. If they pick dare, give a wild dare that they have to do on your next pit stop (don’t put the driver in danger by making them do anything unsafe in the car!). 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 friend.

How much do you really know about the person you’re traveling with? Do you think you can tell if they’re telling the truth or not? Have both of you say three facts about yourselves: I studied abroad in Paris, I’ve road tripped through Alaska, my favorite color is orange. They can be anything you want…but one of them must be a lie. State two truths and one lie about yourself and then partner has to guess which of those facts is not so factual (and vice versa).

Similar to Two Truths and a Lie, this one can go a little deeper. When it’s your turn you make a statement and that statement can either be a truth or a lie. Something like “I once met Harry Styles on the street.” Your road trip partner then has 60 seconds to ask questions for more information in order to guess if what you said is true or false. If it’s a lie you have to make up all the details to their questions to keep them going. When the 60 seconds are up your partner has to guess whether they thing you’re telling the truth or telling a fib, and you have to reveal the truth.

Often played as a party drinking game, Never Have I Ever allows you to say something you’ve never done and learn if your friend has. 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. Takes turns saying something you have never done before using the phrase “never have I ever.” For example: “Never have I ever been to Hawaii,” Never have I ever stayed in a theme hotel,” or “Never have I ever hiked in a national park.” Then your travel partner 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, go ahead and take a drink if you have done the action in question. If you’re playing in the car, have the guilty raise their hand and yell “I have!”

Would you rather eat only hot dogs for the rest of your life or never eat fried chicken again? In this road trip game for two, 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!

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.

A great way to spend time with a person in a car is to give them compliments. Lots of compliments. So many that it becomes a game! Go through the alphabet from A to Z and take turns giving each other compliments that start with each letter. Tina is an awesome accountant. Danny is just brilliant. Go from A to Z and see how happy you are when you get to your destination.

In this version of Name That Tune the passenger will seek the radio to the next station or put a Spotify playlist on shuffle. When you reach a new song let it play for 15 seconds then try to guess the name of the song and artist. No peeking at the dashboard console! Whoever guesses first gets a point, whoever has the most points at the end of the trip, wins!

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 the person 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 our favorite variations.

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 the other’s points.

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 driver against the passenger 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’s points.

The RV game is a fun road trip game for couples or friends who want to have a bit of a naughty laugh. 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.

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.

Do you ever look at other cars on the road and wonder what their story is? In this road trip game, take turns pointing out other vehicles on the road and come up with a story about who they are and where they’re going.

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, ask the driver to pick adjectives and verbs to create your own hilarious stories. Have the passenger write them down and then read off the story you came up with!

“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 if the other person in the car can guess what movie you are recapping.

Before your trip come up with a forbidden word: something you both are forbidden to say. Pick something you might be likely to say, like “Hilton” if you’ve booked every night in the chain. 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 a round of drive-through sodas or Starbucks.

In this easy car game, take turns picking out different categories: Meghan Trainor songs, NFL teams, Dunkin Donut flavors, etc. And then takes turns naming something that fits that category until someone is stumped and can’t think of anything that fits. Start again with a new category!

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 the other gets to ask questions to see if they can guess what the person is thinking of. Choose your questions wisely, because you only have 20 tries.

The goal of this game is to explain a movie plot badly and see if your travel partner can guess what film it is. For example, you might say, “a broke man commits identity fraud to manipulate a group of children,” and your friend would have to try to guess that you’re explaining the plot to School of Rock!

Every time you pull over at a gas station or travel center, try to find the most delicious or interesting local snack. Something you can really only find in the city or state you’re in. Compare your finds in the car, taste test each other’s snacks and see who found the tastiest (or weirdest) ones.

At the beginning of your road trip, have each person 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 your funny road trip rules throughout the course of your trip.

Whenever you get to a souvenir shop or travel center, give each other a few minutes of alone to time to peruse the souvenir offerings. Make it a game to try to buy each other the best, funniest, or weirdest souvenir. Play at one souvenir stop or play throughout the entire trip by either buying a small thing at several places or trying to find the best of the best anywhere along the way. You can set a price limit or overall budget to make sure they are on equal standing. At the end of the trip, present your souvenirs to each other and see what mystery souvenir you got each other!

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.

Photo by Phinehas Adams on Unsplash

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Valerie Bromann

Founder & road trip expert.

Valerie Bromann is a a website manager, content creator, and writer from Chicago, Illinois (currently living in Dallas, Texas). As an avid road tripper who has visited hundreds of roadside attractions, Val always pull over for a world’s largest thing. Founder of Silly America and author of The Road Trip Journal & Activity Book , she visits, photographs, and writes about all the weird tourist destinations she visits and offers road trip planning advice and inspiration based on her own travels so you can hit the road for yourself.

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Last modified: November 28, 2023 Category: Road Trip Games , Road Trip Planning

Road Trip Instagram Story Ideas for 2023

The perfect 48 state road trip itinerary & route, share this post ⤵.

Everything You Need to Have and Record an Epic Road Trip!

By valerie bromann.

The road trip you’ve been dreaming of starts here! Journal about your stops and get to know your fellow passengers with activities and exercises designed to pass the time and bring you closer together. Instead of “Are we there yet?” you’ll find yourself asking, “We’re there already?”. Complete with prompts you can turn to while driving between locations, this journal will one day be a memento of your life-changing trip.

Silly America

Silly America is a roadside attractions blog designed to help travelers find unique stops for their next road trip. The website is a tribute to the great American road trip, devoted to all that is odd in America: roadside attractions, tourist traps, peculiar destinations, bizarre events, road food, fun festivals, and more! It’s a travel website and trip planner for those seeking an offbeat road trip.

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Top 10 Travel Games: The Best Road Trip Games for Adults

Traveling is a blast, but let’s be real, long journeys can test our patience. If you’re on the road with kids or family, you know the struggle of the endless “are we there yet?” questions. That’s where road trip games swoop in to save the day! But guess what? Adults can get bored too. Of course you know that. So, to keep the trip from turning into a snooze-fest, let’s load up on some awesome travel game ideas!

What are road trip games?

Road trip games are travel games you play to make time go by faster. They can stimulate your memory, jolt your creativity and implicate one, two or more people. H ere’s why fun road trip games make it worth putting your phone down during the journey:

• They’ll help you bond with your travel buddies.
• They’ll occupy your mind with something else than passive entertainment (such as social media or streaming).
• They’ll make time pass by so much faster.
• They’ll most likely make you laugh (which is good for your health!).
• You’ll pay more attention to the scenery and notice things you would have never seen, what with your head riveted on your smartphone screen.

So, which are the best road trip games?

Here are our top 10 favorite road trip games for adults. The cool thing is they work as bus travel games or car games, and you can even take some ideas with you for a plane or train ride.

#1 Best classic travel game: the I spy road trip game

Although you may have played this game when you were small, we’re pretty sure you’ll still enjoy it! The I spy road trip game. It is one of our favorites because it forces you to look around and search for rarities or detail. Remember how it goes? It’s quite simple.

The goal of this classic travel game is to guess what object or thing the spy has in mind!

• Designate one person to be the spy.
• The spy starts the game by finding something they can see out the window, in the bus or vehicle—and says, “I spy with my little eye, something that…”. 
• Take note that the spy cannot change objects during the game.
• “Something that starts with the letter ___.” Giving out the first letter is the most common way to play the game—and the hardest for people to guess.
• “Something that is the colour ___.” A colour clue is more commonly used if playing with kids, since it makes the guessing easier.
• Another variant is to give out other clues in relation to shape, composition, texture, material, weight or height. But again, this makes the guessing game easier.
• “Is it larger than a bus?”—to which the spy could answer “yes” or “no”.
• “Is it a tree?”
• The spy can answer “yes” if the guess is accurate—or with “hot” (close) or “cold” (not close) to give indications whereas to how close that guess was to the spied object. 
• If the guessing game has been going for a while, the spy can encourage the other players to guess again and give more precise feedback, by responding with “warm” (closer but not close) or “freezing” (totally off-topic).
• Each player takes a turn asking a question or taking a guess and the first person who guesses the correct object wins the game. 
• For the next round, the winner becomes the spy!

Number of Players

You need at least two players to Play I Spy… No maximum!

#2 Best travel board game: road trip bingo for adults

Who doesn’t like bingo? The cool thing about travel bingo is that there are at least two ways to play when you’re on the road—so if you don’t have a pen and paper handy or if you haven’t thought ahead and purchased a card game, you can still play. 

Travel Bingo Game with a list

Equipment needed: pen and paper.

Make sure you have a pen and paper handy. First, solicit everyone’s help to make an exhaustive list of car brands. Then, look out the window and shout (or whisper if you’re on a bus!) BINGO every time you spot a brand that is on the list! Keep count of your findings! The first player to find every brand on the list wins the game. 

Travel Bingo Cards

Equipment needed: travel bingo cards & a pen for each player.

If you like to plan ahead, you’ll love this version of road trip bingo. To play, print out several cards in advance (several websites offer downloadable bingo cards for free!) and simply set up in the bus to play with your friends, just like a normal bingo game! The goal? Checking off items as you see them in your surroundings (hence, the pen) until all the items are checked in one same row of your card… at which point you can discreetly scream, “BINGO!”

#3 Best long drive game: the license plate travel game

With the license plate travel game, you can step up the game and increase the difficulty level as you get better at it. And, if you’re on the road for a long time, this road trip game will definitely provide entertainment for a while. 

The Easy Licence Plate Game 

The easy version of the license plate travel game is to interpret the letters for each license plate you see from your window. Depending on which state or province you travel through, this could be more or less challenging. For instance:

• BN2 Y679 could stand for Barry Never Yells
• 2848 EB could stand for Early Bird

The Licence Plate Travel Game: Expert Version

If you want to step it up a notch, you could incorporate numbers too, and interpret the full license plate. The interpretation could go something like this:

• C84 0UV could stand for Catherine Ate (8) Four Ugly Vermicelli  

License Plate Search

If you get bored with the first two versions of this road trip game, you can change it up and turn your licence plate game into a competition! The goal? To find the most licence plates from different states. To play this last version of the game, you’ll need a pen and paper to jot down your states!

#4 Most poetic road trip game — the rhymes travel game

You’re a poet and you know it? This game is for you! Rhyme away as the road rolls by, playing this fun rhymes road trip game.

Find the most words that rhyme.

• The first player comes up with a one-syllable word and says it out loud.
• Then, the second player has three seconds to come up with a one-syllable word that rhymes with the first word. 
• Watch out, you can’t repeat the same word twice!

For example:

• The first person says “sea”.
• The second person says, “pee”.
• The third person says “she”.

If a person hesitates for more than four seconds, they are eliminated. The last person standing wins. If the game is too easy for you, you can also play with two-syllable, three-syllable and more words!

Although it’s often more fun when you’re playing with four or more people, you can still play if you’re traveling as a duo!

#5 Best verbal games to play—the many versions of the alphabet travel game

There are several ways to play the alphabet game! If the road you are travelling is full of signs (cityscape) or is really stimulating visually, you might want to play the version where the goal is to find objects, words or buildings in your surroundings. If not, you’ll want to pick themes. 

The goal of the alphabet game is to find words for every letter in the alphabet, from A to Z.

Version A: Picking out stuff around you

• Start with the letter A and work your way down to Z.
• A, for Animal
• C, for City
• One word cannot be repeated twice.
• The first player to call out a word that begins with Z wins the game!

Version B: Picking out a theme

This version of the Alphabet Travel Game works if you’re traveling with friends and some of you can see too well out of the window.

Decide on a theme with your travel buddies. To make it fun, think of unconventional themes, such as “partying”, “body parts” or “travel destinations”.

• A for Arizona
• B for Buffalo
• C for California
• Words cannot be repeated and players who can’t come up with a word are disqualified. 
• The first one to make it to Z wins!

This game works starting with two people but can be played in a larger group, too. The more, the merrier!

#6 Best fortune telling game: the superlatives game

The superlatives game is really cool to play if you’re traveling with a group of old friends. What with your history and the diversity of profiles, you’re sure to laugh a lot!

The goal is to find a person to fit every superlative category.

• Most likely to invest in a Ponzi Scheme
• Most likely to get food poisoning
• Then, for each item in the list, vote for which friend fits the bill most.

Equipment : You’ll need a pen and paper to make a list of superlatives.

It’s the most fun to play this game if you’re at least four people traveling together—and ideally 6 to 8!

#7 Best game to test your limits: the “would you rather” game

The Would You Rather Game can be funny, super gross — or both! And if you really want to get the most out of this travel game, ask players to justify their choices. Interesting debates will take place — and you’ll surely have a good laugh.

The goal is to stump other players by giving them an impossible choice.

• Each player takes a turn asking a “Would you rather” question.
• Think of incredibly funny and try to make the choice so difficult that the other players won’t be able to decide. 
• Read a few tough questions to inspire you.
• Every other player has to answer the question.
• If a player can’t answer, they are disqualified. 

Equipment : You don’t need any specific equipment to play the game per se, but you can purchase Would you rather cards .

The more people play, the more fun you’ll have! At least two players are needed.

#8 Best game to play devil’s advocate: the fortunately/unfortunately trip game

This travel game will encourage you to think outside the box and awaken your optimistic or pessimistic side. Quite simple to play, it can lead to some exciting dialogues! And, if you’re feeling a little frisky, you can launch the first “fortunately” in an absurd or daring direction.

The Goal of the Fortunately/Unfortunately Game is to build a story from beginning to end, by alternating optimistic and pessimistic statements.

• The first player starts with making a “fortunately” statement.
• The next player has to reply with an “unfortunately” statement.
• And so on, until the story reaches a conclusion.
• The first player says: “Fortunately, the bus was on time.”
• The second player says: “Unfortunately, we took the wrong one.”
• And so on, alternating with “fortunately” and “unfortunately”.

This game can involve two or more people. If there are only two of you though, we recommend imposing the “fortunately” statements to the most pessimistic person!

#9 Best word game: the “related words” travel game

This word game encourages your brain to make links between things and words. If you play with a couple of friends, you’ll quickly notice that some are really good at looping back to their initial idea, while others get distracted easily. If you’re one of the latter, you can secretly practice playing the related words game on your own time to become better at finding links and looping back!

The Goal of the Related Words Travel Game is to make the quickest link between words to loop back to your initial word.

• To launch the game, a starting word is chosen.
• All participants then think of words that relate to this first word.
• The player with the shortest list of words looping back to the initial word wins the game.
• The starting word could be: “bus”.
• Player #1 could make the following list: “bus, travel, walk, hostel, restaurant, sleep, bus”.
• Player #2 could do: “bus, bus driver, bus station, passenger, bus tickets, bus”
• In this case, Player #2 would be the winner, since he only used 4 words (vs. 5 for Player #1) to loop back to the word “bus”.

Equipment : y ou can play this game by using only your memory, but sometimes it’s easier to make a list and count the number of words using a pen and paper.

Although the game becomes more interesting when three or four people chip in, you can manage with only two players.

#10 Most shocking travel game: the Never Have I Ever Game

The goal of the Never Have I Ever game is to guess if the statements are true or false. And of course, to try and surprise your friends with the most shocking true statements!

• Each participant starts off with their 10 fingers up.
• One by one, each player makes a statement that starts with “Never Have I Ever”. For instance, this could go something like: “Never Have I Ever eaten a frog” or “Never Have I Ever jumped from a plane”.
• All the other players who have done this thing take one finger down. So obviously, the point is to come up with crazy or funny things your friends may have done—but you haven’t.
• If you wish, you can ask the players who have put a finger down to tell their back story—you might hear some pretty interesting things!
• The last person to have any fingers up wins the game.

The game requires at least two people, but there is no maximum number of players. It’s more fun if there are at least five or six people playing, to get a good rhythm going.

Now that you know how to entertain yourself and your friends on your next road trip, visit Busbud and book your bus tickets!

Nice list, i love most of the games. Sometimes when i am bored i open this website and play bus games all ride long!

You forgot to mention the best gangster game! The best game for road trip for me is Ace Gangster 2 game .

I like the story game you shared where we alternate with statements of “fortunately” and “unfortunately.” I’m helping to find a charter bus service to handle the tour for my son’s school group next year. These tips should help everyone have fun on the bus, so I’m excited to use them when the time comes!

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Open Roads review - a pleasant road trip that doesn't go anywhere particularly memorable

A nice brake.

A gentle adventure into a family's secrets that's nicely crafted but over before it really begins.

I had some concerns about Open Roads when I saw a demo of it earlier this year , mostly because in what I saw, nothing much seemed to happen. A teenage girl walked around a house looking at objects and talked to her mother about them. We were promised a family mystery but there was barely any sight of it, and I wondered when it would all kick in. Now having played it, I realise why that was: there wasn't much there to tease to begin with. Open Roads is a slight game, I now know, both in terms of running length and scope. There aren't grand ambitions or wild adventures. Instead, there's a story about smaller details, about the seemingly mundane but no less important moments when relationships change, and about the imprints we leave behind.

In the game, you are Tess, a teenager who serves as the spark in the story. It's her curiosity, following the death of her grandma, that provokes the discovery you'll make, which leads to the adventure you'll have, and it's her tenacity that sees it through. It all begins in your grandma's house, which you and your mother shared with her up until her death, and which you're now packing to leave. Why you're leaving is something you don't immediately know - like so much else in the game, you'll discover it as you go along.

Open Roads almost always goes like this: you walk around an environment looking at any nearby objects, then you find one and it gives you a "Hey Mom!" prompt to call Mum over and have a chat about it. Occasionally you make observations to yourself, and sometimes you message people on your phone, but most of the time, you talk to Mum. She is really the only other character directly present in the game. And really, that's all there is to Open Roads. There are a couple of very minor puzzles and a few dialogue options, but nothing amounting to a puzzle game or choice and consequence.

Open Roads does what little it does very well, though. The production values are high. It's a subtle game but when you hear the birds chirping outside Grandma's house and planes flying distantly overhead, and the home improvements nearby - all as sunlight slants hazily through the window - it conjures a vivid summer's afternoon. And it's the perfect backdrop for slowing you down to the game's pace.

Take the many objects you pick up and look at too: there's an almost obsessive joy in their recreation. The game is set in the noughties and you can feel a longing in the game for them - for a time when smartphones hadn't rewritten the rules of engagement yet. It's a game of tangible memories you can pick up and turn over - of yearbooks and newspaper clippings and, vitally, printed photographs and handwritten letters, they being the evidence that primarily fuels your investigation. From the handwriting on the paper to the rust on tin cans, the objects all look convincingly real.

The game's environments are wonderfully lifelike too, almost photo-realistic, making for a pronounced clash with the paper-flat, magazine cut-out style of the characters. Characters who aren't fully animated, by the way - only partially. They'll gesticulate now and again, and change their body language to match their emotion, but there's no lip-syncing. It sounds jarring, but most of the time it works well enough to ignore. The only times it doesn't is when random gestures play during silent moments, which looks odd, and when the game zooms in and faces go blurry, as if they're out of focus. Again: odd.

The game relies heavily on vocal performances as a result, almost like a radio play, and there's some big-name Annapurna-enabled help. Kaitlyn Dever (Unbelievable, Dopesick) brings much needed energy as Tess, and the decorated Keri Russell (Felicity, The Americans, The Diplomat) brings palpable weariness as the mother Opal. Sometimes the performances veer on cheesy, but there's obvious quality here.

All of which combines to make Open Roads an experience that's pleasant to drift along to. The moment-to-moment uncovering of the mystery and your family history is gently absorbing, and provides the catalyst Opal and Tess need - mother and daughter - to come to some realisations of their own. Those thorny familial realisations are handled maturely and end up in a nice place of understanding, which I appreciate, and likely you'll end up with a warm glow from the game, as I did. It's a nice day out. It's just that as soon as it seems to get going, it's over and you're on your way home.

In some ways, I respect this, because it isn't often that you find many games content with telling short, two-and-a-half hour stories now, and ending there - which are a very welcome relief from the many-dozens-of-hours games out there. But at the same time, there's a lingering sense of: where did the four years of development go? It doesn't seem to add up. Perhaps the volatile Fullbright beginnings of the project took a long time to repair. Regardless, something nice has come from it. It's just not particularly memorable.

A copy of Open Roads was provided for review by Annapurna Interactive.

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Best Road Trip Games 🚗

Easily get bored on the road? All you need are games that’ll keep you entertained and that would be worth your time. Here’s not one, not two, not three but lots of games that’ll make your next road trip your best one yet!

• 🚗   1. Road Trip Trivia
• 🤩   2. Would You Rather
• 5️⃣   3. 5 Second Battle
• 🎵   4. Name the Artist
• 😝   5. 20 Questions Game
• 😎   6. Never Have I Ever

When you’re on the road with family and friends and the destination is far, far away… listening to music and talking just isn’t enough. I hope you’ll packed everything on your road trip packing list. And now, everything you need to do is to play some games to make the trip less boring and kill some quiet time! The following games are great for every family vacation!

Here are some of the best games that will make your road trip one for the book. And yes, there are more creative than the license plate game or the trip car game! Enjoy this list of road trip games!

1. Road Trip Trivia

Anytime is a great time to play the fun game Trivia. What’s so great about it is that you can play it anywhere, too, even in a jam-packed car, thousands of miles ahead of you. It’s one of he most fun car games.

Trivia will keep you and your friends and family members entertained during your next road trip. Keep reading to get to know how to play the game and our collection of questions!

How to Play Road Trip Trivia

Playing the Trivia Game on the road is quite simple. All you need to do is prepare lots of different categories and questions for each category then you will have to take turns asking yourselves the questions.

You can even turn it into a competitive trivia night wherein each correct answer corresponds to a point for the person. The one who gets the highest score wins, make sure you’ve got a piece of paper to keep score. Designate a certain time frame for each question and play Rock Paper Scissor to determine which player gets to answer the first question!

Play Trivia Online

Are you excited to play Trivia games? You don’t have to wait until your next game night or party to play! You can actually play it anytime, anywhere when you feel like it.

The Original Trivia game can be played even when you’re on the road, the questions will test the general knowledge of the players as you travel. Categories can range from current events, science, entertainment and more!

👉 Follow this link to know more about the game and have some awesome and competitive fun on your next online game night: The Original Trivia Game Online!

You can also download our awesome Trivia mobile version for your iOs and Android devices:

Join Trivia Live

Road Trip Trivia Questions

We’ve collected some great road trip Trivia questions for you! Playing Trivia is one of the best games for adults. If you play with kids, make sure to include a simple question or some Yes-or-no questions.

1. Where was pizza made?

2. what is the first color of the rainbow, 3. who is the father of hercules, 4. what do you call a polygon with 12 sides, 5. who invented paper.

• Galileo Galilei
• Marie Curie

👉 Are you looking for more questions? Follow this link for 40+ Geography Trivia Quesions or this link for 35+ History Trivia Questions!

2. Would You Rather

Playing this game will definitely entertain you while you’re traveling to your destination. It doesn’t take too much thinking and will surely perk up sleepy passengers and let everyone have some awesome fun!

This game for road trips is really easy to play. In this article, you’ll  get to know how Would You Rather can be played and different questions! It’s a road trip classic and lots of fun! This is one of the best games for kids!

How to Play Would You Rather

This amusing game will let you explore your family and friends’ preferences in food, style, places, movies, music, and more while you’re on your way to your destination! All you need to do is ask each player a “Would You Rather” question that will make them choose between two options. And then have fun with the answers to questions!

👉 Follow this link to get to know every amusing detail on how to play Would You Rather!

Play Would You Rather Online

Wanna play Would You Rather now? You can play it online with our app or download your very own for your Android or iPhone!

Play Online

Best Would You Rather Road Trip Questions

Here are some of the best Would You Rather Road Trip questions that will really make you think:

1. Would you rather sleep with anyone or sleep alone?

No judgment here, honey.

2. Would you rather spend on a concert VIP ticket or splurge on a shopping spree?

One’s pleasure is different from another’s.

3. Would you rather eat raw fish or raw egg?

It’s all about the raw and organic, baby.

4. Would you rather travel to Asia or Europe?

It depends on what’s your origin and your taste for food and weather.

5. Would you rather be a pop star or a famous novelist?

It’s like choosing between becoming Taylor Swift or JK Rowling.

6. Would you rather have a personal chef or a personal trainer?

If you could afford it, both!

7. Would you rather have a job with long hours or a job with short hours?

It depends on how much free time you want to have outside of work.

8. Would you rather go to Los Angeles or New York City?

We hope you don’t mean for vacation, because if so, it isn’t an either-or question.

9. Would you rather date someone who is wealthy or someone who is cultured?

Money can’t buy you love, but it can certainly help you find it.

10. Would you rather go to a concert or a comedy show?

Hm, this is a tough one. Maybe both?

👉 Here can you find out more about one of our favorite games: The Would You Rather Game!

3. 5 Second Battle

The shortest game you’ll ever play… Literally in just around five seconds! This classic road trip game is not only fun and easy to play, but it’s also a good way to keep your brain sharp and fit!

All you need is your phone, a timer app, and of course, the game rules. You’ll get to know more about how 5 Second Rule can be played  below!

How to Play 5 Second Battle

All you need to remember in playing one of the best travel games is to answer a question within five seconds. All questions start with “Name 3…” followed by any category. Within five seconds, the player in the hot seat should be able to answer the question. Failure to give three examples in five seconds will mean that you’ll lose the game.

Best 5 Second Battle Questions

Here are some of the best 5 Second Battle questions:

1. Name 3 characters of Game of Thrones .

Let’s see if you can still remember the names of Jon, Dany and Sansa that fast!

2. Name 3 types of animal.

If you’re a animal lover then this will be a piece of cake.

3. Name 3 Victoria Secret models.

Don’t you forget about Karlie Kloss, Gigi Hadid, Kendall Jenner and Tyra Banks!

4. Name 3 brands of shoes.

This is one of the easier categories.

5. Name 3 cities in France.

You might think this one’s easy but it gets harder with the time pressure.

6. Name 3 breeds of dogs.

From the German shepherd to the bulldog, we’ve got you covered.

7. Name 3 National Parks.

Let’s go!

8. Name 3 things you can put in a toaster.

We figure, if you’re playing this game, we don’t need to tell you what goes into a toaster.

#### 9. Name 3 types of cereal. From Cheerios to Wheaties, we’re sure you can name more than three!

10. Name 3 Olympic athletes.

Michael Phelps, Simone Biles and Usain Bolt, anyone?

👉 This way for more information about 5 Second Battle!

4. Name the Artist

Everyone loves to talk about their favorite artists, especially when you’re on a road trip listening to their music. There are actually different ways to play the Name the Artist game!

How to Play Name the Artist

One way to play the game is just to play some songs on the radio and compete on who gets to name the artist who sang the song first. So, it’s just like radio roulette. Another way is for each of you to sing a song and the others to name the artist of the song.

Tip: If you want to make it more interesting, make them guess the song titles as well!

Play Charades Online

This memory game is much like the Charades game since you’re supposed to guess someone’s name but instead of acting like a mime to give your clue, you must sing the song.

You don’t have to wait until the next party to play Charades with your family and friends. Play it anytime and anywhere with our online version of this perfect game for kids and adults. Follow the link below!

Play Charades Online!

You can also download the Charades apps for Android and iOs:

Play Charades online

Best Name the Artist Ideas

Here are some of the best Name the Artist ideas that you can use on your next road trip. Just choose among these interesting and famous people:

1. Taylor Swift

She’s got countless hit songs and she’s a total charmer!

2. Billie Eilish

One of the most popular singers today, Billie Eilish is sure to get your heart racing with her music.

3. Elvis Presley

Who doesn’t know Elvis Presley? He is known for being one of the greatest artists in history.

4. Selena Gomez

The former Disney star is all grown up and she’s got a voice that’ll make you swoon.

5. Shawn Mendez

More than just a singer, Shawn Mendez is also an actor and model.

6. Ed Sheeran

One of the best songwriters in the world, Ed Sheeran’s got an infectious charm that you can’t help but love.

7. Michael Jackson

He’s the King of Pop, so it shouldn’t be too hard to guess who he is.

8. Katy Perry

Katy Perry has been an iconic pop queen for over a decade, so she’s got to be included on this list.

9. Willy Nelson

The country music legend needs no introduction.

10. One Direction

This boy band might have disbanded but their music will always be loved by fans all over the world.

👉 If you want to get to know more about Charades , there you go!

5. 20 Questions Game

Another road trip game that will hook you for quite some time. Perfect for a setting wherein the players have nothing to do but think, think, think. Since you have nothing else to do while you’re in the car on a long drive, you’re gonna love this!

👉 Have you heard about the 21 Questions Game ? Follow the link and find out how awesome of a game it is!

How to Play 20 Questions Game

You must all take turns thinking about something or someone. The other players should try to guess the thing/person/place you’re thinking about by asking 20 questions or less that you will be answering with only a yes or no .

Best Questions for 20 Questions

It’s story time! Here are some of the best questions you can use for your 20 Questions Game :

1. Is it a person?

This will narrow down our choices to people you know or people you see on TV which turns out to be harder than you thought it would be.

2. Is it a thing?

If it is then you better start with the different categories for things/stuff.

3. Do we use it everyday?

If we do then it’s gonna be a lot easier for you!

4. Do we see him/her on TV?

Famous celebrity? Politicians? News Anchor?

5. Does it start with the letter __?

This can be pretty useful when you already have a certain answer in mind and you just wanna be sure about it. Kind’a like cheating on a game!

6.  Is it bigger than a bread box?

This is one of the classics and will always get people laughing.

7.  Is it older than me?

This is a good question to stump your friends with.

8.  Does it have a motor?

If it doesn’t then it’s probably not a car or bike.

9.  Can I drink it?

Can’t you drink everything?

10.  Does it have a plug?

This is a question for more modern devices.

6. Never Have I Ever

This is probably one of everyone’s favorite classic games. It is actually a getting-to-know-you game and is all about knowing your family and friends’ experiences in life. Playing this game on the road would surely be a perfect bonding for everyone.

How to Play Never Have I Ever

Someone starts the game by saying “Never have I ever… (followed by something he/she has never done before)” and then everyone who has done it must do a consequence agreed to by everyone. For example, if you’re on a road trip then that person should be the driver for the next hour or something like that.

The game goes on as agreed and the next person gives his or her statement. It can go on and on until players want it to or in this case, until you reach your destination! This classic party game has definitely created a lot of fun memories and friends that are closer than ever!

Play Never Have I Ever Online

Wanna play Never Have I Ever now? You can play it online with our app or download your very own for your Android or iPhone!

• Never Have I Ever Online

Play Never Have I Ever online

Best Never Have I Ever Questions

Here are some of the best Never Have I Ever questions you can use on your next road trip game:

1. Never have I ever driven a car blindfolded.

And anyone who has should consider himself crazy!

2. Never have I ever eaten ice cream with beer.

Beer floats surely do taste weird if you try to imagine it.

3. Never have I ever hated someone.

Oh ye of a heart of gold!

4. Never have I ever farted in public.

If you have any plans to do so, just pray it won’t smell!

5. Never have I ever written a poem.

Writing is liberating, try it!

6. Never have I ever played with a Barbie doll.

No judgment please!

7. Never have I ever worn the same outfit on consecutive days.

If you haven’t, are you sure you are not a fashion blogger?

8. Never have I ever slept in the nude.

Weird flex but okay.

9. Never have I ever lied to someone.

This is like the most common thing that people do, but hey! It’s forbidden. So yeah…

10. Never have I ever been to a movie alone.

Going out of your comfort zone every once in a while is good for you!

Aren’t you a lot more excited right now to go on your next trip and play those games? Experience a road trip so legendary that you would never want to reach your destination!

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