16 Road Trip Games for Adults That Are Actually Fun
Updated: Oct. 27, 2023
Driving for hours is great and all—until you'd rather be stuck on jury duty. Fight restlessness and boredom on your next long car ride with fun road trip games for adults.
The summer season is one of the very best for traveling across the country or taking an epic West Coast road trip. But after a few hours of blasting your passenger’s favorite playlist, cruising with the windows down or indulging in some homemade road trip snacks, boredom will inevitably kick in.
Here’s what to do when you can’t take another hour in the car!
20 Questions
Long road trips are a perfect time to find out how well you actually know your road trip passengers. During this game of 20 Questions, one of the players must choose a fellow passenger (or a celebrity!) without revealing their identity. The other players can only ask up to 20 questions to figure out who the secret person is. The questions can range from easy to obscure, like what their favorite frozen summer treat is.
Story Time
In this road trip game that’s catered toward more creative personalities, passengers can kill time by making up their very own story. One person starts off by saying a word that begins a story, and the rest of the group must take turns tacking on just one more word to complete the sentences. It’s hilarious to see how the story ends!
Name the Song
Chances are, music buffs will have their favorite old-school songs blasting during road trips. To play Name the Song, one passenger has to simply say a song lyric aloud while the others have to try and guess what song it is. In another version of the game, one passenger can play just a snippet of a song—and the rest of the group is left to figure out what song it is, and which artist sings it.
Going on a Picnic
If you have a bad memory, you probably won’t do so well during a round of Going on a Picnic. The first person must begin the game by saying the phrase, “I’m going on a picnic and I’m bringing…” Then, they end the sentence by stating what delicious food item they’ll be packing in their metaphorical picnic basket. The following players must re-state the entire phrase, remembering which item the person before them is bringing and adding something else to go along with it. Whoever gets it wrong must sit out the next round.
The License Plate Game
The License Plate Game is a true road trip classic—and it’s really great for those who are traveling across the country. All players must write down every license plate they see from a different state on a piece of paper, and the person that has the most at the end of the car ride wins. Crank the game up a notch by awarding extra points to the players who can name the capital city of that state, or the most iconic food that a state is known for. If the driver wants to join in, create a collective list.
I Spy
Take a trip down memory lane with this nostalgic road trip game. Alternating throughout the game, one player must give a clue—usually a simple physical description, like the color of an item—of something that they see out the car window while driving. The other players have to guess what it is that they’re talking about, whether it’s a popular fast food sign or a tree you’re passing.
Would You Rather?
This is one of the best road trip games for adults. Friends, couples and siblings alike will probably end up laughing (or cringing) at some point during a game of Would You Rather. Players must break off into pairs, then take turns asking each other which of two scenarios they would prefer to pursue. You can opt for something like two dramatic life-or-death situations, or ask your fellow passenger to choose between two equally strange foods.
Road Trip Trivia
Each state that you drive through has some pretty deep history. Designate a person as the “host” during a round of Road Trip Trivia, and have them ask the passengers in the car specific questions that pertain to the state or city you’re all traveling through.
Car Bingo
Before you embark on a road trip, DIY your very own bingo boards. Fill each grid with makes and models of vehicles you’ll most likely pass during your trip. At the beginning of the ride, hand out the bingo boards—along with a pen or pencil. Whoever gets bingo first, wins!
Guess the Time
When you’ve eaten all of the road trip snacks you packed and have slept until there’s no way it’s possible for you to be tired, take turns guessing the time you’ll arrive at your final destination. Whoever guessed the right time (or the closest to it), is the winner.
The Movie Game
The first player begins this game by naming an actor, and the next player has to think of a movie the actor has been in—bonus points if the movie is about food! The next player must think of another actor who has been in that same movie, and the subsequent player has to state a new movie that actor has been in. Keep playing until someone can’t think of an actor or movie, then start again.
The Alphabet Game
In this simple but fun game, car passengers have to take turns finding a billboard or sign that has each letter of the alphabet. Just wait until you get to X, Y and Z!
The Hot Seat
Have you ever wanted to grill one of your fellow passengers but never got the opportunity to do so? In the game of The Hot Seat, each passenger has to take a turn being asked five questions that they normally would never want to answer out loud.
Never Have I Ever
Never Have I Ever is played exactly as it sounds. The passengers who choose to play a round of this game have to hold up five fingers. One person starts by saying a phrase that they’ve never done, and the rest of the players must either keep their fingers up, or put one finger down if they have done it. The first person to make a fist is out.
The Rhyming Game
To play The Rhyming Game, one player has to choose a word, and the other players must take turns stating a word that rhymes with it. You can also make this even more challenging by using categories, like Italian food terms. If someone can’t think of a rhyming word or repeats a word, they’re out.
The Quiet Game
Even though it might sound like the easiest, The Quiet Game will challenge the most chatty passengers in the car—whether they’re children or adults. The driver must decide a certain time frame, and the rest of the passengers have to remain silent. Whoever speaks or laughs first loses!
Originally Published: June 20, 2019
