21 Best Car Games For Road Trips All Adults Utterly Love!

When the road trip is too long, at some point, the music doesn’t help, you run out of conversations, and looking through the window gets boring. There’s only one solution: playing a good car game! They kill the boredom, bring many laughs, and make the road trips feel way shorter than they actually are. Of course, we made a list of such road trip games, and you’ll meet them in a second!

• The car games:

1. Contact;
2. The Suitcase Game;
3. 21 Questions;
4. Ghost;
5. Hum The Tune;
6. The License Plate;
7. Fortunately, Unfortunately;
8. OneMinute;
9. Hot Seat;
10. I Spy;
11. Number Play;
12. Senseless;
13. Sleeping Beauty;
14. Road Trip Bingo;
15. The Movie Game;
16. Never Have I Ever;
17. One Word, One Answer;
18. Odd Or Even;
19. Punch Buggy;
20. The iPod Game;
21. Black Stories;

• Final thoughts;

1. Contact

How to play ‘Contact’:

To play this car game, which by the way is very famous on TikTok (watch it here), players take turns to think of a word and give the group only the first letter of that word. Other players take time to think about what the word could be and guess. The player who gave the letter, may give clues, or answer questions about the word they’ve thought of. If at any point, one player thinks they’ve guessed the word, they shout ‘contact’, and on the count of three, that player & the one who thought the word (the thinker), say it at the same time. If incorrect, the ‘thinker’ gives the second letter, and players guess again until the word is guessed correctly.

2. The Suitcase Game

How to play ‘The Suitcase Game’:

Don’t worry, you won’t need an actual suitcase… This is pretty simple and is a great game for 2 players. The thing about this game is that the first player will start by saying ‘I’m going on a trip, packing my suitcase & I’m bringing _____’ and adding something that starts with A. The next person will repeat the whole sentence, and name something that starts with B, and so on, until you’ve said words for all letters of the alphabet. Whoever can’t think of a word, forgets what the previous player said, or takes too long to answer, loses. 

3. 21 Questions

How to play ‘21 Questions’:

I’m pretty sure you’ve already heard, if not played ‘21 Questions’. The game is all about getting to know each other, by asking fun & personal questions. So, borrow questions from our ’21 Questions’ list, and ask them out loud in the car. Now, you may take turns answering, one question per player, or just let everyone answer the same questions. Not only do you kill the boredom and make the miles go fast, but you’ll also get to know each other way deeper. 

4. Ghost

How to play ‘Ghost’:

Well, the point of Ghost is building words, but not completing them, even if this sounds strange. Simply, the first player starts by saying one random letter, which will be one of the letters of a word. The next player, adds another letter, and so on. But, if you’ve added a letter, and already have ‘ALK’, you shouldn’t add ‘T’ and complete the word ‘Talk’. Instead, you may add another ‘A’, and make it ‘ALKA’. If any of the players think that one player has already completed a word, they may challenge them. If they can’t come up with a word created from the letters used so far, they receive one letter from the word ‘Ghost’. The first player to get all the letters (spell Ghost) is the loser. 

5. Hum The Tune

How to play ‘Hum The Tune’:

Just imagine how awful car rides would be without music!!! To play ‘Hum The Tune’, players take turns humming popular songs (or not so), without giving any clue on the singer or the name of the song. Then, everyone from the group can guess about the song & join you in humming. When everyone is humming together, or if someone can’t really guess, you sing along, but this time using the lyrics too, and let someone say the name of the song & the artist. You may play as long as you want. 

6. The License Plate

How to play ‘The License Plate’:

The License Plate is one classic that never goes out of style. This is great when you’re having a long ride because the point is finding the most country license plates. So, while looking on the road, you write down all the states you’ve found on plates (NC, Alaska, Alabama, and so on). You may either use paper and pens, but the Notes app works just as fine. Once your trip is over, you check who’s found the most, and that player is the winner.  We recommend the driver doesn’t play unless someone else writes the states for them. 

7. Fortunately, Unfortunately

How to play ‘Fortunately, Unfortunately’:

This one is just like the story games (similar to I’m Going To The Bar), but definitely destined for road trips. The first player must start by saying ‘Once upon a time _______’, and add something of their own. The next player says ‘Unfortunately ______’ and adds a fictional bad thing that could’ve happened. The next player says ‘fortnately____’, and adds a good thing. This goes continuously, until whenever someone messes up or takes too long to say another fact, and loses the game. This way, you’ve created a completely made-up, hilarious story! 

8. OneMinute

How to play ‘OneMinute’:

We all have that one friend who can talk non-stop. This game is just the right one for them to show their talent, lol. So, in the OneMinute game, players take turns to talk about 1 word, for 1 minute straight. The word is picked by the group, and it can be anything: football, lamp, telephone, basically the most random things ever. Players on their turn aren’t allowed to say ‘umm’, or take too long to continue talking, otherwise, they’re out. It may sound stupid, but this can also work as a single-player game, you know, proving points to yourself. 

9. Hot Seat

How to play ‘Hot Seat’:

See that girl checking on her phone? She’s probably reading some of our thought-provoking questions! We’ve talked about Hot Seat several times, but we didn’t really see what a great car game it is. To play, people in the car take turns being in the hot seat (they don’t really move seats though), meaning, it’s their time to answer questions. The group asks them up to 20 questions, and they must answer sincerely. All players must be in the hot seat once before the game ends. 

10. I Spy

How to play ‘I Spy’:

Who knew that a kids’ game could be this fun even for adults? In a round, one player becomes the spy, and selects one object, without announcing what it is. Then, they say ‘I spy with my little eye something that is _______’, and give a clue. For instance, if it’s a fire station, you may say ‘I spy with my little eye something that is red’, and give the group time to guess. If they can’t guess, you may give other clues, but one clue at a time. Once they guess the object you selected, the round ends, and the guesser becomes the spy of the new round. 

11. Number Play

How to play ‘Number Play’:

What are the things we see most on the road? License plates, obviously. In this game, you have to look at the 2 letters in the plates and think of the longest word that starts with the first letter and ends with the second one. For instance, if the license plate says ‘AM’, the word could be ‘alarm’. You get the point. However, you only get 15 to 20 seconds to think of the word, and whoever says the longest word, wins the round. Then you continue with another license plate you find.

12. Senseless

How to play ‘Senseless’:

Senseless is pretty challenging but indeed fun! Once again, you’ll create a made-up story. However, here’s the thing: players take turns to add sentences to the story, but only use words that start with the first letter of their name. For instance, if you have a friend, let’s say, named Abby, she may only say apple, animal, alligator, or whatever words. However, if a player says a word with the wrong letter, or takes too long to come up with a word, loses. Ps. If there are 2 people whose names start with the same letter, use their last name’s first letter instead. 

13. Sleeping Beauty

How to play ‘Sleeping Beauty’:

If you find the game as ‘When You Were Sleeping’, know that we’re talking about the same thing! The target is the person who sleeps fastest in your group (hopefully not the driver), so make sure they have no clue about this game. Wait for them to fall asleep, and after 5 minutes, let all other people add sentences, and make a made-up story about what happened while that one player was sleeping. When they’re awake, tell them the story, and make them believe it. If a player breaks character, they lose a point. If the sleeping beauty gets fooled, each player gets 3 points, but if he/she fools the group, gets the total points. Whoever has the most points, wins.

14. Road Trip Bingo – $6.00

How to play ‘Road Trip Bingo’:

Well, printable games are a blast, always! All you have to do is get the game, download it before heading to the road trip, and then give everyone one playing sheet. While on the road, you have to check for the items on the sheet and mark them. The first player to complete a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line of items found, wins the game! It’s important that you don’t announce out loud the items you see, but only write them down, since otherwise you can’t pick a winner. Ps. unfortunately the driver can’t play. Unless they have superpowers: drive & write at the same time… 

15. The Movie Game

How to play ‘The Movie Game’:

Such games (and not only movie drinking games) always bring tons of fun. To play the movie game on your road trip, let someone name a famous actor/actress. Then, taking turns, name 5 movies they played in. After saying the fifth movie, mention another actor that plays in that movie, and again, mention 5 other movies that the actor acts in. This continues until you run out of ideas, or someone messes up, meaning, they can’t name a movie or actor/actress. You’re welcome! 

16. Never Have I Ever

How to play ‘Never Have I Ever’:

Well, Never Have I Ever has proved itself that it can be a blast, even if it’s played on a game night or a road trip. To start the game, read our Never Have I Ever list of questions, and pick 15-20 of your favorites. Then, ask them out loud, and everyone has to answer with either ‘I have’ or ‘I have never’. Questions may either be fun, random, or personal, so you get to know each other a bit better. Ps. Make sure you’re not playing the drinking version though. Especially not the driver! 

17. One Word, One Answer

How to play ‘One Word, One Answer’:

This one’s from our couples games, for all our lovely couples who want to hit the road. The game is simple: taking turns, you have to say one word, that is the answer to a question related to your relationship. For instance, you might say the date of your anniversary (e.g. 9th of October) only, and your partner should guess that you said the anniversary. Back and forth, you add words and actually rewrite your love story. Isn’t this super romantic?

18. Odd Or Even

How to play ‘Odd Or Even’:

We promise, this is the last game that features license plates. Now, when a car comes your way, you have to guess if the number on their plate is odd or even. Once you actually see it, everyone who guessed correctly gets a point. Continue this until the end of your road trip, but don’t forget to keep track of the points. Before arriving at your destination, check the points, and whoever has the most, is the winner of ‘Odd Or Even’. Indeed, it’s a great game for small groups.

19. Punch Buggy

How to play ‘Punch Buggy’:

Punch Buggy is one of my comfort games, really. The first step of the game is deciding on an item you’ll see during the road trip: cows, blue cars, trees, or any others. Now, every time you see that specific item, you have to punch the player next to you. So, the first player to see the item punches, and it’s over for that round. Ps. Don’t try to release all your anger in these punches though. It’s only a game, innit?

20. The iPod Game

How to play ‘The iPod Game’:

The iPod Game (which is similar to Name The Tune’), ideally requires an iPod, to make the game more enjoyable. Now, plug the iPod on your car, and shuffle the songs. You all compete to guess the name of the song for 1 point, but, if the artist & the album of the song is guessed as well, you get additional points. The good thing about using an iPod is that you probably haven’t used that in years, and have no idea what’s in it, plus, it contains old sons you’ve probably forgotten about. However, it could be played using a Spotify playlist as well.

21. Dark Stories 

How to play ‘Dark Stories’:

Somehow, game apps have a special place in our hearts. To play Dark Stories, you must download the app first (available on the App Store and Google Play) before heading on your road trip. The idea of the game is to solve fictional crime stories. Therefore, there will be one narrator, and the others will be the solvers. The narrator reads the story, and the solution, but keeps the latter only to themselves. The solvers may ask questions, which the narrator may only answer with yes, no, or with ‘it’s not relevant’. If the story gets guessed, the narrator reads the full solution, so concludes that the mystery’s solved. 

Final Thoughts

There’s only one way to make the miles feel like they’re a blink of an eye, and that’s by playing games for a road trip. They’re simple to play, require absolutely no extra equipment, and make everyone participate. However, make sure that you don’t play anything that disturbs the driver since the most important thing is undoubtedly your safety. Xoxo, us!