Long stretches in the car are much easier when everyone has something to do besides watch the miles tick by. Family road trip games can turn an ordinary drive into part of the vacation, giving kids, teens, and adults something they can enjoy together without relying on screens the entire time.
Many of the easiest games require no supplies at all, while others need nothing more than a pencil and a simple checklist. Before leaving home, packing snacks, chargers, comfort items, and a few easy-to-reach activities with your family road trip essentials can also help prevent boredom from turning into frustration halfway through the drive.
Classic Family Road Trip Games
Some road trip games have been around for generations because they are easy to learn and can be adapted for almost any age. They are especially useful when you want something everyone in the vehicle can play together.
1. The Alphabet Game
Start with the letter A and look outside the vehicle for each letter of the alphabet in order. Road signs, billboards, businesses, license plates, and buildings can all count.
Younger children can work together with the rest of the family, while older kids and adults can compete to see who reaches Z first. Letters such as Q, X, and Z usually make the game much more challenging than it sounds.
2. I Spy
One person chooses something visible and gives everyone else a clue beginning with, “I spy with my little eye something…” followed by a color or another characteristic. Everyone takes turns guessing until someone identifies the object.
During a moving road trip, choose things inside the vehicle or objects that will remain visible for a while. A distant hill, a large truck ahead, or something inside the car works better than an object that disappears before anyone gets a chance to guess.
3. The License Plate Game
Watch the vehicles around you and keep track of the different state license plates you find during the trip. The family can work together toward one list or compete to see who spots each new state first.
Longer drives and interstate travel make this game particularly entertaining because the collection can grow throughout the vacation. Let a passenger keep the list so the driver can stay focused on the road.
Games That Require Nothing but Imagination
No-supplies games are some of the easiest entertainment to keep in your back pocket because there is nothing to pack, lose, charge, or clean up.
| Game | Best For | Supplies |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Questions | school-age kids through adults | none |
| Would You Rather? | all ages | none |
| Who Am I? | school-age kids through adults | none |
| The Story Game | all ages | none |
| This or That | all ages | none |
4. 20 Questions
One player secretly chooses a person, place, animal, or object. Everyone else has up to 20 yes-or-no questions to figure out the answer.
Questions such as “Is it alive?” or “Would you find it inside a house?” can quickly narrow the possibilities. Make the categories easier for younger children or increasingly obscure when teens and adults are playing.
5. Would You Rather?
Take turns giving everyone two choices and asking which one they would rather pick. Questions can be silly, vacation-related, or surprisingly difficult.
Would you rather swim with dolphins or ride a roller coaster? Spend a week at the beach or in the mountains? Have a pet dinosaur or a pet dragon?
There does not need to be a winner. The fun comes from hearing everyone’s answers and the inevitable debate over which choice is clearly better.
6. Who Am I?
Choose a famous person, fictional character, athlete, musician, or someone familiar to everyone in the car. The other players ask yes-or-no questions until someone figures out the identity.
Cartoon and movie characters work well for younger children. With older kids, the possibilities can expand to celebrities, athletes, historical figures, and characters from favorite television shows.
7. The Story Game
One person begins a story with a sentence, and each passenger adds one sentence when it is their turn. No one gets to control where the story goes next.
A perfectly normal vacation story can quickly involve talking animals, treasure maps, aliens, pirates, or a mysterious restaurant on the side of the highway. Letting each person take the story in an unexpected direction is what makes the game entertaining.
8. This or That
This or That is similar to Would You Rather but works best with quick choices instead of elaborate scenarios.
Try:
- Beach or mountains?
- Pizza or tacos?
- Sunrise or sunset?
- Theme parks or water parks?
- Hotel or vacation rental?
- Pool or ocean?
- Road trip or cruise?
- Dogs or cats?
Vacation-related questions can even spark ideas for things everyone wants to do once you arrive.
Road Trip Games That Use What You See
Looking out the window becomes much more interesting when the scenery is part of the game. This is also an easy way to break up stretches when everyone has had enough music, movies, or tablets.
9. Road Trip Scavenger Hunt
Create a list before leaving home and see how many items you can find along the way. Younger children may enjoy having their own printed list, while the entire family can also work together from one master list.
Look for things such as:
- A motorcycle
- A red truck
- A bridge
- A train
- A water tower
- A dog riding in another vehicle
- A state flag
- A farm
- A camper or RV
- A construction vehicle
- A funny billboard
- A restaurant you have never visited
Change the list based on the type of trip you are taking. A drive through rural areas will offer different things to find than a highway connecting major cities.
10. Spot the Color
Spot the Color works especially well for younger children who may not be ready for alphabet or word games. Choose a color and have everyone search outside for something that matches it.
Once someone finds the color, choose another. Older kids can make the game harder by searching for combinations such as a yellow truck, green building, or blue sign.
11. Guess the Destination
This one works well when your vacation includes multiple stops or you want kids to learn a little more about where they are going.
Give clues about an upcoming destination without saying its name. You might mention what it is known for, something you plan to do there, the type of scenery you expect to see, or a famous attraction.
Keep adding clues until someone guesses correctly.
Memory and Music Games
When the scenery becomes repetitive, switch to games that have nothing to do with what is outside the window. Mixing different kinds of entertainment is one of the easiest ways to enjoy a family road trip without expecting one activity to hold everyone’s attention for hours.
12. I’m Going on a Road Trip
The first player says, “I’m going on a road trip, and I’m bringing…” followed by an item beginning with A.
The next player repeats that item and adds something beginning with B. Each person must repeat every previous item before adding the next letter.
By the middle of the alphabet, the imaginary packing list can become surprisingly difficult to remember.
13. Name That Tune
Choose someone to control the music and play only the opening seconds of a song. The first person to correctly name it earns a point, with an optional bonus point for naming the artist.
Different rounds can feature:
- Movie soundtracks
- Disney songs
- Music from different decades
- Television theme songs
- Current favorites
- Songs everyone associates with past vacations
A family playlist with music from different generations can keep one person from dominating every round.
Games That Can Keep Going for Miles
Some games are perfect for filling five minutes, while others can continue off and on throughout an entire drive.
14. The Category Game
Choose a category such as animals, foods, movies, sports teams, vacation destinations, or things found at the beach. Players take turns naming something that belongs in the category without repeating an answer.
Anyone who repeats an item or cannot come up with a new one is out. Continue until one player remains.
For a more challenging version, combine categories with the alphabet. If the category is animals, answers might begin with alligator for A, bear for B, camel for C, and continue through the alphabet.
15. The Quiet Game With a Goal
The Quiet Game can be more entertaining when there is a definite finish line instead of an undefined period of silence.
Choose something ahead, such as the next exit, bridge, rest area, or state line. Everyone has to remain completely silent until the vehicle reaches it, and the first person who talks loses.
It can provide a welcome reset after everyone has been talking, singing, guessing, and debating for the past hour.
Mix Games With Other Road Trip Entertainment
Road trip games do not need to entertain everyone for the entire drive. Movies, audiobooks, playlists, coloring books, individual activities, conversation, snacks, and quiet time can all have a place during a long travel day.
Switching between activities before kids become completely bored tends to work better than waiting until everyone is already restless. Planning breaks is important too; AAA recommends taking regular breaks on long drives, and its road trip guidance for families suggests stopping about every two hours or 100 miles.
The drive itself can also be part of the experience. Building enough flexibility into the day for breaks, interesting stops, and a few spontaneous detours can make a long road trip easier to enjoy instead of treating every mile as something to get through.
Keep Road Trip Games Safe for Everyone
The games are for entertainment, but the driver’s attention needs to stay on driving. Passengers should handle scorekeeping, playlists, phones, scavenger-hunt lists, and anything else that requires looking away from the road.
Everyone should remain properly restrained while playing. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s road trip safety recommendations emphasize buckling every passenger in an age- and size-appropriate car seat, booster seat, or seat belt.
Family road trip games do not need to be elaborate to make a long drive more enjoyable. Keep several different ideas available, change games when everyone’s interest starts to fade, and leave room for music, conversation, quiet time, and simply watching the scenery go by. Some of the memories from a family vacation can happen long before you reach the destination.