Road trips are something we do a lot in our family. Whether its a 2-4 hour drive across the state for a fun excursion or a two day drive across country to visit family our Transit has put on some miles over the years!
And while I’m not against pulling out some screens to help make it through the rough patches, we try to delay pulling the screens out for as long as possible on each drive.
That’s where these no-prep car games come in handy! No materials, nothing to lose, no clean up. Just imagination, laughter, and the occasional dramatic shout (see: Why Am I Scared?)
These games are perfect for road trips, school pickups, or anytime you need to turn the backseat into a boredom-free zone. Designed for all ages and something the driver can play along with too!
They’re a great reminder that fun isn’t something you buy, it’s something you bring.
The best memories often come from nothing more than a good attitude and a little imagination. When you show up with a playful spirit, even a traffic jam or a 26 hour road trip can turn into a game, a laugh, and a story you and your kids will talk about for years.
No-Prep Car Games Your Family Will Love
1. Why Am I Scared?
This is a game we made up on our recent road trip and we cry laughed so hard! It’s like I Spy, but on going. Everyone in the car can play along too!
Have everyone secretly choose something to be afraid of. These should be things you’ll see on your road trip somewhat, but not too frequently. It could be a color like red, an object like a water tower or specific store, construction signs, whatever you want to be “afraid” of. Every time a player sees that thing on the drive, they give a little scared shout. “AAAh!” And everyone tries to figure out what it was they were afraid of. At first, it will be tricky, but the longer you drive, you’ll notice things that are the same each time that person is scared. When your fear is correctly identified you can choose a new one!
2. Car Quidditch
This is perfect for any Potterheads you might be riding with. It’s a favorite of ours for shorter drives across town. The scoring is super adaptable, so you can make it as simple or as complicated as your crew would like! Games can take minutes or hours, just like real quidditch!
Goal: Score points by spotting different types of vehicles and “catching” the Golden Snitch.
Divide your car into two House teams. (Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin) Choose a set number of time for rounds. 2-3 minutes works well in town, 5 minutes works great on the highway.
Red Cars = Quaffle, Score 10 points
Motorcycles = Bludger, Subtract 10 points from other team *
Yellow Car = Snitch, Score 150 points, end the game.
All cars must be driving on the road to count. They cannot be parked in a parking lot.
Teams switch off playing. Whenever you see a red car, call out “red car” and add the 10 points to your total. When you see a motorcycle, call out “Motorcycle, subtract 10” and the other team subtracts 10 points. If you see a yellow car on your turn, call out “Snitch!” to catch the snitch. Add 150 points to your score and the game ends. The team with the most points wins.
*Adjust the game to fit your needs. Switch up what type of cars count for each thing, example: when driving on the highway, use red semis and yellow semis for Quaffles and Snitches. If you don’t want to worry about taking points away from the other team, eliminate the motorcycles entirely. Or, to keep both teams invested, have the opposing team able to deflect a Bludger by calling out the motorcycle first before the active team. The goal is to have fun!
3. Category Crawl
Pick a category (food, animals, places, etc.) Go in a rotation around the car and name items in that category in alphabetical order. Example: apple, banana, carrot… If someone gets stuck, they’re out for the round. Keep naming items in the category until there’s only one player left! Choose a new category and go again!
Don’t want to go in alphabetical order? No problem! Just name items in that category in any order as you think of them.
And if you’d rather not think of categories off the cuff, the game Mister Lister’s Quiz Shootout takes this concept and turns it into a trivia game! It’s a road trip favorite!
4. I’m Packing my Suitcase (Memory Game)
Each player adds an item to the list of things that are getting packed in a suitcase. You can play where the items you pack need to be packed in alphabetical order, “I’m packing my suitcase and I’m bringing apples, books, cards…” or you can say items that begin with any letter. Go around the car with each player repeating the full packing list each time and adding a new item on their turn. If you forget the order of the items in the suitcase you’re out.
Theme the suitcase around what you’re doing, “I’m packing my suitcase for Disney and I’m bringing Mickey Ears, park tickets, camera…”
5. I’m Going on a Trip (Guessing Game)
The object of the game is for players to discover what can be taken on the trip.
One player secretly chooses the rule for what things are allowed to come on the trip. Example Rules: Things that are red, things that can fit in a purse, things that you can eat, things that start with the same letter, things you’d bring to the beach etc.
The player who thought of the rule begins by saying “I’m going on a trip and I’m bringing _____” and say something that could be brought on the trip. Then the players who do not know the rule, take turns guessing by saying “I’m going on a trip and I’m bringing ______” and if the thing they say can go on the trip, rule maker says “You can go” or if it cannot they say “You can’t go.”
Continue taking turns with everyone, including the rule maker until players correctly guess the rule. Then select another player to make the rule and go again!
6. Crambo (Rhyming + Guessing)
The goal is to guess the secret word by composing fun rhymes.
One player, we’ll call them Player A, secretly thinks of a word that they want everyone to guess. Let’s say they chose the word “bat.” To begin the game, they would give the first clue by saying, “I’m thinking of a word that rhymes with mat.”
Then other players think of a word that would rhyme with the clue word, (mat,) and ask questions that do not use the word they are guessing. example: Player B asks “Is it something you wear on your head?” Now player A needs to think of what word this player is trying to guess, if they think they have it, they say, “No it is not a hat.” because the word they are thinking of is “bat” not “hat.”
If player A could not think of the word that the player B guessed, then player B would score one point.
When a player correctly guesses the word they also score one point.
Keep playing until you reach 5 points or any total your group agrees on. Or just play for fun and don’t worry about keeping score.
