20 Questions
Playing 20 Questions is a reliable way to take everyone’s focus off of the endless road. It, like most games on this list, has simple rules that anyone can follow easily. To play 20 Questions, pick someone to be “it.” That person then thinks of a person, place or thing. Everyone else must then ask yes or no questions to figure out the answer. And, as you’ve probably guessed, they need to figure it out without asking more than 20 questions.
Example:
Player 1 picks “Queen Elizabeth” as their answer.
Player 2: “Is it a person?”
Player 1: “Yes.”
Player 3: “Are they fictional?”
Player 1: “No.”
Player 4: “Are they alive today?”
Player 1: “Yes.”
Everyone keeps going until either they’ve asked 20 questions or someone guesses the correct answer.
Guess the Quote
Guess the Quote is a fun game for TV and movie lovers. It doesn’t take much to play: One person recites a quote from a TV show or film. Then, everyone else needs to guess where that quote came from.
You can adjust the difficulty of this game by picking either the most iconic or the most obscure quotes from your chosen source. If your friends don’t watch much of anything, pick a quote from something super popular. But, if your friends are movie buffs or binge-watchers, try quoting something they probably haven’t seen in years. As an added challenge, require guessers to name the actor or character who said the line!
Example:
Player 1: “Boy, do I hate being right all the time.”
Player 2: “That’s from Jurassic Park.”
Kiss, Marry, Kill
Kiss, Marry, Kill is a great way to learn about your friends’ tastes in people. In this game, one person gives another player the names of three different people. The player must then decide who they’d kiss, who they’d marry and who they’d kill. The names can be either people they know or famous celebrities. Whoever they get, they must assign the three options to them. This can spark some titillating conversations!
Example:
Player 1: “Your people are Matt Damon, Taylor Swift and Emma Stone.”
Player 2: “Well, I guess I’d kiss Taylor Swift and marry Emma Stone. And Matt Damon’s got to go.”
Never Have I Ever
For another game to learn more about your friends, play Never Have I Ever. This is a game that everyone plays at the same time. To start, everyone holds up one hand with all fingers extended. You then take turns describing something you have never done. If you’ve done the thing another person says they’ve never done, you put down one of your fingers. The game ends when only one person has any fingers still up.
Example:
Player 1: “Never have I ever flown on a plane.”
(No one puts a finger down.)
Player 2: “Never have I ever stolen anything as a kid.”
(Player 1 puts a finger down, prompting everyone to ponder what he stole.)
Radio Roulette
Radio Roulette is a fun way to discover new music and get discussions going. To play, everyone agrees on a time limit for the radio. This could be one song, 10 minutes or half an hour. Then, someone turns the radio on, tunes it to a random channel and forces everyone to listen to whatever’s playing for the agreed-upon time. As the music plays, everyone can give their opinions of the music, such as if they already know they like it, if it’s surprisingly good or if they just hate it.
Example:
With a 10-minute timer set, someone randomly turns the radio on to a country music station.
Player 1: “Wait, this is fine. Country isn’t bad.”
Player 2: “You’re right, though I prefer older stuff by people like Johnny Cash.”
Player 3: “Same for me. Modern country music just doesn’t compare.”
States Trivia
States Trivia, also called Road Trip Trivia, is exactly as it sounds. You and everyone else do your best to show off your knowledge of the states and regions you’re driving through. One person acts as the host and asks everyone else interesting questions about whatever place they are all currently in. You can keep the game casual and restart after every question, or you can make it competitive by keeping scores during the entire trip.
Example:
Player 1: “All right, we’re now in Ohio. What is Ohio’s largest export?”
Player 2: “Who would know that?”
Player 3: “Airplanes and airplane parts.”
Player 1: “That’s right.”
Player 2: How did you know that?”
Truth or Dare
Truth or Dare is a classic schoolyard game, but it continues to be fun for all ages. Everyone takes turns being the asker and being the one asked. The asker says “Truth or dare?” and the person asked must choose one. Whichever one they pick, they must comply and answer the question truthfully or complete the daring challenge. For the dares, you’ll probably need to be creative, as you’re limited to what you can do in the car.
Example:
Player 1: “Truth or dare?”
Player 2: “Dare.”
Player 1: “OK, I dare you to put your phone away for the rest of the trip.”
Player 2: “I hate you.”
Two Truths and a Lie
Similar to Never Have I Ever, Two Truths and a Lie lets you learn a lot about the people you’re traveling with. This makes it one of the best road trip games for adults who already know each other well, as well as people you’ve only met recently.
Everyone takes turns giving three facts about themselves. These can be about anything, such as their childhood, careers or hobbies. The only catch is that one of them needs to be a complete lie. Playing this game will show how much your friends know about you and how creative you are as a deceiver.
Example:
Player 1: “I’m a black belt in karate, I don’t own a car and I’m colorblind.”
Player 2: “Is it that you don’t own a car?”
Player 1: “You got it. I drive a Civic”
Word Association
This is one of the more casual word games that lets everyone be creative. To play Word Association, the first player says a noun. From there, the other players find words that they associate with the first player’s choice. This keeps going until someone uses a word that everyone else agrees doesn’t match. Once that happens, the game restarts and another player picks a new starting noun.
Example:
Player 1: “Desk.”
Player 2: “Computer.”
Player 3: “Notes.”
Player 4: “Milk.”
Player 1: “Wait, that one doesn’t make any sense.”
Would You Rather
Would You Rather is a hilarious game to play to confront your friends with absurd choices. Similar to Truth or Dare, one player provides another player with a pair of choices. The more ridiculous they are, the better. Have fun with it and confront your friends with the weirdest options they’ve heard.
Example:
Player 1: “Would you rather go snowboarding in your bathing suit or go to a tropical beach while wearing a parka?”
Player 2: “I’ll go snowboarding. I can’t stand the heat normally, so there’s no way I’d be able to put up with a parka.”
Car Ride Fun For the Kids Too
You don’t have to worry about any long stretches of awkward silence during a long drive. These road trip games for adults will do their job and keep everyone entertained the entire time. And, if you have any children with you, and they need some games to play in the car too, we have you covered. Our list of road trip games for kids has everything you need to keep the little ones happy as well.
Zac Pricener has been a content creator for the past eight years. He’s a bit of an all-around nerd, and he has a bad habit of working movie and TV show references into conversations whenever possible.
