Fun Road
Trip Games

Top Road Trip Games To Play

Games have been played since the inception of travel. These simple little games provide a great way to keep your mind alert, bond with your family, help pass the time and make the trip a little less boring.

There are many games to choose from and play, the games on our list are for the more family oriented folks. The traditional Slug a Bug game is fun the first couple times with your siblings, but when dad plays, arms start to turn colors faster than a 2 week old banana. So to prevent World War 3 on your arms, we have come up with and tweaked many road games that should be fun for the whole family. This includes both the younger and older folks.

We have also included game timers and a score keeper to help manage the game play on the road. You should never have to find a paper and pencil again. And when I say paper, I mean that old receipt found between the seat and the arm rest.

While most of these games can be played on the road, they can also be played at home or even while you're sitting in the doctor's office! Either way, these games are simple, easy to play and should provide hours of entertainment.

Top 5 Reasons to Play Road Trip Games

1. Makes the time go by faster. “Are we there yet?” If like me, you have heard this many times from your own children. It’s almost like clockwork. Last year we were planning a family trip down to Disneyland, which is about a 12 hour drive from where we live. I sat my seven and eight year old boys down and explained how long of a trip it is and what to expect. Needless to say, we didn’t get more than 20 minutes into our journey before I heard the dreaded “Are we there yet?”

Keeping your mind and attention occupied by playing games on the road will make the time fly by! We played some road games on the way back from our trip, I didn’t hear the “are we there yet” one time! We all had fun and before we knew it, we were home. Now if there was a simpler way to unpack…

2. Spending quality time together. Hey, life can be busy, we all know it. Trying to find good quality time together can be tough in our busy world. For my family it can be a chore just trying to get the whole family together for an activity outside of dinner. But when were on the road, were already all in the same place. What better way is there to spend time together! Playing games on the road is a great way to connect with everyone and maybe learn a bit more about each other.

3. Keeping you alert and awake. Road trip snacks are not the only thing that can help keep you awake and alert on a long trip. I frequently have to take trips to the Portland VA from where I live. The trip is about a four and a half hour drive each way. It’s easy to zombify out and grind through it, which leaves me very tired and not the best defensive driver toward the end. The end of the trip feels like taking a nap in the afternoon and either getting too much or not enough sleep, which leaves me feeling more exhausted than before. So even though most of these trips I am alone, I still try to play a few games. Playing something like the Abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz gmae or memory word game are both great examples of games that can be played solo, keeping your mind focused and alert.

4. Games can be educational. I have found that playing certain games on the road can be very educational. I am almost always learning something new. For example, playing a verbal Word Puzzle game can help my grammar skills. Most games will make you think which in turn can help sharpen many different learning areas. Your brain is like a muscle, the more you use it, the stronger it gets. For example, according to ExaminedExistence.com, playing board games like chess or Mastermind can help hone your logical-mathematical intelligence.

5. Beneficial to your health. I have found that playing games can be a big stress relief. They allow you to expend energy and simply have fun. Playing games on the rooad are no different. Try driving through LA around rush hour and you’ll see your stress skyrocket. Playing games helps get my mind off of my stressful work day and on to something more relaxing. According to BreathIntoTheBag.com, games are a great way to relieve stress.

What Supplies Do I Need To Play Road Trip Games?

Most can be played without paper or any other supplies, which helps since you will have enough on your hands just getting the basic road trip essentials figured out. Some games do require that you keep track of points and the people playing. Other games also require the keeping of time, which in turn helps keep the games moving along and provides a little more of an edge for excitement.

A good road trip game should be playable without using any extra supplies and playable verbally. This also allows the driver to participate. Try to keep things as simple and paperless as possible. If you need a way to keep track of players playing the game and keeping points, try using an online game tracker. If the game you are playing requires you to keep time by either counting up or down, try an online game timer.

Many travel games come in smaller versions of their parents. But even these still have many small pieces that can be easily lost. These can range from checkers played on a magnetic board to many other various types of travel games. We play a lot of travel games, unfortunately it’s only optimal for whoever is sitting in the back. So when we are on the road and want to play a game, we usually stick with games that involve little to no supplies and something everyone can take part in safely.

Playing Road Trip Games Saves Gas

This is not as far-fetched as it may seem. When I’m on long trip I find myself zoning out a lot of times, which causes me to speed and play the foot game with the gas pedal. This can have a drastic effect on my miles per gallon (mpg). This bad habit can cost you up to 33% of your gas mileage. Try using a gas calculator, which could give you an over all idea of how much your trip will cost in gas. Hopefully being mindful of the overall travel cost before hand will motivate you to stay alert.

One of main reasons why I tend to find myself speeding or bouncing up and down on the gas pedal is because I am tired and my brain is turning into a foggy soup from hours of relentless driving. Playing an exciting game on the road helps keep me alert, which in effect allows me to be more conscious of my driving and not speed. Of course you need to pick a sensible game to play that does not require your full attention. Your first priority is to travel safely and keeping all those in the car safe as well as everyone else driving around you. Playing a game as simple as the Spot It Game can help keep you alert, focused and drive that much more defensively, keeping you more alert of your environment which in turn should help you save on gas. Now if you’re speeding for the sake of speeding, that’s another story…