I love having a few travel games for adults up my sleeve for long journeys with friends or my husband. From fast-paced word games to silly and competitive brain-teasers. The right game can turn tedious travel days into hours of fun that build memories before you’ve even reached your destination.
All the game ideas in this post are taken from my bestselling book, Travel Games for Adults.
The book is jam-packed with dozens of game ideas you can do in the car or on long rides. Along with conversation prompts, fun challenges you can do with your travel buddies, travel trivia to test each other out, riddles and more!
If you’ve got a long travel day coming up, definitely check out the book.
All of my game suggestions in this post can be played from the comfort of your seat, requiring minimal set-up and no equipment. Making them ideal for long car, train or aeroplane journeys. Most of the games work for a couple or an adult group travelling together.
1. The Forbidden Number
Choose a number you’re not allowed to say (traditionally 31, but you can choose anything — a birthday age or taking it in turns to do date-of-birth works well).
Players take turns counting upwards. On your turn, you may say one, two, or three consecutive numbers.
Example:
- Player A: “1, 2”
- Player B: “3, 4, 5”
- Player A: “6”
- Player B: “7, 8”
…and so on.
Whoever ends up saying the forbidden number loses the round. In a larger group, that player is now out, and the rest continue until only one person remains.
2. The Spotlight Round
This is a fun and simple game to get to know your travel buddies better. Someone should be designated to keep track of scores. The first player becomes the “Spotlight” and asks five questions about themselves — anything from childhood memories to hobbies or preferences.
Everyone gives an answer before the Spotlight reveals the truth.
Scoring:
- Correct = +1 point
- Incorrect = –1 point
After five questions, move the Spotlight to the next person. You can increase difficulty in later rounds by asking very specific or obscure questions.
3. Gran’s Secret
This is more of a challenge than a game. The person leading the game knows the secret and should keep it hidden from everyone else.
The lead player begins with a mysterious statement: “My gran loves oranges but isn’t keen on Tangerines.” They give a few more examples to establish the pattern: “My gran loves coffee, but doesn’t love tea”.
Players guess whether Gran would approve of other items, and the leader tells them if they are right or wrong.
The hidden rule? Words containing the letter ‘T’ are “banned” and grandma doesn’t like them. When someone works out the rule, they keep quiet and let everyone else puzzle it out.
4. Bag Bag Echo
You’ll need to be travelling in a group or 4 or more to make this game work. Everyone chooses an everyday item you might pack for a trip. Such as, sunglasses, shampoo, sandals, etc. So let’s say for example, Player 1 chooses ‘suitcase’ and Player 2 chooses ‘passoport’.
Player 1 is first to be “active”. Their goal is to repeat another person’s chosen item three times in a row before that player can reply with a single correct repeat.
Example:
Player 1 tries to get Player 2 by saying: “Passport, passport, passport!”
Player 2 must quickly say, “Passport” before Player 1 has said it three times.
If the active player manages all three words without interruption, they pass the turn on to that named person; otherwise, they stay active.
This game is best played on and off throughout your journey (and even on going at your destination if you like!). So whoever is active can suddenly try to catch someone out mid-conversation or while they are distracted.
5. Name that State
Work together to write down all 50 US states from memory. No phones, no Googling. See how many you can recall collectively – it’s harder than it sounds.
Now set yourself a new challenge…….can you name all 44 European countries?
A reminder that all these games (and dozens more) are taken from my book Travel Games for Adults. This is defintinely a book you’ll want to keep in your car at all times!
6. The Six-Steps to Bacon
Pick a well-known actor. As a group, you must try to connect them to the actor Kevin Bacon through the shortest sequence of shared films or co-stars. See if you can complete the challenge in six steps!
Many people use Kevin Bacon, but you can replace him with anyone: Morgan Freeman, Judi Dench, Tom Hanks – whoever your group prefers.
7. Two Truths, One Fib
Players take turns presenting three statements about themselves. Two must be true; one must be fabricated.
Everyone discusses and votes on which one they think is the fib. Or, alternatively, take turns to announce which you think is the fib. Then have the person reveal the truth.
You can give each round a theme such as travel, food, childhood, or unusual skills.
8. Alphabet Cinema
Pick a letter. Each player takes a turn naming a film beginning with that letter. If someone struggles to come up with a suggestion, then they are out, and the turn skips to the next player. Continue until you run out of ideas.
Then choose a new letter and repeat. You can change the category if you get bored – try musicians, authors, sportspeople, foods, or even countries.
9. The Silent Count
Everyone closes their eyes, or if you have someone driving, you can all just look straight ahead or out the window so you aren’t looking at each other.
The challenge is simple. As a group, you will try to count aloud from 1 to 10.
A player can say the next number at any time, but may not say two numbers in a row. If two people say a number at the same time, you reset to zero.
Once you conquer 10, see if you can push yourselves to reach 20.
10. Playlist Detective
Before your trip, everyone adds their five favourite songs to a shared playlist.
On shuffle, each track becomes a mystery to solve: who added it? Guess before the song ends. You can keep score or enjoy the surprise. Another variation of this game is to pick songs that have significance. When the track comes on, the player must share what that song means to them.
(If using Spotify, Group Session makes adding songs very easy.)
11. Fandom Spelling Bee
Choose a fictional world or TV universe you all enjoy – Harry Potter, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, or anything else.
One player announces a word connected to that theme. For example, if you’ve gone for Harry Potter, the word might be Hogwarts, Quidditch, Expelliarmus or Hippogriff. The next player must spell it correctly. If they misspell it, they’re out for the round. Continue until only one skilled speller remains.
12. Actor–Film–Actor Loop
This back-and-forth game is perfect for anyone who loves a movie. The first player names an actor, the next names a film featuring that actor, and the following person names another actor from that film. You continue bouncing between performers and films in an endless see-saw. The catch is that you can’t repeat actors or movies already mentioned, and you can’t hesitate for too long. Once someone stalls or gives an incorrect answer, they’re out.
13. Chain Reaction
This memory-building game starts with something simple: the first player says a short phrase such as “Going to work.” The next person must repeat it exactly and then add a new phrase that begins with the final word of the previous one. The chain stretches quickly, becoming longer and more absurd with each turn — perhaps “Going to work out” becomes “Going to work out and about” and later “Going to work out and about time.”
If anyone forgets the full sequence or stumbles over the wording, they’re out of the round. The last person who can repeat every phrase correctly wins, making it a fun combination of creativity and sharp memory.
If you’ve got a long travel day coming up, make sure you grab a copy of Travel Games for Adults. The book also makes a great gift!
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