Car Games

The Alphabet Game(s) (thanks to Strange Brew)
1. Looking at road signs and license plates, each player tries to spot the letters of the alphabet, in order from A-Z, then the numbers 1-26 in order. First one to finish first wins.
2. Player one names one of the following beginning with the letter A: a town, a flower, an animal, a boys' name, a girl's name (the possibilities for this are endless). Player 2 follows with another word, also beginning with A. After the first round, the order of players reverses, and the last person to do A is the first for the letter B. You get a minus point for each letter you skip, and the person with the least minus points wins.

Bury Your Horses (thanks to Mary Beth F.)
This works well when you are driving someplace not urban. Whenever a passenger spots horses they get one point for each horse they spot. If you are coming up to a farm the first person to say "my horses" can claim the horses. If there are only cows visible as you pass by the farm take away points ( -1 point for each cow you claimed in your haste). When coming up to a cemetery the first person to say "bury your horses" eliminates all the other person's points, and they have to begin again.

Categories (thanks to KmKat)
Our favorite game is "the category game." One person thinks of a category, then we take turns naming items that fit in the category. When one of the participants can't name another thing in the current category, s/he is out; the game continues until one of the last two players can't continue. But the other player doesn't "win" unless s/he can name at least one more item in the category.

A large part of the fun is thinking up the categories. In our 10 years of driving back and forth to the cabin (1-1/2 hours each way) we've come up with: characters on The Simpsons, cities (or countries) that begin with "B", things that are yellow, trees, brands of computers, cartoon shows, plus about a hundred others I can't remember. The game can be tailored for the participants. The only category we've outlawed is "numbers between one and three; I start!"

Doubles (thanks to R. Barr)

A variant on finding numbers on license plates: my father always liked to play Doubles. Start with spotting the digits 0 through 9 in order on the license plates. The other player will be going down from 9 to 0. But next you need to find double numbers: 00 through 99 (or 99 through 00); then triples, and so on. I remember one long trip in which we got halfway through the quadruples: 0000 through 9999. This game is harder to play, now that vanity plates are so frequent.

Firefighter (thanks to Andy H.)

Younger members look for fire engines, ambulances, and squad cars. When they spot one they get to make a loud fire engine noise. A great game when you’re not the driver.

Fuzz (thanks to Mr. Duality)

First person to see a law enforcement officer says "fuzz!" A false alarm is minus two points. My wife & I play this to 15 points and the loser buys dinner.

Ghost (thanks to Cass)

You spell out words, the first person says a letter and the next person has to add a letter and you continue in a certain order adding letters. The trick is that if you add a letter and the string can't be completed to make a word, you lose; but if you add a letter and make the string a complete word, you also lose. For example there were three of them, and one started with E... the next gave X... then T... then O... now if the next person said L they lose because now it is EXTOL which is a complete word. But if they said for example P then they can be challenged to come up with a word that starts in EXTOP... (I don't think there is any) and then they would also lose.

Howdy Doody (thanks to Andy H)

I say a name and you use either the first or last name to make another one. Names have to be familiar to all of the players with the grown up in charge as the ultimate referee as to whether little sister could REALLY be expected to know Karl Marx. So I think of Will Smith, and you say Will Rogers and Grandma says Mister Rogers and Grandma says Mister Clean and so on and so forth. Named because if you ever get to Howdy Doody you’ve obviously lost. For adults who have consumed adult beverages it’s fun to skip a name so that the name receiver gets to figure out the missing link. Wit and outrageousness count, with adults or children. (Bull Durham to Howdy Doody by way of Bull Doody is a sure winner)

A Variation (thanks to Red Kaje)

Pick a subject (animals for example). Person 1 names an animal (cat). Person 2 now must name an animal that starts with the last letter of the previous word (turtle). etc etc. Brush up on your animals that begin with 'E' and 'T'.

I Spy (thanks to Andy H.)

While everyone knows the regular version, here are some alternative versions for odiously precocious, inquisitive, or anal retentive children:

(1) "I spy a baseball player, president, rock star, movie star, country in Africa, relative, person in our school, etc."
Players think of a person, place or thing in whatever category the adult has set for the game. Kids get to figure out out with questions like - Does she have a crush on a Backstreet Boy? Did he get shot in office? Was he ever in a Gladiator movie? Is it purple on the map in homeroom?

(2) I Spy a Philosophy or World Religion
Does it allow for free will? Does it begin from a philosophical premise that all are created equal? Does it require you to march or carry banners? Does their hero's first name rhyme with "fine"? Does it have a supreme being? Are there special diet rules? Do they have neat gods and monsters that smite people?

(3) Reverse I Spy
The guessers tell the chooser something about what s/he has to spy; you’ve got to think of something that’s blue! Or soft! Or made of metal!

Monster Mix and Match (thanks to R. Barr)

If there are enough passengers (3 is the ideal number, but you can do it with 2), you can play Monster Mix-and-Match.
Equipment: a pencil or pen for each player, and some sheets of medium-sized unlined paper.
Procedure: Each player takes a piece of paper and folds it into thirds lengthwise (i.e., so that the folds are perpendicular to the long edge). Starting at one edge, with the edge at the top, draw the head and neck (or corresponding body parts) of a monster, alien, teacher, or other odd creature. Extend the two lines of the neck just barely across the fold into the next third of the paper, so the next person can see where to attach the midsection (body, arms, tops of legs) that he or she is about to draw. But tuck the finished drawing inside the folds so the next player can't peek and see what sort of monster you started. Exchange papers with the other players. Draw the midsection on the middle third of the paper, extending the lines for the legs (2 of them, anyway) into the bottom section. Exchange papers again and draw the legs (or whatever) on the last third. Open up the papers and pass them around. Laugh uproariously, especially if you got confused and drew one of your sections upside down. Padiddle (thanks to Mr. Duality)

First person to spot a car having only one operational headlight says "padiddle!" False alarms are minus two points. Think up your own prizes.

Punchbuggy and SlugBug

Punchbuggy (thanks to R. Barr)

A 'Punchbuggy' is a Volkswagen Beetle, and when you see one, you have to be the first to yell "Green punchbuggy, punchbuggy, no punch backs!" (or whatever color.) If you say the ritual verses properly, nobody else but you can now claim any other green punchbuggy. You get a point for every punchbuggy you claim.

The ritual vocabulary is very important, as I discovered when I omitted the important words "No punch backs!" when I had some of my daughter's friends in the car pool. I pointed out a yellow punchbuggy, and said nothing more. One boy eyed me warily, but when I didn't follow up, he shrugged, said, "Well, OK," and punched me on the arm while shouting "Yellow punchbuggy, punchbuggy, no punch backs!" My daughter had been too kind to visit upon me the painful but necessary "punch backs" consequences of omitting that part of the incantation.

SlugBug (thanks to Duck and RedKaje)

Along with the obligatory slug when you see a VW beetle, we say "Slug Bug (color of car) no backs", which of course means you cannot punch the puncher back. When you have a car full of people you can also yell "Bug Spray", meaning no one can punch you back. I also pay .25C for purple cars, .50C for pink cars (they must not have any adverts on them-that rule came up when we passed the Backman Floral headquarters with their legions of purple trucks)

Quaker Meeting (thanks to Andy H)

I’m sure this is now a politically incorrect name, so you’re welcome to come up with a better one. When I was a kid, my father would play this with us to keep us quiet in the back of the buggy when the horse was feeling twitchy. He’d hold up a quarter (at least a buck today, of course) to be given to the one who could remain silent the longest. This, of course, led to my brother and I engaging in all sorts of goofy face making and non-speaking body noises aimed at getting the other one to laugh out loud. WARNING: do not play this with aggressive siblings (are there any other kind?) if you do NOT have a clear view of the back seat as injuries may result.

Scrabble (thanks to Andy H.)

A variation of alphabet (see above) where each player gives the other a word (of the same number of letters) to fill out from letters along the roadside. The adult can hand out the words or the younger persons can pick words for each other. For added fun, if there is someone patient enough to keep score, you can play with the actual letter point values from scrabble. Cheat hint: Z and X occur much more frequently on the roadside than in written language thanks to the proliferation of exits where you can by pizza.

Sweet and Sour (thanks to Miles & Matilda)

Each kid chooses a window. Whenever a car goes by, wave and smile. If the person waves or smiles back (sweet), you get a point. If the person frowns or ignores you (sour), no points. The kid with the most points at the end, wins.

Weakest Link (Formerly Known as Sea Food (thanks to Andy H)

Distribute to the children food items that will dissolve in saliva. Children must retain a recognizable lump of the original food material in their mouth for as long as possible. Bananas and other fruit are good, as are suckers and crackers. Players challenge each other to demonstrate that they still retain recognizable lumpage by calling out SEAFOOD! while demonstrating that they still have that last bit of tootsie roll on their tongue. Since challenging inevitably produces saliva, it’s a two edged sword and not to be done too frequently. A good game to play after Firefighter. Requires vinyl upholstery.

What? (thanks to Widder)

Our family's ultimate favorite was "What _____?". When it is your turn you announce the topic by stating it, "What animal is...clue. clue, clue...?" Or "What fairy tale is..clue, clue, clue?" Or "Which relative....sucks their teeth after dinner and farts and blames the dog....". We love this gane because each round has a new twist.

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