If you have ever spent a night in a hostel you have inevitably been invited for a game of asshole. Or president. Or bullshit. What am I talking about? Travel games of course! You can find them in all different names and shapes: some are played with cards, some with dice, and some just by exchanging words. Oh and don’t forget the drinking games! I’ve decided to bundle these travel games for adults into one article.
My friends Joost and Samuel enjoying a travel game called Bananagrams
Most of these games are fairly easy to explain to anyone, which is, of course, an important criterion for the international crowds you usually find around hostels. It’s not even just hostels where these backpacker games are played either: in night trains, long-distance buses, forest huts, Couchsurfing, or Airbnb accommodations, anywhere with a bit of flat surface (for the card games, dice games, and board games) and a group of fun-loving people. It’s the ultimate icebreaker and you’ll soon end up chatting away post-game with your newly-made friends.
There are countless games with countless names, some are even known by different names in different parts of the world. I’ve committed to creating an ever-expanding list of these road trip games, so feel free to leave a comment with your favorite game that I haven’t mentioned yet.
49 TRAVEL GAMES FOR ADULTS
Board games for adults
1. Bananagrams
4. Guesstures
Card games for adults
5. Dobble
6. Ligretto
7. Bullshit / Cheat / I Doubt It / Bluff / BS / Liar
9. Cribbage
10. Chinese poker
12. Toepen
13. Skip Bo
14. Fluxx
16. Rummy
18. Shithead / Palace / Karma / China Hand / Ten-Two Slide
19. Go Fish
21. Koehandel / Cow Trade / Horse Trade
22. Crazy Eights
23. Kemps
24. Top Trumps
25. Uno
26. Euchre
27. Dixit
28. Travelin’
29. Codenames duet
Dice games for adults
30. Liar’s Dice
32. Yahtzee
Road trip games for adults
34. Guess the song
35. I Spy
36. Truth or Dare
39. Pizza FTW
40. ZitchDog
Drinking games for adults
41. Spoons
42. Monkey Monkey
43. Mexico
44. King’s Cup
45. Fives
46. Sheep
47. Assholes / President / Scumbag
49. Mexxen
50. Add your game
Board games for adults
Bananagrams – the board game
How can you win Bananagrams?
To be played with wine for best results. The trick is speed, you need to be really quick about forming words. Also, it helps if you can avoid the letters Q, Z, J and X.
What makes Bananagrams fun?
It’s portable, easy to learn, and play is fast. Once the game is over you can argue about whether the words put down by other players are real words. It’s even more fun if you don’t happen to be carrying a dictionary.
What is your best memory playing Bananagrams on your travels?
Slipping an invented word past my fellow players – they were all American and I managed to convince them that it was a very conventional word in British English.
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30 Seconds board game
How can you win Thirty Seconds?
You can win 30 Seconds by getting as many answers as possible right in 30 seconds. One player must guess a word based on their teammate’s explanation. The main thing here is that the explanation may not contain the actual word or part of the word.
Of course, you can buy the game, but it’s more fun to make one yourself! For example (when there are 4 players – 2 teams): every player writes ten names of – for example – celebrities down on 10 pieces of paper. Then you collect all the pieces of paper in a bowl. Each round the team draws a card and then has 30 seconds to describe the name on the paper as quickly as they can. When the bowl is empty, the team that has the most pieces of paper wins the game.
What makes Thirty Seconds fun?
It’s really funny because sometimes it’s really hard to explain a name and your teammates’ guesses do not make any sense.
What is your best memory playing Thirty Seconds on your travels?
We played this game over and over with two of my friends. In the end we got a bit obsessed and we became really good at in, so now nobody else wants to play it with us any more… Haha!
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Settlers of Catan board game
How can you win The Settlers of Catan?
You win when you gain 10 points (13 in the extended version), which you get by building villages, towns, streets, or draw some of the magic cards in the pack.
What makes The Settlers of Catan fun?
Each time is different. It’s not a fixed board like e.g. the game ‘Risk’ uses. The board is made up of a number of tiles which you put together randomly for each game. Contrary to e.g. Risk, where after so many games you kind of know what you need to win, or what the favorable is, Catan is entirely different in each setup.
What is your best memory playing The Settlers of Catan on your travels?
Beach Agonda, India, with Dutch friends. One of them wasn’t particularly good at losing, and when his wife was about to beat him he’d suggest to smoke a joint. As soon as she did this, she lost all concentration and lost. It was very funny to watch.
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Guesstures board game
How can you win Guesstures?
You win by simplifying the words to basic body movements. Anything too complicated can always trip up your guessers.
What makes Guesstures fun?
We love how ridiculous you look when playing the game. At the same time, anyone can play and it’s easy to learn.
What is your best memory playing Guesstures on your travels?
Whenever we go to a cabin with a group of friends, it’s always fun to bust it out!
Buy Guesstures on Amazon Read full rulesFun card games for adults
The Dobble travel card game
How can you win Dobble?
There are endless variations to this game, but in the most common one, you will have to get as many cards as possible by matching a symbol from your card to a symbol on the top card in the central pile. The player with the most cards at the end wins.
What makes Dobble fun?
It’s a nerve wrecking game because you’re playing against others to find the matching symbol. There is always a matching symbol but sometimes you are looking back and forth frantically between your card and the one in the middle just and it just seems like nothing matches… Then someone else finds one and it’s back to square one. You have to shout the symbol that matches which often leads to hilarious descriptions like “white condom ghost thing”.
What is your best memory playing Dobble on your travels?
I love that it comes in such a small package but has endless possibilities. There are different game modes, e.g. where you have to match other players’ symbols, where you want to get rid of all your cards, or exactly the opposite. It’ll keep you busy for hours… As long as you don’t get a heart attack that is 😉
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Cards for playing Ligretto
How can you win Ligretto?
The aim of this travel game is to get rid of all your cards faster than all the other players by discarding them in the middle of the table.
What makes Ligretto fun?
It’s FAST! You’ll have to put cards down like a maniac and your strategy can change every second. It’s nice and compact, you only need a single deck of cards, and you don’t need much space to lay the cards out either. The rules are simple and it never gets old.
What is your best memory playing Ligretto on your travels?
A fun Couchsurfer living in Dol, a quiet village on the Hvar island in Croatia, introduced me and my girlfriend to this game. It was her favorite game and she showed us why (by beating us over and over). We played it for hours and hours and the relentless chant of victory, “Ligretto!”, still echoes in my ears.
Buy Ligretto on Amazon Read full rulesHow can you win Bullshit?
The object of the game is actually pretty simple – get rid of all your cards. However, in order to do that, you have to do a bit of bluffing – if someone calls your bluff (calls ‘bullshit’), you have to pick up all the cards lying on the table!
What makes Bullshit fun?
The risk! If you want to win, you inevitably have to do a little lying. The fun part is trying to con your friends, which when considering that this game is usually played whilst drinking, you become increasingly less good at!
What is your best memory playing Bullshit on your travels?
During our two year Latin American adventure, we played this game a lot. But one of the best memories has to be playing it on a cargo ship heading to the Corn Islands in Nicaragua. The boat was around a day late, litres of rum were drank and bullshit helped pass the hours.
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The great Dalmuti card game
How can you win The Great Dalmuti?
You can win the Great Dalmuti by playing all your cards. Whoever finishes first becomes the Great Dalmuti, the next one the lesser Dalmuti. When you finish last you become the (lesser or big) slave. What makes it fun is that the roles change and the Dalmuties receive tax from the slaves. Also, everyone respects the Dalmuti (who, of course, sits on the best chair) and orders the slaves around (who not uncommonly don’t even get a chair to sit in).
What makes The Great Dalmuti fun?
So it becomes very competitive as people want to become the Dalmuti and punish the previous Dalmuti for his Behaviour.
What is your best memory playing The Great Dalmuti on your travels?
A vivid memory that comes to mind is when I used to play it in Thailand with my fiancé and parents-in-law on the front porch of our bungalow.
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Cribbage card game
How can you win Cribbage?
It’s complicated… You need to be able to count cards and add. Because the game is “first to 121 points” you also need to play strategically.
What makes Cribbage fun?
There are loads of ways to score points, both in the play and in the hand, so you need to focus. If you leave points unclaimed your opponent can call “muggins” and claim your points.
What is your best memory playing Cribbage on your travels?
This is quite a complicated game to learn and it was my father who taught me to play on sailing trips as a kid. My best memory is sitting on deck with him playing and calling “muggins” when he’d missed something (possibly on purpose, who knows!)
Buy Cribbage on Amazon Read full rulesHow can you win Chinese Poker?
Get rid of all your cards.
What makes Chinese Poker fun?
It’s a combination of Yahtzee and Poker; what’s not to like? You can create a strategy before the game starts but you might have to rethink it when the game’s not going your way. Decisions, decisions!
What is your best memory playing Chinese Poker on your travels?
I saw a few Chinese people play the game in the “cattle-class” of a sleeper train; they were really passionate about it and it was a lot of fun to watch their strategies as they went along. Where better to learn Chinese poker that from actual Chinese people 🙂
Buy a pack of cards on Amazon Read full rulesHow can you win Solitaire?
Since you’re typically playing this game alone, you’re always a winner! Actually, that is not true, you can still get stuck in the game and be forced to take a loss. Sounds depressing, doesn’t it? You win by stacking all the cards on the table onto each other in four equal piles, in order from low to high and sorted by suit.
What makes Solitaire fun?
It can cure boredom if you’re traveling alone. It can even be a pretty fun game as you’ll have to be creative sometimes to free yourself from a seemingly impossible-to-finish situation. More often, however, it’s a last resort when you’re stuck inside an airport on a 7-hour layover with no plugs to charge your drained electronic devices.
What is your best memory playing Solitaire on your travels?
Since I’ve played this game quite a few times on my solo travels, every time you finish a game there is this little sparkle of joy inside your brain, and you mentally picture all the cards bouncing around and fireworks being set off like in the Windows version. Or at least I did.
Buy a pack of cards on Amazon Read full rulesHow can you win Toepen?
This Dutch game is all about battles. You can win a battle, but that doesn’t mean you’ve won the game (similarly to war.. or a couple getting divorced). The first to 15 points (or 25, if you want to play for longer) loses, making the other players the winners (but really, it’s the person with the least “penalty-points” that is the happiest).
What makes Toepen fun?
The game involves some simple but entertaining mind-games. “Why the hell did he/she toep?” is a common question that gets raised often during the game. Does the player have great cards and is therefore confident that they are going to win, or are they simply bluffing? This is easily our favorite go-to game on the road.
What is your best memory playing Toepen on your travels?
We’ve played this game about a hundred times on every (long-distance) bicycle that we did together. It’s an easy game to explain to others and gets strategic when you’re playing with people that have played it before. A memory that comes to mind: Steven was with Joost in Denmark where they were playing Toepen with a Danish girl (she called it “Poopen”). She Toeped (“Pooped”) at the most random moments, leaving Steven and Joost completely clueless of her strategy.
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Skip bo card game
How can you win Skip Bo?
The classic way: you need to be the first to get rid of your cards.
What makes Skip Bo fun?
It is easy to learn, and while it’s a strategic game it’s still possible to win when you’ve just learned the rules.
What is your best memory playing Skip Bo on your travels?
I have so many memories playing this with Couchsurfers at home, but my best memory while travelling would be on a train in China where we shared a sleeper with an Argentinian couple. We played into the small hours of the morning, learning about each other and our journeys.
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Fluxx card game
How can you win Fluxx?
Let’s start with the rules of Fluxx: there are no rules. Yup. Every time you put a card down the rules change, which also sometimes means you’ll have to your flip your strategy 180 degrees. You have to collect cards and you’ve won when you have accomplished the objectives that are on the table at that moment before someone else changes them.
What makes Fluxx fun?
It’s a very random game, so if you like your games structured then you might want to try another one. That said, it’s that actual chaotic element of the game that makes it fun. You’re constantly checking if you can annoy or block your opponents with the current rulesets, and sometimes it’s even possible that someone has won without him/her knowing!
What is your best memory playing Fluxx on your travels?
I haven’t played this game on any travels yet, but I would love to hear from someone that has! Leave a comment.
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Egyptian rat screw card game
15. Egyptian Rat Screw
How can you win Egyptian Rat Screw?
The object of the game is to be the person with all the cards at the end of the game. This means the game can take a very long time.
What makes Egyptian Rat Screw fun?
Once you and other players learn how to play the game moves very fast from player to player. The intensity heightens with the speed of the game. The most fun part about this game is when you get two cards that are the same flipped one on top of the other. The first person to slap those cards wins the deck. This also means that people who are “out” of cards can slap their way back in.
What is your best memory playing Egyptian Rat Screw on your travels?
I learned this game in a summer camp when I was very young. When I studied abroad in Australia I taught all my new friends how to play it. We would spend hours just passing the time away with this game. No drinks involved!
Read full rulesHow can you win Rummy?
Individual games are won by the first person who “goes out” or discards every card in their hand. Along the way, they rack up points by putting down three of a kind and straights of the same suit. Your points get tallied up per game and in our case, a full game runs to 500 points and can last 1-2 hours.
What makes Rummy fun?
Rummy is fun because it’s so basic and it’s almost akin to baseball; a game to 500 is never over until the person reaches that point total. The game has so many intricacies and quirky rules that make it fun all by itself. Enter a couple of people who are married or just friends, and it can get crazier by the hand.
What is your best memory playing Rummy on your travels?
We’ve played everywhere when traveling, and I try my best to not swear out loud when losing badly. Unfortunately, I failed when riding a boat to Jeju Island in Korea and earned quite a few stares my way. That was a cue for me to go outside and get some fresh air.
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Cards against humanity card game
How can you win Cards Against Humanity?
You need to make the other people vote for your answer to a ridiculous question.
What makes Cards Against Humanity fun?
It is all about reading other people and figuring out what kind of answer this person would like, some might like dirty jokes, other logical answers etc. Oh, and the game is free… you can download it from CardsAgainstHumanity.com (or you can buy it via the link below if you don’t want to print the cards yourself).
What is your best memory playing Cards Against Humanity on your travels?
I was introduced to it while Couchsurfing in Zürich and one girl got the question “How did I lose my virginity?”. My answer was “Through an AK47” which is what she choose and that kind of became the joke of the evening. The game gave us so many laughs and very fun atmosphere. Great way to get to know new people!
Buy Cards Against Humanity on Amazon Read full rulesHow can you win Shithead?
This game isn’t about being the winner, it’s about not being the loser aka the “shithead”. If you’re the last person in the game you will have the endearing title of shithead bestowed upon you until you can redeem yourself in the next game.
What makes Shithead fun?
At the end, there’s always an element of chance involved and it’s always fun to watch someone who thinks they’re about the win fall from grace. Also having an excuse to call strangers you’ve just met shitheads is never a bad thing.
What is your best memory playing Shithead on your travels?
Teaching the game to some travellers at a hostel in Bosnia and watching them spend the next few days engrossed in matches.
Buy a pack of cards on Amazon Read full rulesHow can you win Go Fish?
You can win Go Fish by being the player that collected the most sets of 4 from the pack of cards (e.g. all the 3s, all the kings etc).
What makes Go Fish fun?
It isn’t a game that requires too much thought and isn’t difficult so long as you have a good memory. It is also great to see the look on your friend or relatives’ face when you steal the majority of a set from them which they were hoarding!
What is your best memory playing Go Fish on your travels?
My best memory of playing this game is when I used to play it as a teenager with a friend I made in the apartments in Fuerteventura. At the time I loved all things fish related and I had a novelty set of cards in the shape of fish. We used to play it whenever we had a moment before dinner after going to the beach or swimming in the pool.
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Exploding kittens card game
How do you win Exploding Kittens?
You can win Exploding Kittens by becoming the only player who isn’t blown up by a Kitten.
Yes, it is as ridiculous as it sounds. You basically just draw a card each turn hoping not to draw an exploding kitten card. If you do you are out of the game. Unless you can defuse the exploding kitten in which case the card goes back into the deck. All the other card you draw and can play are used to somehow avoid the exploding kittens.
What makes Exploding Kittens fun?
One of the reasons is the pure ridiculousness of the concept which is also the genius of the game. I mean, who doesn’t like kitten or explosions or laser pens. Next is that it is very easy to play and mostly luck based with just a very small hint of strategy. Its just easy and ridiculous which is what you want when playing games with people you’ve just met.
What is your best memory playing Exploding Kittens on your travels?
I personally haven’t played this while traveling yet as it has only been out for a few months (at time of writing) and I haven’t had the opportunity. But the fact that it is so easy, portable and fun should prove to be a winning combo in any setting.
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Koehandel, a popular Dutch card game
How do you win Koehandel?
The Dutch game Koehandel has two phases, in phase one players take turns pulling an animal card from a pile and auctioning it off to the other players. Each player should try to get the animals for the lowest price possible. As the game progresses, more money is distributed among the players which means the animals get more expensive. The key to winning during this phase is to correctly adjust your theoretical pricing to the increasing money supply.
During phase two, players bid for each other’s animals in a blind auction. This means that both players put an undisclosed amount of money on the table and whoever bids highest will win the other player’s animal, while the money is also being exchanged. During this phase, the key to winning is to get inside the other player’s mind and correctly predict how much he or she will bid. Then you bid a little bit more so that you win the animal cheaply.
What makes Koehandel fun?
Koehandel is really fun because of the unpredictable nature of the game. In every action you take, you have to consider what your opponent will most likely do, based on what he or she thinks that you will do. There is a lot of game theory involved, which makes the game very dynamic and interesting, it never becomes dull even when you play it with the same people over and over again as players adjust their strategies based on observations from past games.
What is your best memory playing Koehandel on your travels?
A few years back I rented a house in Florianopolis, Brazil. I intentionally rented a house with a few spare rooms so that I could have friends over to visit. During my three month stay, I introduced this relatively unknown game to all my friends and they all loved it! They still talk about how much fun it was.
Buy Koehandel (Dutch version) on Amazon Read full rulesHow do you win Crazy Eights?
You win a hand by being the player to get rid of all your cards. Any player left holding cards adds the sum of the cards to add their total. Although there are different variations on the rules, I usually play with the first player who gets to a total of 108 is the loser.
What makes Crazy Eights fun?
It’s fast-paced and frustrating at the same time. Plus it’s super easy to learn.
What is your best memory playing Crazy Eights on your travels?
Playing for hours on end with a Kiwi couple on the roof of a hostel in Istanbul. There had been a pretty major earthquake nearby so the city was basically shut down as many feared another quake in the days following. It was a great way to pass the time and bring some levity to a pretty serious situation.
Buy Crazy Eights on Amazon Read full rulesHow can you win Kemps?
You play in teams of 2 people, and the objective to get 4-of-a-kind (e.g. four 8’s or four Kings) amongst your team. Once you (think) your teammate has a 4-of-a-kind, you can yell “Kemps!”. If you indeed have a 4-of-a-kind, your team scores a point. Otherwise, you lose a point (but the game keeps going). You can even take it up a notch and get a double-kemp when both you and your teammate have a 4-of-a-kind. After winning x number of points, the game is won. There is an awesome move too: you can yell “counter Kemps!” when you think one of your opponents has 4-of-a-kind, and their teammate hasn’t called it yet.
What makes Kemps fun?
There aren’t that many cards games that are played in a team, which makes this one unique. The fun element also comes from the way you can signal your team member. You are allowed to talk during the game, which means you can signal to your teammate (who sits opposite of you) that you are saving a certain value of the card (e.g. Queens). Obviously, it is supposed to be a secret signal, as the others will easily figure it out and block your strategy.
What is your best memory playing Kemps on your travels?
I played this game at my home in Tokyo with my couchsurfer guests, amongst which was Victor. The others were from France (me), the USA and Israel. Soon we were coming up with ridiculous signals to let the other team member know what you were saving up. We would say “Do you have a red banana?”, which would stand for e.g. Jacks. Figuring out each other’s codes and even faking other people’s codes made the game very entertaining.
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Top trumps Star Wars edition
How can you win Top Trumps?
Top Trumps is a really unique British game and a favorite with kids. Each pack of Top Trumps is based on a theme (animals, volcanoes, superheroes etc..) and each card in the pack contains five categories with numerical values, that you can use to ‘trump’ your opponent. The aim of the game and the way that you win is to get all your opponents’ cards (or the most number of cards in an allotted time).
What makes Top Trumps fun?
It’s a really fun game to play as a family and even young kids can enjoy it. There is also such a huge range of themes that you can upgrade to a new pack and game, which helps to keep things interesting. Depending on the ages of kids playing, it can be fast (or very slow!).
What is your best memory playing Top Trumps on your travels?
We play Top Trumps all the time with the kids. When we’re out to eat, waiting at an airport, at home… it really is a winner for families. One of my favourite memories is playing Harry Potter Top Trumps on an early morning ferry from Galiano Island to Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada.
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Uno, perhaps the most popular card game
How can you win Uno?
The winner of a single game of Uno is the first player to get rid of all of the cards in his/her hand. If you want to make the game more exciting, however, you can play over a longer period of time, creating an Uno tournament, adding up points as you go. Each card is worth a certain number of points, and to win you are aiming for as few points as possible. This is fun because it sees the gameplay change and become more tactical.
What makes Uno fun?
Uno is fun because there is always that chance of forgetting to announce you are on your last card and paying the price. It can be a tactical game and often when played in a group of friends you will find that a certain amount of ganging up and revenge play occurs. I also couldn’t believe just how many people we met, of differing nationalities that knew how to play Uno and loved it.
What is your best memory playing Uno on your travels?
My friend and I met up with a french lady who I worked with and her sister whilst doing a road trip of Western Australia. Our nightly entertainment consisted of huddling around our camping table, wrapped in blankets, supping goon (cask wine) from camping mugs, whilst watching the sunset and playing Uno furiously. They still don’t believe I won 8 games in a row without cheating. Sorry girls but there was definitely no cheating involved!
Buy Uno on Amazon Read full rulesHow can you win Euchre?
The game is played with two teams of two players. Players hold five cards each out of a deck that uses only cards 9 to A, and the team that calls the suit that will be trump must secure at least three tricks to score a point. If you get all five tricks you get two points, and if al players call for trump and decide to “go alone” his teammate sits out and the one player goes against the other two on the opposing team. If the lone players win all five tricks, the team gets four points. First team to 11 wins.
What makes Euchre fun?
It takes a bit of skill, luck and taking chances, but it easy to learn quickly. We love that you can play several complete games within a couple hours, while laughing, holding a conversation and enjoying a few beers.
What is your best memory playing Euchre on your travels?
My wife Colleen and I played on opposite teams against another couple on a trip in Las Vegas. My best friend Matt and I who have played Euchre since we were young adults repeated beat the ladies — maybe three games in a row — and had built up a 10-0 lead in the fourth game when they came back to win 11-10. This turn of events, all against the backdrop of our earlier taunts and a few too many beers, left the guys humbled and the women rejoicing. It was hilarious.
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Dixit board game
How can you win Dixit?
The storyteller (a different player on every turn) picks out one of six cards and describes it (without showing the card) to the other players. The other players then pick a card that they think best describes it, and place it on the table. The point scoring here is unique: if everybody or nobody guesses the correct card, the storyteller gets no points. Therefore it is key to give just the right clues so that a few players get it right, but not all. The first to 30 points wins.
What makes Dixit fun?
The cards themselves are quite funny, and the more creative people get with associating your story with the cards the funnier the game becomes.
What is your best memory playing Dixit on your travels?
I haven’t played this game on the road yet. Have you? Let us know in the comments!
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Travlin’ card game
How can you win Travelin’?
The game is about traveling to new countries, so obviously, each country you visit gives you more points. When one player reaches 5 countries, they receive a bonus of 5 points and the game immediately ends. Count the points and like pretty much every game in existence, the person with the most points wins.
What makes Travelin’ fun?
For me as the game designer, the best part of Travelin’ is seeing the interaction between players. Having someone be so close to winning only to be stopped with a Border Control card is always fun. Or chaining together a huge combo to go from 3 countries to 5 and stealing the victory from another player – yeah, that’s a pretty awesome feeling too.
What is your best memory playing Travelin’ on your travels?
Hands down, my best memory of playing Travelin’ (and I’ve played a lot) are the countless games at the Midland Hostel in Bucharest. Because everyone there (staff, long term guests, friends of the hostel) became so good at the game, the matches we play there often turn into knock-down, drag-out slugfests. The best game of Travelin’ I’ve ever played was exactly one of those games and while us long-time players were were busy attacking each other, a person playing for the very first time was able to sneakily come from behind and take a well-earned win from the pros.
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Codenames duet card game
How can you win Codenames duet?
Codemasters duet is a cooperative game, meaning that you are playing against the game, rather than against each other. The aim is to guess each other’s codewords within a certain amount of turns (more turns for beginners, less for more advanced players).
What makes Codenames duet fun?
You’ll spend your time finding singular words that connect 2 or more (random) words in front of you while factoring in that the connection might not be as obvious for the person in front of you. It’s a game of psychology, and it could therefore go hilariously wrong. You can’t speak while playing this game, only to say a word and how many words it is connected to, so it can be really frustrating watching your fellow “agent” struggle and choose a word that reveals an assassin, which means you both lose.
What is your best memory playing Codenames duet on your travels?
The good thing about this game is that you can transport it in just a few small bags. I have yet to play this game on my travels, however, I know that it’s a great game that requires little setup and can entertain for a good chunk of time. At home, I play this mostly with my wife, where I try to get into her brain and try to figure out which of my weird references and connections she would understand.
Buy Codenames duet Read full rulesDice games for adults
How can you win Liar’s dice?
I win by experience. I’ve probably played for ten years so I’ve seen it all. You win by being unpredictable. You can win new friends and new language skills with the game also. I know the basic numbers in French thanks to this dice game.
What makes Liar’s dice fun?
The simplicity makes it fun. The excitement and the fact that every round is unique. It’s never the same game twice. Playing with someone who has a degree in math is also fun because you see their brains running in high gear.
What is your best memory playing Liar’s dice on your travels?
Best moment is a tie between looking for a runaway die on the floor of a sauna in the Finnish wilderness, naked with a bunch of naked girls, and playing the game for a whole day in the car with my friend Eric, while he was driving us from Vancouver to Fairbanks.
Buy a set of dice on Amazon Read full rules
Rory’s story cubes dice game
How can you win Rory’s Story Cubes?
The most creative story wins! No hardcore rules here. A winner would probably be chosen from the group you play it with.
What makes Rory’s Story Cubes fun?
It’s the ultimate game to train your imagination. Because of the different packs (for example a travel pack), you can create unlimited storylines. It’s also really fun to give some dice to other people so that you can create a story together in turns.
What is your best memory playing Rory’s Story Cubes on your travels?
Not yet tested, the game is pretty new. First results were hilarious though! Have you played this on the road and a have a great travel memory to share? Let me know in the comments.
Buy Rory’s Story Cubes on Amazon Read full rules
Yahtzee, perhaps the most popular dice game
How can you win Yahtzee?
To be honest, luck plays a very important role in Yahtzee. But if you choose wisely after throwing your dices, you might have a better chance of winning. For example, I always wait before writing down my 1’s and 2’s. So if everything goes wrong and you don’t throw a full house or a four of a kind, you can always fill in your 1’s and 2’s and you don’t lose a lot of points.
What makes Yahtzee fun?
You can play it with 2 or more people. Winning depends mostly on luck and a bit on strategy, so everybody can join. It’s easy to pack so you can play it wherever you are; are you on a beach or in the middle of the jungle? Yahtzee is your game!
What is your best memory playing Yahtzee on your travels?
I played it a lot during my trip around the world, so it reminds me of traveling through Thailand but also backpacking through Australia and our roadtrip on the American west coast. From then on I have taken it with me every time I go away for a longer period.
Buy Yahtzee on Amazon Read full rules
Pickomino dice game
33. Regenwormen / Pickomino
How can you win Regenwormen?
Simply put, you have to be lucky to win: this game is not about being the smartest or most strategic player. Really everyone can win, depending on how much you dare to gamble and how the dice will roll.
What makes Regenwormen fun?
The most fun part of the game is ‘stealing’ worms from other players to make it more difficult for them to win. You will see people from all over the world hesitate the first time they are able to steal the worms, but after that they will happily grab them from you with a big smile on their faces!
What is your best memory playing Regenwormen on your travels?
We played Regenwomen with the porters and guides during our Himalaya trek. The porters didn’t mingle with the tourists at first but this game helps to knock down the cast system. The result: they’ve beaten me several times.
Read full rulesRoad trip games for adults
How to play Guess the Song
Best played on road trips. Everyone in the car has an iPhone (or other music playing device of course) and chooses 5 songs. Their favorite song to dance to, favorite song to sing to, best song to pick someone up in the bar, their wedding song and then their funeral song. Mix up the order and everyone has to guess which is which!
How can you win Guess the Song?
Whoever can guess the correct the song the most amount of times wins!
What makes Guess the Song fun?
You get to hear new music, and learn more about your fellow travelers by listening to their favorite tunes!
Author’s note: I’ve organized a few Couchsurfing events with a similar concept: everybody had to pass their music device to the person on their right. It was a great way to get to know other people well in a short time and a lot of fun!
What is your best memory playing Guess the Song on your travels?
Hmmm… I’d say the time when a passenger played Miley Cyrus – Party in the U.S.A. as their guilty pleasure song… and everyone knew the words! 10 People all singing as loud as we could! Lots of fun and a great memory!
Buy the Guess the Song app on Amazon35. I Spy
How can you win I Spy?
This traditional kids’ game is so much fun when you’re on the road and is definitely for adults too! Go for the smaller objects and the hidden (but not too hidden) things. Oh and don’t cheat, so don’t pick moving things 😉
What makes I Spy fun?
It opens your eyes to all the beauty, small and big, around you.
What is your best memory playing I Spy on your travels?
This game is the best when you’re stuck in traffic in a bus in Asia, because there are always amazing colors and strange objects around!
Read full rulesHow can you win Truth or Dare?
There is no winning or losing in this game, that is why it can go on and on and on! If a dare is too much for a person, he or she will get punished by revealing 2 truth. If a truth is too much for a person to reveal, he or she will have to carry out 2 dares to compensate it.
What makes Truth or Dare fun?
Those who join the game are pretty much open to doing every shameless dare and digging out the deepest secrets they keep. What makes this game fun is that you are testing out each others’ limits. Of course, to have the game continued safety without causing any hurt-feelings, we have to be sensitive to our friends’ conditions and situations. For example: do not try to ask about a recent break-up when the wound is still fresh.
What is your best memory playing Truth or Dare on your travels?
I will not forget the first time we played Truth of Dare in a Russian intercity train. We went all out on “Dares”, cat-walking down the narrow corridor filled with on-looking Russians, dancing at the front and asking snacks from people. At first, the Russians watched us with stern face but after a while they too started to enjoy the show.
Buy the Guess the Song app on Amazon 200+ Truth or Dare questions37. The Guessing Capital Game
How to play The Guessing Capital Game?
The concept is to name the capital of the country someone chooses. For example, I say Ethiopia and someone would need to guess the capital which is Addis Ababa.
What makes The Guessing Capital Game fun?
Many times someone will guess the wrong capital and it is fun when you start to decide what you win. You can play for big stakes like money where the first person to get a capital wrong wins all the money or even play just on who pays for something next, like dinner. A lot of people would be surprised the capitals of many countries.
What is your best memory playing The Guessing Capital Game on your travels?
This is actually a game that I lost. We were playing for $1 for each capital that we got right. Everyone would put in a dollar every time the right capital was given and the first person who lost they would lose all the money to the winner. The person stating the country. Eventually we got to big stakes and I ended up losing a full round trip ticket to Asia!
38. Never pass a sample
How can you win Never pass a sample?
This is perhaps the best travel game you’ll read about today. The rules are simple: as you walk around in the airport, you may never pass a free sample without grabbing it; chocolate, drinks, perfume- everything. You lose by being so pre-occupied with free samples that you miss your flight.
What makes Never pass a sample fun?
Free stuff!
What is your best memory playing Never pass a sample on your travels?
In Singapore around Xmas was especially fun. I walked around for about 6 hours and in the end, my belly ached from all the chocolates, I was pretty tipsy and I must have smelled like a prostitute because of all the perfume samples.
39. Pizza FTW
How can you win Pizza FTW?
The pizza game is pretty simple to play and does not need any equipment bar a couple of creative minds with some knowledge of popular culture. Each player takes a turn to name a title of film, book, or song replacing a word of choice with the word ‘pizza’ or adding the word ‘pizza’ for comedic value. For example ‘Saturday Night Pizza’ (instead of Saturday Night Fever!).
What makes Pizza FTW?
Everyone is a winner in Pizza FTW, it’s usually a giggle and it’s so simple some may say ‘it’s a pizza piss!’
What is your best memory playing Pizza FTW on your travels?
We’ve enjoyed passing time away whilst hiking, playing the pizza game. Feel free to Tweet or Facebook us some responses! Naturally ‘pizza’ can be any word you see fit.
40. ZitchDog
How can you win Zitchdog?
Well, it’s pretty simple. It’s a fun game to play on a road trip. Whenever you see a dog you say “ZITCHDOG!”. Whoever spots the most dogs by the time your destination arrives is the winner.
What makes Zitchdog?
Well if everyone spots the dog at the same time and screams ZITCHDOG, it’s pretty hilarious. Or if the others don’t see a dog at all, you might have to stop and look to ensure the person is not cheating – haha.
What is your best memory playing Zitchdog on your travels?
I was playing ZitchDog with my hubby on our road trip to Agra. It was fun and then when we were about to reach our destination, we lost count totally.
P.S. – This had nothing to do with the fact that we had a couple of beers.
Drinking games for adults
41. Spoons / Ezelen
How can you win Spoons?
You pass on a card to the person next to you (so you’ll get one too), then discard a card and pass it on again. You win by getting 4 of a kind.
What makes Spoons fun?
It’s slow at first, but later games pick up the pace and this is where it gets super fun. Once you have 4 of a kind (4 aces, 4 queens, 4 fives, whatever) then you pick up a spoon. The rest has to instantly pick up a spoon too. If you are last to pick up a spoon, you lose (and drink). It’s hilarious when one person is still playing when everyone else has stopped because they are so into the game! Then you all laugh, re-deal… and drink some more! No spoons available? This game can be played by putting your finger on the side of a table instead of picking up a spoon.
What is your best memory playing Spoons on your travels?
Not yet played while traveling. Have you played this on the road and a have a great travel memory to share? Let me know in the comments.
Buy a pack of cards on Amazon Read full rulesHow do you win Monkey Monkey?
You win by not ending the game with a card that makes a pair with the “monkey card”!
What makes Monkey Monkey fun?
It’s a very easy game purely based on luck, so if you’re planning to get drunk quickly, this could be the game for you.
What is your best memory playing Monkey Monkey on your travels?
Not yet played while traveling. Have you played this on the road and a have a great travel memory to share? Let me know in the comments.
Buy a pack of cards on AmazonHow can you win Mexico?
This game has a lot of winners, but just one loser ;-).
The player whose dice is first at one will lose the game and has to drink a shot (preferably vodka).
What makes Mexico fun?
It’s easy to play, everyone can join and the element of drinking a shot of liquor makes it really fun!
What is your best memory playing Mexico on your travels?
A friend of us lost this game 12 times on one evening, so he got really drunk. At one point he wasn’t even able to roll his die without it falling off the table, which meant you had a drink a shot regardless of the number rolled.
Buy a set of dice on Amazon Read full rulesHow do you win King’s Cup?
Aaah, the classic drinking game. There are different rules throughout the world. You start by putting all the cards face-down around a cup in the middle of the table. Then, each person picks up a card and the card’s value (not suit) determines what happens. At this game, much like with any other drinking game, nobody really “wins”. But if you do, you’re sober and everyone else is drunk. Does that sound fun to you? 😉
What makes King’s Cup fun?
You can call it fun, you can call it stupid, but one thing is certain: everybody gets out-of-their-heads drunk with this game.
What is your best memory playing King’s Cup on your travels?
Not yet played while traveling. Have you played this on the road and a have a great travel memory to share? Let me know in the comments.
Buy a pack of cards on Amazon Read full rules45. Fives
How to play Fives?
No need to have any objects, except for your hand. It’s possible to play with any number of players, but the math can get pretty hard with a large number of participants. For the sake of this explanation, we’ll say that there are 5 players. The “it” player has to come up with a number from 0 to 25 (since we have 5 players it has to be a multiple of 5).
Each player on the count of 3 shoots out their hand and shows either zero (fist) or 5 fingers. Let’s say the player came up with the number “10” and 2 of the 5 people had a fist and 3 people were showing 5 fingers. This would make a total of 15 which means nothing happens, and the game moves on with the next “it” player and the process described above repeats. The important part: if they guess correctly they must say (totally straight-faced) “Thank you very much for this lovely game of fives”.
What makes Fives fun?
It’s stupid hard because you get SO EXCITED that you guessed it correctly! But you can’t show emotion otherwise you’ll lose.
What is your best memory playing Fives on your travels?
I played this at a hostel in Costa Rica on Nebanaw Years Eve. It was a great night of eating homemade tortillas and drinking cheap rum.
Read full rules46. Sheep
How to play Sheep?
You sit around a circle, cover your teeth with your lips (like you’re mocking the old man that lives down the street) and say “SHEEP” to a person sitting next to you. They say “sheep” to the person next to them; it goes round and round. If you want to change the direction, you say “Sheep-pong!” and it changes direction. If you show your teeth, you lose/drink.
What makes Sheep fun?
Endless giggles when you try to say Sheep without opening your mouth.
What is your best memory playing Sheep on your travels?
We played this during a typhoon when we hardly had enough light and rain was pouring outside. We just couldn’t stop laughing.
How do you win Assholes?
This game is unique in that the game is never truly won. If you win a game, you will become the president/asshole/scumbag (depending on which version you play) and the game continues on. Other people get titles too, like vice-president, scum or vice-scum, which they keep for the next game. You simply stop playing when you get bored which is, you know, never.
What makes Assholes fun?
It’s really fun working your way up from being scum (last place) to the president (first place). If you’re the loser of the last game, you’ll have to switch your two best cards with the winner of the previous game, which makes it harder to win the round. It is still possible, however, and game by game you can improve your rank. There are many rules that can be added, such as that the president can order the loser of the previous game to get everyone a round of beer, making him/her the “beer bitch”.
What is your best memory playing Assholes on your travels?
Not yet played while traveling. Have you played this on the road and a have a great travel memory to share? Let me know in the comments.
Buy a pack of cards on Amazon Read full rulesHow do you win Mayer?
There are no winners in Mayer, just losers (who drink). You start with 6 lives, and the player that first loses all of their lives loses the game. This dice game is played with only two dice and a cup, so it’s easy to see why it fits excellently in the travel game category. The game contains a lot of bluffing, although that depends on the players of course.
What makes Mayer fun?
I like the game because it’s an easy icebreaker when you meet new people. It’s easy to learn and everybody can join in, and you can learn a lot about your fellow players while playing the game. I personally love it when you have to decide whether the person you are playing against is lying or telling the truth. I look for specific signs and when I call them out some people really have no poker face!
What is your best memory playing Mayer on your travels?
Victor’s flashback: I remember this game being played everywhere I looked in Copenhagen. Especially in cafés and bars, where it was a very normal thing to ask the bartender for a cup and two dice. It is a truly great way to kill some time and meet some (soon-to-be) friends.
Buy a set of dice on Amazon Read full rulesHow do you win Mexxen?
You can win Mexxen by having a really good stomach haha! There is no such thing as winners in this game, but the one who doesn’t feel sick after playing it is the one who ‘wins’. But you have to lose some to win eventually. So drinking some shots of alcohol is recommended.
What makes Mexxen fun?
You really have to think some things through, for instance, if you’re throwing the dice once or twice. And you can’t throw the dice on the ground because you will have to drink a shot and the game starts over. And of course, more shots means more dice on the floor and so on. The funniest thing is that there are always people who have a ridiculous amount of bad luck and therefore will get drunk very early on in the game.
What is your best memory playing Mexxen on your travels?
My best memory playing Mexxen on my travels is mostly the few hours after playing the game. The funniest thing is that a lot of friends are getting drunk and everybody is falling asleep at the most weird places: in the kitchen, under a tree and even under the table! The photos are the best memories, but you know how it works: what happens on the island…
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How on earth is Farkle not on this list? it’s a dice game that takes minutes to learn and fit’s in your pocket. (One of those old-school 35mm film canisters to be exact.) This is always in my bag and makes an appearance at every brewery we hit up. https://www.amazon.com/ROUTE-Pocket-Farkel-dice-game/dp/B01H67OC6M/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1B02QP2BHEROX&keywords=pocket+farkle&qid=1655128613&sprefix=pocket+farkle%2Caps%2C122&sr=8-3
Thank you for the nice list. I will definitely try out a few of those. I particularly like card games and board games.
Make & break card game.. newly launched in market.. but awesome fun making & breaking couples! My circle is right now addicted to this game
Haha, breaking couples sounds fun! 😀 Thanks for the suggestion!
One of my favorite adult road trip games is “Censored”.
Censored is a dirty phrase guessing game that simple and super fun. Give clues to get your friends (or roommates or relatives) to guess as many dirty adult themed secret phrases as possible in 90 seconds but no one (not the clue giver, not your guessing friends) is allowed to say the taboo words (if you catch them guess one, give them a heads up they are wrong by buzzing them with the buzzer)! Check out the app store of your choice!
Cool game! Thanks for the suggestion 🙂
Great article thanks. We are always on the lookout for new after-dinner games for our holidays, especially now our kids are grown up.
A suggestion for you is Munchkin. A card only game so easy to pack. In a similar vein to Fluxx, the rules change often and there are many expansion decks to add variety.
Hi Lynn,
Thanks a lot for the suggestion! I have heard of the game but I have never played it. I’ll make sure to add it to this article when I do! 🙂
Cheers,
Victor