It’s about the journey, not the destination. Why not make the journey, the car journey, a little more fun and play one of these awesome board games?
Road trips can be fun, but after a few hours, many snacks, and the 20th game of “I Spy”, it’s time for something new to entertain. With a long drive ahead, you’ll want to choose a game that’s not complex and has simple rules and strategy, something fun to pass the time.
We’ve selected games that work well in small spaces and will keep everyone entertained! If you’re looking for a few ideas, take a look at these ten best board games to play in the car!
🏆 Our Top Picks for Best Car Games
In a hurry? Take a quick peek before you go.
Best Games to Play in the Car
Spyfall
Players: 3- 8
Playing time: 15mins
Your mission: Discover the secret location without blowing your cover.
Spyfall is an easy-to-learn card game of bluffing, probing questions, clever answers, and suspicion!
It’s a fun card game where players are secretly assigned a card with a location, such as “Hotel lobby” or “Airport”. With each round, players receive a card with the group’s location, but, one player receives the Spy card. The spy doesn’t know where they are and will have to try to figure out the location before their cover is blown.
Non-spy players have to work to figure out who the spy is. It’s a delicate balance between asking questions that are too specific as the spy might figure out the location. But if you answer questions that are too generic, you might just be accused of being a spy.
Spyfall is fun to play as it has 30 unique locations and intense 8- minute rounds.
It’s also a great introduction to hidden roles and social deduction!
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Skull
Players: 3- 6
Playing time: 15- 45 mins
Brush up on your bluffing, you’ll need it to keep your cards to the bitter end.
Skull is an ancient game of ornate skulls and dangerous roses. It’s simple to learn but dangerously difficult to win. Players will need to bluff, deduce, and out-think their opponents.
In this strategy game, with each turn, you either add another token to your pile, or you can bet how many flowers you can reveal without revealing a skull. But be careful, a skull can lead to dire consequences!
Players start with three rose cards and one skull. They’ll then take turns adding a card to the pile. When you feel lucky, you can announce your challenge and declare how many cards you will flip. If it’s only roses, you’re safe, but if you expose your opponent’s hidden skull, you’ll lose one of your own cards.
The game’s materials and artwork are very high, with beautifully designed tiles and tokens.
Crossfire
Players: 5- 10
Playing time: 5- 10mins
In a dystopian future, war is about to break out between rival factions. Join the world of specter ops and the struggle between Raxxon and a.R.K.
In this tactical game of infiltration and deduction, players need to use the limited information at their disposal to identify threats and eliminate targets.
In Crossfire, players secretly compete in two teams to either protect or eliminate a Raxxon VIP. There are many roles, and you might be an Agent tasked with defending the VIP with your life. Or, you could be an assassin trying to stop the VIP from reaching their destination.
If the VIP survives, the blue team wins; if the VIP is killed, then the red team wins. With the game only lasting around five minutes, you’ll need to use all your powers of deduction to complete your mission at all costs.
Crossfire has high replayability because of its two unique modes of play as well as additional roles so you can have variety with each game.
Wit’s End
Players: 2- 6
Playing time: 60mins
If you’re looking for a challenge while, Wit’s End is an entertaining trivia and brain-teasing game that’ll test your knowledge and problem-solving skills.
In Wit’s End, players answer questions in four mind-challenging categories as they work their way to the center of the board. The questions and riddles are about all different types of categories. History, current affairs, popular culture, geography, science, and technology, so there’s a little something for everybody!
What’s great about Wit’s End is that if the rest of the car is tired, you can play individually!
Although the game comes with a large game board, pieces, dice, and a sheet, you can just take out the cards and play with them for fun. Much easier to keep track of in the car!
If you think you know a lot, Wit’s End will put your mind to the test!
Coup
Players: 2- 6
Playing time: 15mins
In a future where the government is run for profit, all but a privileged few live lives of poverty and desperation. But, the seeds of rebellion have been sown, throwing the government into chaos.
Coup is a fantastic card game as it’s simple enough to learn but takes a while to master. It’s all about knowing when to lay low and when to call a bluff. Once everyone gets the gist of how to play, you can play over and over again, using deeper strategies as you go.
With only five roles, Captain, Assassin, Duke, Ambassador, and Contessa, each player starts with two cards, taking one action each turn. The last player standing wins!
Only one can survive, will it be you?
Two Rooms and a Boom
Players: 6- 30
Playing time: 7- 20 mins
A game that’s always a blast!
Two Rooms and a Boom is a hidden roles/ social deduction game made up of two teams. The president is a part of the blue team, while the bomber is with the red team.
Once players are divided, they’ll establish trust and work to exchange hostages before time runs out and the bomb explodes.
The game is played through five timed rounds, and at the end of each round players will be swapped to opposing teams. The aim for most is to make sure you’ve exchanged your hostage. For a few lying and deceiving will help alter their plans.
Two Rooms and a Boom is a fun car game because you can play it in larger groups!
Spot It! On the Road
Players: 2- 8
Playing time: 15 mins
Perfect for the kids, Spot It! On the Road is a fun visual game that hones players’ observational skills and reflexes.
Spot It! On the Road is a simple pattern recognition game where players look to find the matching symbol between two cards. Spot it first, and you win!
There are loads of Spot It! games, like Spot It! Animals, or Spot It! Camping that’ll keep your kids entertained while traveling!
Say Anything
Players: 3- 8
Playing time: 30 mins
What hilarious things will your friends say?
To play Say Anything, you read a question, and everyone else writes an answer. Secretly choose your favorite answer. Then, everyone guesses which one your picked. Very simple to learn. Very difficult to play without crying out and laughing.
For example, “What’s the worst thing to say to a cop after being pulled over?” Players must try to be creative, outrageous, opinionated, and hilarious with how they answer.
Say Anything has no right or wrong answers, rather it focuses on people’s opinions , so everyone has a chance at winning!
Buzzword
Players: 4-12
Playing time: 45 mins
Buzzword is an addictive game that buzzes your brain!
Buzzword is a family-friendly card game that’ll test your abilities to solve clues while under pressure.
Players are split into two teams and must try to solve the “buzzword”. For example, if the buzzword is “ball”, players have 45 seconds to solve 10 clues, and all the answers contain the word “ball”. “Inflatable sand toy” would be “beach ball” and “on top of spaghetti” would be “meatball”.
The game seems simple but when you’re under pressure it can become difficult, and hilarious as players come up with some absurd options!
Rush Hour Traffic Jam
Players: 1
Playing time:
Nothing like starting your trip stuck in traffic!
Another fun kids game, Rush Hour Traffic Jam, has players learn critical reasoning and logical deduction skills to follow the ice cream truck’s story and solve challenges.
To play, you choose a challenge card that shows the setup of the vehicles. The player then slides the vehicles back and forth to create a path for the ice cream truck to exit. When the truck can exit the player wins!
There are forty different challenges from easy to super hard, so your kids can start playing at the level that suits them, then working their way up.
Wrap-Up
We hope you enjoyed our list of the best board games to play in the car! Where’s your next trip? Which board game will you choose to take on your epic road trip? Let us know what you think in the comments below! We’d love to hear from you.
Ready Player Christine. Since my first D&D game, which took a turn for the weird and wacky (probably my influence), the world of board and tabletop games came alive. Now today, I get to write about these fantastical, fictional, and downright fun worlds.