Growing up, my parents never put on the radio in the car when we went on family road trips. I'm guessing that me punching my little sister in the arm was enough of a driving distraction. (Sorry, Lyds!) Now, as a commuting adult, I couldn't imagine a single drive (even down the block!) without music. So when my wife and I set out from New York on an overnight drive to visit friends in Raleigh, North Carolina, and the radio died two hours into the trip - dread set in.
How would we pass the time? Sure, we could reminisce about the past, plan for the future and chat up everything in between, but that adrenaline burst brought on by those thumping speakers left a void in the car. Thankfully, my wife and I never really run out of things to say, but how could we make this drive less tedious? Then I flashed back to traffic bingo: A simple game we played as kids that consisted of locating street signs and marking them off on a card. As the exits whizzed by, we rediscovered some tried and true road games.
Here are some of the games we played in our radio-less car. (Note: The driving experience must receive your full attention. Please only participate in these activities if you are positive that you will not be distracted from the road.)
The Last Letter Game. First the passengers have to agree on a topic. Let’s keep it family friendly and go with ‘food.’ If the driver says ‘pizzA,’ the person sitting in the front has to use the last letter as the first letter in another food. Let’s say ‘applE.’ The person in the backseat then says ‘EggS,’ and so on. The more miles you traverse, the better the odds that you will run out of food options and get plain silly. This game can also be played with proper nouns, three syllable words or any other topic you can think of.
Let’s Get Personal. This game tests out your bluffing skills and is particularly fun to play with people you know well. You simply tell the other passengers something about you and they have to guess if it really happened or if you’re making it up. For example, ‘I once faked being sick to get out of my mother-in-law’s birthday party.’ And the answer is...false! (though I did think about it).
Story Trail. More of a creative exercise than a game, this is when you and your passengers create a fictional story. Someone starts off with a few sentences and the other people pick it up and run with it. You’ll be amazed at the direction the story will take!
I’m Going to a Picnic. I’m not sure about you, but my road trips always involve a lot of talk about food. Something about an open road gives me an empty stomach. This game tests your memory skills. The driver starts off by saying, ‘I’m going to a picnic and I’m bringing… asparagus.’ The next player then must use the letter B and recap A. So, ‘I’m going to a picnic and I’m bringing a banana and asparagus.’ By the time you get deep into the alphabet, you and your passengers will be struggling to remember the list of goods.
Who Would You Rather Marry. This game has one person toss out a duo of names, and the passengers must decide – and debate – who they would rather marry. Matt Damon or Ben Affleck? Thelma or Louise? Tom or Jerry? You will learn things about your friends and family that you never imagined. Be warned, you might learn too much!
Last Rights. A simple game that has each person in the vehicle state their dream meal, as if it were their last. (I’m torn between mom’s meatloaf and General Tso’s chicken).
Connect the Actors. A favorite of my sister (now that I’m no longer punching her in the arm), and a variation of the famous ‘Six Degrees of Separation/Kevin Bacon’ game, this diversion has two players. Each, at the count of three, names an actor. The goal is to see who can connect the two actors using only movies they’ve appeared in. Whoever can uncover the chain first wins.
We made it to Raleigh, even without a radio, albeit a bit road-weary. The most exhausting part of the trip was laughing so hard from these games. My friend fixed up the radio just in time for the trip home, but I don’t recall putting it on once. Now it’s your turn! What car games do you know?
