Games for Long Trips

By Barbara Bambiger

Here are three variations of popular travel games. What other twists can you think of to give old games new life?

Letter Fun

The first player starts with a word, such as friend. The next player has to give a word beginning with the last letter in friend, such as deer. The next player must give a word beginning with the last letter in deer, such as run. The game continues until someone is stumped.

This game can be restricted to certain types of words, such as food or first names. Thus the first player might say “Karen,” the next player “Norman,” and so forth.

Advertisements

Before starting out, each player picks a subject that he thinks he will see advertised during the trip. Gas stations, restaurants, and motels are usually good choices. Each time a player sees a sign in the category he has chosen, he calls out “Point.” The first player to gain fifteen points wins. This game may be made more challenging by excluding the more popular subjects, such as those mentioned above.

City Count

Each player picks a letter. He then has two minutes to name as many cities as he can that begin or end with his chosen letter. If he picks s, for example, he may name San Francisco, Dallas, Singapore, Memphis, St. Paul, Paris, Scranton, Sao Paulo, Seattle, and many more. The player who names the most cities in two minutes wins.

Besides naming cities with your chosen letter, try naming animals, foods, famous people, or countries.