10 Road Trip Games for Entertainment

Anyone who has ever been on a competitive team knows the struggle of traveling to away competitions. Whether it is a sport, debate or music, almost all activities on Ottawa’s campus travel for one reason or another. While the competitions are great, the ride there and back can sometimes be miserable, especially driving through the flat state of Kansas. Most teams say they do nothing during these rides but watch movies and sleep, but whatever happened to the days of game and interacting with each other? So, here are some ways to help keep you entertained and interacting with each other during those hours of your life spent on the road that you will never get back.

1. Celebrity Name Game

This is a game the women’s tennis team loves to play. The point of the game is to name a celebrity as fast as possible, but the catch is that the first name has to start with the same letter as the last name as the previous celebrity mentioned. For example, if person one says Will Smith, then person two must say a celebrity whose first name begins with “S.” If someone takes more than 10 seconds to think of a name, they are out.

2. Heads Up

Ellen DeGeneres is great, and Brandon Edwards, junior says her Heads Up app is just as great. Unfortunately, it now costs 99 cents, but it is completely worth it for the hours of entertainment it can provide. This game is basically like catch phrase and charades combined. There is the option to guess the song by singing it, describing a word or acting things out. It even records the whole thing so everyone can watch how funny they are after each round, and the restrictions of a vehicle can make it even funnier. If no one wants to spend the dollar on the game, there are free versions as well.

3. My Cow

Jenna Stigge, junior, recalled this game played by the softball team during her freshman year. The point is to collect the most cows by calling out “my cows!” when a herd is spotted. The cows can be multiplied by sighting a church or killed off by sighting a cemetery. The winner is the one with the most cows at the end of the car ride. View the full rules here.

4. Never Have I Ever

The rules here are simple. Everyone holds up five fingers as everyone goes around the vehicle saying something they have never done. If someone in the vehicle has done it, they put down one finger. Once someone is out of fingers, they are out of the game. The winner of this game ends up being the one with the least life experiences.

5. Zoom

This game starts by one person passing the zoom to the person on the right by saying “zoom.” This continues around the vehicle as fast as possible. If someone receives the zoom and wishes to reverse the direction, they would then say “mooz” (zoom spelled backwards) and the zoom is passed back to the person it came from. If someone says the wrong word, does not respond to the zoom or responds to the zoom when it is not theirs, they are out. Some people like to make up rules that pass the zoom across the circle as well.

6. Categories

Taylor Stout, sophomore, suggested this easy game where players take turns selecting categories, then go around the vehicle naming items in the category. Example categories could include candy bars, fast food restaurants or Beyoncé song titles. If someone takes more than 10 seconds to answer, they are out.

7. Massage Train

Who doesn’t love a good massage, especially before or after a big game? This could work better in a bus than in a van, but teams could really make it work anywhere if they try hard enough. Spend a few minutes massaging the person to your right, then switch directions.

8. Meet a Brave

Here the group picks one person in the spotlight. Everyone has five minutes to ask as many questions as they want about this person. This is a great way to get to know people better and to spark up new conversations.

9. Backward Movies

Garrett Dragoo, senior, suggested this simple game. One person chooses a movie but does not share it with anyone. They must describe the plot of the movie backward, starting with the end and moving to the beginning. Everyone else then tries to guess what movie is being described. The first to guess the correct movie gets to choose the next one.

10. Silent Football

This is a very intense game that starts simple but can get as interesting as players choose to make it. Silent Football is similar to Zoom (described above) but with more rules. It can take a bit to catch on to, but I can promise from experience that it almost always results in laughing tears. The basic rules can be found here, but these rules go a little more in depth for a twist.

Hopefully these give you a few ideas to help everyone have more fun on those long road trips.