15 Car Games for a Road Trip (No Screens Needed)

There’s a moment on every long drive when the snacks are gone, the tablets have died, and a small voice from the back seat asks the inevitable: “are we there yet?” The cure is as old as car travel itself — a good game. Here are fifteen screen-free car games to keep everyone entertained, from toddlers to grandparents.

Quick classics anyone can play

• I Spy — “I spy with my little eye, something beginning with…” The eternal opener.
• 20 Questions — one person thinks of a thing; everyone else gets twenty yes/no questions to guess it.
• Would You Rather — take turns posing impossible choices. The sillier, the better.
• The Alphabet Game — spot words on signs starting with A, then B, then C… first to Z wins.
• Two Truths and a Lie — three “facts” about yourself; the others guess the fib.
• Categories — pick a category (animals, countries) and go round naming one each until someone stalls.

Games with a bit more strategy

• The Number-Plate Game — make a word or a phrase from the letters on the car in front.
• The Movie Game — name an actor; the next person names a film they were in; the next, another actor from it. Chain until someone’s stumped.
• Fortunately, Unfortunately — build a story one sentence at a time, alternating good and bad turns of events.
• Ghost — add letters one at a time toward a word; whoever completes a word loses the round.
• The Story Game — one word each, round and round, and see what tale the car invents.
• Road-Trip Bingo — a card of things to spot (a red truck, a cow, a caravan); first to a line shouts bingo.

Our favourite: turn the drive into a cricket match

Here’s the one that turns a boring motorway into a proper contest. Street Cricket is a free Android app that plays cricket using the cars, signs and scenery going past — no pitch, no gear, no screen-staring required. It gives the whole car a shared scoreboard and simple rules, so everyone’s playing one game together instead of squabbling over the aux cord. Brilliant for road trips, waiting rooms, and anywhere you’re stuck with time to kill.

Get Street Cricket on Google Play

More on the app: the Street Cricket page.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best car games for young kids?

I Spy, the Alphabet Game and Road-Trip Bingo suit little ones — they’re simple, visual, and need no reading or maths.

What car games need no equipment?

Almost all of these are purely spoken — 20 Questions, Would You Rather, the Movie Game and Two Truths and a Lie need nothing but voices.

Is Street Cricket free?

Yes — Street Cricket is a free Android app, built to turn any journey into a game.

Get Street Cricket on Google Play