Games you can play in the car! Fun activities to liven up drives and traffic jams
“I want to make boring time in the car fun!” If you’re looking for ideas to make that wish come true, you’re not alone.
In fact, there are plenty of games you can enjoy in the car with family and friends.
In this article, we’ll introduce ideas for car games that turn travel time into something exciting.
From license-plate math games and the classic word-chain game to music-based challenges.
With games that everyone can enjoy together, even traffic jams and long drives can turn into fun memories! Be sure to try them on your next trip!
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Games you can play in the car! Fun activities for drives and traffic jams (11–20)
Magical Banana
It’s a game that became hugely popular on the Nippon TV variety show “Magical Zunou Power!!”.
The rules are very simple: you just keep connecting associations.
For example: Bananas are yellow → Yellow is lemons → Lemons are sour → Sour is vinegar… and so on.
If you get stuck and can’t answer, or say something that makes no sense, you lose.
It’s also a good way to fight drowsiness while driving, so give it a try!
Finger Smash
A great game to kill time: “Yubi-Suma.” Many of you might have played it back in your school days.
You don’t need any equipment and the rules are simple, so anyone can start right away.
First, make both hands into a fist and bring them together.
Decide the order, and starting with player 1, say “Yubi-Suma” and then call out a number.
At that moment, all players raise their thumbs.
You can raise just one thumb, or none at all.
If the number called matches the total number of thumbs raised, the caller puts down one hand.
The first person to put down both hands wins! Give it a try.
Voiced and semi-voiced sound prohibition game
It’s about turning ordinary everyday conversation into a game by adding rules.
You ban voiced and semi-voiced sounds that are woven into Japanese, and keep a count of how many times someone slips up while continuing a normal conversation.
It wouldn’t be fun if people just play it safe and go quiet, so it might be important to set rules like choosing a discussion topic to keep things moving and giving a penalty to anyone who stays silent for a while.
The more lively the talk gets, the easier it is to let your guard down and make mistakes, so that push-and-pull becomes a fun part of the game too.
31 game
It’s a simple game that uses numbers.
Since it’s played using only spoken words, it can be done easily in any situation.
You start from 1, and each person can count up to three numbers on their turn.
Players take turns counting in order, and the person who says 31 loses.
Despite its simplicity, the game involves strategy as you try to avoid having 31 land on your turn and predict how others will count.
In a one-on-one match, there’s a guaranteed winning strategy for the first player, so it’s generally recommended to play with multiple people.
License Plate Calculation Game
Since you’re in a car, why not propose a game that takes advantage of that environment? Look at the license plates of the cars in front of you or around you, replace the middle hyphen with a plus or minus sign, and pose a problem—then compete to see how quickly you can answer the two-digit calculation.
By specifying a car to use as the problem during the brief moment you pass it, you can train your memory as well as your calculation skills.
If two-digit calculations are too easy, you could try a variation where you use the four numbers on a license plate to make an answer of 10.
Mozzarella Cheese Game
The Mozzarella Cheese Game became popular thanks to YouTubers who often played it.
The rules are very simple: players take turns saying “mozzarella cheese.” However, each person has to say “mozzarella cheese” with higher energy than the person before them.
It starts off low-key, and as the game goes on, everyone is forced to ramp up the excitement, which creates a surreal, funny vibe.
The fun isn’t just about being loud—it’s about how you express “higher energy” through your tone of voice, the way you say it, and even your gestures.
Games You Can Play in the Car! Fun Activities for Drives and Traffic Jams (21–30)
Super Mario game
Super Mario Game is a perfect time-killer that tests your memory and sense of rhythm.
Starting from the first player, you say the words in this order: “Sū,” “Pā,” “Mari,” “O,” “Sūpā,” “Mario,” “Super Mario.” Then, the next player says “coin,” like the sound effect when Mario collects a coin.
With each turn, the number of “coin” repetitions increases.
Anyone who says the words out of order, misses the rhythm, or gets the number of “coins” wrong loses.
