The Ultimate Travel Games Guide!
Travel games are the warm-weather hack that transforms travel and time outdoors into the ultimate adventure! Whether you need an easy pack-and-play game for a restless preschooler or a travel road game for the teens doomscrolling in the back seat, there's a SimplyFun Travel Game for that! Travel games for adult besties catching up at a patio brunch? We’ve got recommendations for that, too. Wherever you roam, grab some learning-and-sharing moments with these irresistibly FUN portable games!
Going Somewhere? How to Choose the Right Travel Game
Travel often means lots of sitting and waiting. The right game can turn that time into fun, engaging moments rather than hours of boredom and screen scrolling. With so many games out there, how do you pick the right one? First, you’ll want to consider your travel method and time. For a short flight, a quick game is ideal. For a long train ride, you might want something that takes a little more time and is a bit more complex.
Next, you’ll want to consider the ages of your travel companions. To make it easy to pick, we’ve put together some of our favorite travel games by age below!
Best Family Travel Games for Families
Traveling with family is a wonderful experience, but sometimes the in-between moments, like long car rides or waiting for flights at your gate, can cause kids to get antsy. Keep them mentally stimulated without always resorting to screen time with portable games you can easily stow in a carry-on or tote! We've got the best travel picks for families with preschoolers, elementary-aged kiddos, and of course, those hard to impress tweens and teens!
Best Family Travel Games to Play with Preschoolers (Ages 4+)
Matching, numbers, letters, and colors, oh my! These small box preschool card games are easy for your littlest gamers to learn, yet engage players of all ages, so teens and adults can get in on the fun, too!
Make portable play un-frog-gettable for your preschooler! Match and learn letters as you look to score the lone fly in the deck! Bonus* Kids love learning the frog species names featured in the Get the Fly poster included with each game. Play with 2-6 players, ages 4 and up, in as little as 15 minutes.
A delicious twist on "Crazy 8's"! Match cards by color or number and food type as you race to be the first to play all your cards. Crazy Ates is an ‘egg-cellent’ way to ‘turnip’ the FUN while teaching little ones numbers, colors, matching, and food types! Plus, it comes with a yummy food poster to help kids understand food groups, and one extra set of blank cards to add your own food group! Play with 2-6 players, ages 4 and up, in as little as 20 minutes.
This card game is like a trip to the aquarium! Help your preschooler learn colors & shapes while they match and explore colorful fish, with Chums. And, the game includes a colorful chart of all the species included in the game! Chums is a grab-and-go card game that is simple to learn yet fun and engaging for preschoolers, kids, teens, and adults! Play with 2-6 players, ages 4 and up, in as little as 20 minutes.
Best Family Travel Games to Play with 5-6 Year Olds
Kids at this age are a sponge for learning! Challenge their developing minds with portable card games that fuel their imagination. Whether it's strengthening their counting skills by adding Elephants in an Elevator, using comparison and matching skills with Buddy Match, thinking through their bowling strategies with Cross Lanes, or matching and racing to grab Sneaks, they’ll be too busy playing to ask “Are we there yet?”
Ding, elevator going up! How many Elephants can you squeeze in? The bellhop at the Water Hole Hotel could use a hand. Can you help fill up the elevator to capacity? Roll the number die and take turns ‘counting on’ to fit the right number of elephant hotel guests without going over. Your little one will be too busy laughing to notice they are practicing counting! Play with 2-5 players, ages 5 and up, in as little as 20 minutes.
Keep little minds busy on the go with this adorable matching game! Children ages 5 and up practice comparing and self-control as they match by size, color, shape, or character. Plot twist? You can’t use the same match type as the last player. So get ready to think carefully as you compare sizes, colors, and characters to find the perfect Buddy Match. Play with 2-6 players, ages 5 and up, in as little as 10 minutes.
Take the excitement of bowling anywhere you want to go! In Cross Lanes, plan your moves—roll up one, down one, or strike and spare. Be the first to clear all your cards by planning your moves carefully and winning the game! Play with 2-4 players, ages 6 and up, in as little as 20 minutes.
Sneaks made our travel game list TWICE because this card game is simple enough for younger players to enjoy, but engaging enough for adults to get in on the fast-paced fun! Race to collect four matching cards by passing them quickly to your left. Snag a sneaker if you’re the first to match four cards! Stay speedy, or you might be left out or be the last player with a sneaker to win! Play with 2-8 players, ages 6 and up, in as little as 30 minutes.
Wave goodbye to "Are we there yet?" with 50 awesome activities for travelers of all ages! Perfect for sparking Social Interaction and Self-Discovery on the road. Buckle up for endless fun and memorable adventures! Play with 2+ players, ages 5 and up, in as little as 15 minutes.
Best Family Travel Games to Play with Older Kids (Ages 7+)
Challenge older kids with games that offer a little more strategy, planning, memory-building, and number sense, while keeping play light and engaging. These are portable travel games the whole family will love!
Practice your memorization skills and move your body while you're at it! Players take turns performing the existing sequence of actions, plus a new action from drawing the card at the top of the deck. Make a mistake, and you are out! Play with 2-8 players, ages 7 and up, in as little as 10 minutes.
A fun activity for hikers and campers! Draw cards to plan your perfect hiking pack and survive all sorts of outdoor scenarios. Play PackIt! around a campfire with friends to practice planning, strategy, and predicting as you pack your backpacks, safeguard supplies, and stay on the hiking trail. Play with 2-5 players, ages 8 and up, in as little as 30 minutes.
Roll the dice and unleash quick-thinking addition skills to create a winning combination with the number cards in your hand. Race against your opponents to be the first player to use all of your cards and win the round! Play with 2-6 players, ages 7 and up, in as little as 15-20 minutes.
Best Travel Game Favorites for Teens and Adults!
If you want quality time with your teen to be ‘in the cards’ this summer, these four decks are a must! They are challenging and engaging, yet the simple rules make them perfect for a quick game in between all your summer adventures.
Work both sides of your brain, matching colors and shapes with 68 double-sided shape cards! Quickly scan your cards to match a corner to the center of the last card played. The trick? Speed matters! Think fast before other players change the target! Play with 2-6 players, ages 7 and up, in as little as 10 minutes.
Roll the letter dice and get ready to flex your spelling and vocabulary skills to make words that fit the category card using the letters on the dice. Be the first to think of a word using all the letters that fit the category card to score! Play with 2-4 players, ages 8 and up, in as little as 20-30 minutes.
Sneaks made our travel game list TWICE because this card game is simple enough for younger players to enjoy, but engaging enough for adults to get in on the fast-paced fun! In Sneaks, players race to collect four matching cards by passing them to their left players as quickly as possible. Snag a sneaker if you’re the first to match four cards. Our fun twist on the classic spoons game! Play with 2-8 players, ages 6 and up, in as little as 30 minutes.
This word-association game is hilariously fun, but it's also fantastic for your memory and vocabulary! In Linkity, players think quickly to play letter cards that are connected to the starting player's theme category without using the same word twice in that round. The more clever connections you make, the bigger the laughs! Play with 3-8 players, ages 8 and up, in as little as 15 minutes.
Best Family Ice-Breaker Card Games for Ages 8 and Up
How well do you know your friends and family? Sure, you might know their favorite color, but do you know whether they would prefer a lifetime supply of pizza or cereal? Or would they choose to be related to a rockstar over a famous author? These wacky ‘Take Your Pick’ card sets take icebreaker questions to a whole new level. You’ll laugh and get to know each other's preferences like never before!
Early or late? Serious or silly? Guess how others describe themselves and match their choices to win! It’s a fun way to predict and connect with friends while discovering what makes everyone unique. Play with 3+ players, ages 8 and up, in as little as 20 minutes.
The sequel to Take Your Pick with an additional 150 cards to test your knowledge of your friends and family. Play with 3+ players, ages 8 and up, in as little as 20 minutes.
Get ready for a “qrazy” time discovering each other! Would you rather eat two pounds of chocolate or two pounds of ice cream? Guess and predict each other’s choices for a fun way to bond and laugh together! Play with 3+ players, ages 8 and up, in as little as 20 minutes.
Ready, Set, Let's Go!
Travel games are more than just a way to pass the time. They create lasting memories that make the journey just as fun as the destination. Whether you’re planning a family day trip, having a few friends over for a BBQ, or just looking for a small, portable game to throw in a beach bag for a day at the pool, the right games are all you need to make moments memorable wherever you go! So, grab your favorite travel games and get ready to make your next trip a little bit more interactive, educational, and fun!
